blogging teens |
One of the reasons why blogs have
undergone a kind of explosion in the teen community and are growing by leaps
and bounds is the fact that they provide a unique mixture of visibility and
anonymity. A teenager can invite friends and peers to read his or her blog with
a simple email, thereby winning attention or possibly even praise. Of course,
with visibility usually comes the possibility of embarrassment, but the fact
that it is possible to blog anonymously with an invented handle or nickname
negates a lot of the potential for humiliation. Many a blogging teen lives in
fear that a parent or guardian will discover his or her blog, but by publishing
under an alias a teenager can spill his or her secrets without fear of being
traced.
Outside the world of blogging,
teen writers often have very limited opportunities to be published. Magazines
and journals are often reticent to publish young writers who may not have as
much credibility as older writers with a lot of experience and extensive
credits to their names. This can discourage adolescents from writing or from
seeking chances to publish their work. By blogging, young people can begin to
gain a following of readers without first having to win the attention and
support of an editor or publisher who may not be very interested in teenaged
authors.
Between the fact that blogs
provide young people with a chance to exercise their impressive technical
aptitude, to gain visibility without compromising privacy, and to build a
readership for their writing without having to jump through the traditional
hoops of the publishing industry, it is little wonder that are so many
teenagers with blogs. For some teenagers, blogging is even a very social
endeavor that allows them to meet people with similar interests from all over
the world. Many a blogging teen has discovered that having a weblog on the
internet is a great way to explore self-expression and, often, to win positive
feedback from new friends.
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