By Steffi Nowak
Rumour has it, here in Germany at least, that the days of blogging might be over. Indeed, quite a few important blogs have recently been sold or shut down. ‘Basic Thinking’ and Rivva.com are just a couple of examples.
This is quite surprising – I always thought that blogging was to the web what salt is to a soup. On the other hand I am kind of glad; sometimes when I think about contributing to ‘Whatever…’, I can feel a little bit helpless, thoughtless, blogless…
Blogs are interesting because, in keeping with the old traditions of Greek democracy, they promote free speech. And while in ancient Greece all the free citizens were afforded this basic civil right, not all countries in the modern world follow this example. For the people of China, Russia and Afghanistan (to name just a few), free speech cannot be exercised without fear of being punished by the legal authorities.
Despite the constant threats from their state authorities, there are many brave citizens who try to make the world aware of what is going on in their countries. For these people, blogs are a convenient way to get their message out there – no other way of communicating is more efficient.
And while a few sites may have fallen by the wayside, let’s hope the time of blogs is not yet over!
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