I was asked by someone about a month or so ago if I was going to participate in this years International Webloggers Day? I replied that I’d never even heard of it – being relatively new to the world of blogging in general – let alone being in a position to participate in it? It sounded like a cool idea though so I found out more about it and signed up.

In that time since I have been wondering what the heck to write about when the day finally arrived? After about two weeks though the answer became obvious for me. I would write about the historical importance of weblogs and, indeed, the Internet itself. Believe me when I say that there’s a good chance that what you write today, tomorrow or next year could very well be the basis of study for scholars and historians in a thousand years time. I know it. I’ve seen it happen in other areas and I’ve read about it in many many more.

“But why would that be?” you might ask? “Who the hell would be interested in the stuff I talk about on my blog?” The answer is simple – almost anybody could find what you write interesting in one way or another. It just depends on what you write, who you are, what you may become, what is happening around you and any one of dozens of other things. Though some blogs are better than others for this – primarily blogs with at least some content on them as opposed to one-line entries stating “I have nothing to say today” or “Life sucks! Later!” – most blogs will find their way in history in one way or another. Make no mistake about that! Webpages are cached and saved and information is sorted, cataloged, updated and placed into storage in many different ways and on many mediums by many organizations. Just take a look at The Wayback Machine to see the effects of that happening right at the moment. Save for the full destruction of the entire planet that information will still be there thousands of years from now.

It’ll be there for future historians to study and write about. Famous people and historical events are written and re-written about ad infinitum and will continue to be forever. A hundred years ago people still became famous for the things that they’d done or achieved. Isambard Kingdom Brunnel made cool tunnels, bridges and ships – and laid the Trans-Atlantic cable between Europe and America, once more! William The Conquerer ruled most of the known world at one stage. Leonardo DaVinci was an amazing painter, inventor and did incredibly insightful studies of the human body, and Mozart created some of the most beautiful music imaginable. Now THAT’S achievement!!! In todays “celebrity driven” society a person can easily become famous for just “being” a person or being the son or daughter or friend of someone in particular! They don’t have to actually do anything at all? I mean just look at Kato Kaelin in the O. J. Simpson case or Paris Hilton now? I mean what has Paris ever done to warrant all of the publicity about her? Nuded up and had sex in front of a camera? Yeah well hell, millions of people have done THAT over the years! The media can make or break “celebrities” on a whim, forgoing any real reason there may or may not be for legitimate fame. It doesn’t mean that I have anything against Paris by the way. I’m just trying to get some historical balance on the issue.

Likewise many “ordinary” people have never been written about. Why bother after all, you say? It’s not as if they’ve done anything important at all. Well here’s the point – it’s probably because they’ve never done anything “important” that historians find the life of ordinary, and boring, people so fascinating. I mean there are lot’s of people dissatisfied with George W. Bush and the current administration but the exact reasons behind people dissent isn’t going to show up in the conventional history books, is it? No, it’s going to show up in newspapers, interviews and, more importantly, the BLOGS of the people who are writing about it!

I say “more importantly” because blogs are hardly ever censored in any way. In most cases the “real” media is, due to political correctness, various agendas and libel laws. People who write on blogs, and in private journals before them, tell it how they see it. It doesn’t mean it’s actually true or right, but merely a reflection of what they are feeling at the time. This sort of anecdotal evidence is extremely important to any historian worth his or her salt. This is the voice of the people! The ordinary guy on the street rather than the president or the media. This is the voice of Pliny The Younger in the last days of Pompeii rather than the words of Caesar and his chronicler a hundred miles away – and, hence, it’s VERY important stuff! Historians find this interesting because it’s often the “missing link” when it comes to a full balanced history of an event or the lifestyle of a forgotten peoples.

The fact of the matter is that no-one’s life is truly “boring” in any real sense. Sure, it can be largely uneventful, but that doesn’t mean it’s boring. Most people’s lives are generally uneventful anyway on a day to day basis. Even the biggest celebrities have uneventful days where they sleep, sit by the pool, watch TV, go to the supermarket or spend time with their families. God, virtually EVERYONE does this from time to time!

Right now I’m sitting here on my computer just like every one of you out there. My knees are still blown up to the size of grapefruit and the dogs are sleeping peacefully. I have music playing in the background and I can occasionally hear the TV from the front room. It’s not quite dawn yet and I’ve been designing webpages and crunching code for a while now. You might be in a similar situation in your own home, office, whatever, and doing things that are largely “uneventful”. But what did you do on the weekend? What did you do last month or last year or five years ago? Did you go on a European holiday and see history that’s 1000 years old or more? Did you save someone’s life because of your paramedic skills or because you took that first aid course way back in 1998? Did you eat in a fancy restaurant or win a prize in a competition? Did you see a fantastic movie that so inspired you to want to direct, write, take up painting, increase your CGI computer skills or even become an actor? Did you hear the perfect song that inspired you to act in some way – whether it be starting a band of your own or saving a local park from destruction? Did you fight for what you believe in over in a country where epic battles have been fought, and chronicled, for thousands of years?

The list is endless. Banality or boredom are highly subjective and the truth is that there is no truth on that score. What’s boring to you might not be boring to someone else, and vice versa. I’ve made records and had a best selling book and, to me, that’s pretty damn cool and exciting – but to someone like Madonna or John Grisham it’s “Just another record”……..”Just another book”…….It’s ALL subjective!

I’ve never actually been in a stretched limousine but a lot of people out there have. I think almost every kid who graduates from high school nowadays hires a limousine for the senior prom! I’ve never given birth and I will never truly know what it’s like to do so, but approximately half the population out there at least has the opportunity to do so! I’ve never had to flee my country of birth because of war or the persecution of my religious beliefs but many people out there have. That kind of stuff is in NO WAY boring AT ALL!

And how many movies and books – good and bad – have been made where nothing really amazing happens in them? Indeed one of my favorite movies of recent years “The Cider House Rules” is basically about nothing much at all. Some orphan kid who gets a job picking apples and falls in love with his best friend’s girlfriend. Big deal! Lot’s of people have done that kinda thing! But wasn’t the story almost perfect? Wasn’t it well written and well acted and didn’t it hold your attention for a couple of hours or so? I know it wouldn’t have for some people but I also know that others loved it. To some it was boring but to others it wasn’t at all. That’s how subjective boredom is!

So next time you’re sitting there writing your blog and thinking that you must have the most boring existence on the planet and that no-one will actually be interested in anything you think, do or write about then take heed – it’s NOT boring! It’s just YOU and WHO YOU ARE! A person just like everyone else. A person with very legitimate and interesting views, ideas, dreams and beliefs.

Someone with a story to tell….

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 14th, 2005 at 8:25 am and is filed under Blogs, The Web, Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.