Are blogs dead?

According to Wired, "The blogosphere, once a freshwater oasis of folksy self-expression and clever thought, has been flooded by a tsunami of paid bilge. Cut-rate journalists and underground marketing campaigns now drown out the authentic voices of amateur wordsmiths." 

So, apparently blogs are dead.  They are soooooo  2004. Jason Calacanis says they're over and so does Robert Scoble. Why? Because of the insult commenter. So that's it. Those crazy little buggers who fill the comment boxes with drawn out diatribes got under they're skin and now they're done. Poof. Well, this is rather unfortunate since I've only just created mine. It's also kind of fitting. It takes me a while to catch onto trends, jams, curling your shoe laces into little ringlets and not tying them, umbros,  cell phones, three-quarter lengths sleeves (I actually don't buy them that way I just shrink my clothes by accident, they call it DIY) , then Macs, and now blogs. 

Sorry for that, I'll try to keep the navel-gazing to a minimum but rather than discuss the popularity of blogs, I want to share why it was so difficult to create one in the first place. Look, I said I would "try." Anyhow, I believe that there are other people out there who have the same issues that I do with blogs. Aside from my worry that my blog would turn into a list of complaints. (I had a high school teacher who wore a button that said "no whining" and I try to remember it when I write. ) My bigger fear about writing a blog was that I knew I couldn't help but make it personal. Whether anonymous or not, it's a space where you share your thoughts, your beliefs and passions or maybe just your favorite photos and paintings.  It's giving a little piece of yourself to the world and asking them to be gentle with it. Whatever you put out there is your own and it makes you feel a pin prick and sometimes a lightning sized dose of vulnerability each time you click "publish post." 

People might not think what you have to say is funny. They might think the art you like is cheesy, or the advice you give is just worthless pop-psychology. Readers might see you as self-involved and vain or on the flip side, insecure and unaware. But still you should keep writing. Write for yourself and for people who care about the things that you do in the same way that you do (some of them may not even know this until they start reading). Or right for the sake of controversy, to start a spark to engage in a debate, meaningful hopefully, with those who disagree.  And excuse me for paraphrasing, because I know someone else has said this same thing in a slightly different way, but the more you write, the more you'll trust that the people who matter will take into account your imperfections, your poor grammar, run-on sentences, sudden tangents, political beliefs and musical tastes that don't jive with theirs, but they won't judge you. And the people that judge you, won't matter.