Is this even being read?

Weblog
A weblog, or *blog, is a frequently updated website consisting of dated entries arranged in reverse chronological order so the most recent post appears first Typically, weblogs are published by individuals and their style is personal and informal. Weblogs first appeared in the mid-1990s, becoming popular as simple and free publishing tools became available towards the turn of the century. Since anybody with a net connection can publish their own weblog, there is great variety in the quality, content, and ambition of weblogs, and a weblog may have anywhere from a handful to tens of thousands of daily readers. (Walker 2003)

..Well I'm going to have to disagree with part of this definition I found online. Hah, a handful to tens of thousands of daily readers.. how about I have no readers and no interconnectivity. Basically I can be thrown into the file of isolation from the blogosphere much like the many other classmates of my Journalism Internet and the Media class. As I was researching and finding out more on the blogosphere, I came across an article "Weblogs and the Public Sphere," written by Andrew Baoill a student from the University of Illinois. (http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/weblogs_and_the_public_sphere.html) I read the answer to why I was not connected to outside bloggers and why my blog was not being read. Ultimately, I read that links to weblogs, just like on the web in general, follow a power law distribution...top ranked weblogs have far more links than those further down the chain, so why express my word when it's not even going to matter?

Kudos to people who are highly active in the blogosphere and have been blogging for a long time. Obviously it takes longer to build up a reputation and be a legitimate member, but I really don't have the time for this. As Clay Shirky recognizes in the article I was reading, "It's not impossible to launch a good new blog and become widely read, but it's harder than it was last year, and it will be harder still next year (2003). Reaching an audience is necessary for having one's ideas have an impact on it...but I simply don't have the time and really don't want to get involved.

So let me preach...I came to University with the intent to graduate with a degree in Journalism so I wouldn't have to resort to blogging to get my word out there. I want to receieve the credentials so that perhaps one day my work will be published in a legitimate newspaper or broadcasted on TV. I don't want to waste my time blogging away for no reason. The truth is no one cares what I have to say.