So, this is a blog? 

      I honestly don't see what all the hype is about. This whole blog phenomenon has swept my generation like nothing else, and, really, there are few trends that have infiltrated an age group as effectively as blogs have for people around 15-20 years old. Perhaps rock 'n' roll... World War Two, maybe... the bubonic plague, I hear, was rather inescapable in its time, but internet blogs (especially those on tumblr, I've found) seem more... I can't think of an effective word, but "permanent" and "all encompassing" come to mind quickly. That can likely be attributed to the way the internet works, I would wager. 

     This probably isn't news to anyone, but the internet allows an almost infinite amount of information to travel to any place on Earth nearly instantaneously. (I know this is a gross oversimplification, but I can't truthfully claim an expertise in software engineering.) What this means, for blogs, is that people- specifically younger people and the occasional frustrated, middle-aged housewife writing about food and romance novels- can share anything and everything with everyone everywhere at any time. 

     "Now wait," you may be saying. "You can do that with any part of the internet: e-mail, facebook, twitter, or myspace (if you're a hipster in a band). Why do you need a blog to share your videos, pictures, memes, thoughts, memes, news stories, and more memes with the world?" 

The answer is painfully obvious, although most people tend to overlook it: blogs are easier. 

     "How can blogs, or anything for that matter, possibly be easier than the whole internet?"

  

      Well, hypothetical voice in my head which is hopefully representing the reactions of my also hypothetical readers, the internet is a big, scary place. Yes, you can stand on a soap box in some corners of it shouting your heart out, but the chances of someone hearing you are one in a million. To paraphrase a wise man, the internet is like throwing a message in a bottle out into an infinite sea consisting entirely of bottled messages. This isn't to mention the fact that a considerable majority of the entire cybersphere is porn. Lot's of porn. 

     Blogs take the uncertainty (and porn) out of showing miscellany to various people you may or may not know around the world. They take the internet and whittle it down to it's most basic state while letting all the bloggers think that they're getting the full deal. Take the internet, remove the advertisements, the "Win $1,000,000" deals, sponsored links, search engines, algorithms, encyclopedias, and the Nigerian prince who left you his entire kingdom in his will- all you're left with is  a blog site, not dissimilar to this one. 

     So, in the end, blogs are popular because they're basically "The Internet for Dummies." 

     "Wait a minute!" you are very improbably (but not impossibly) thinking, "If blogs are for dummies, and you're currently posting on a blog, does that make you a dummy?" 

     Yes. Yes it does. It does make me a dummy, and you know what? That's the point. I am writing this blog join the masses- to lose myself amongst the cats, indie-rock bands, reposts from Reddit, reposts of reposts from Reddit, and disgruntled women who feel betrayed that James Patterson's new novel doesn't live up to expectations. I'm going to say what I think and I'm going to hope that people listen. I feel as if I can contribute to the interwebs- cast my message in a bottle into the raging sea that the entire human race can call home: The Internet.