Theyre Blogging, and Its Worthy of Attention

It may come as a surprise to some that Im in direct opposition to Rebeccas viewpoint in her post from last week - Hey, Im Blogging! Pay Attention to Me! She wrote:

another (obvious) reason for the increasing onslaught of blogs (currently nearly 60 million tracked by Technorati) is because bloggers, quite simply, want attention. Obviously, Im not providing you with some profound secret you didnt already know, but the comic strip made me think of a good number of blogs written by vapid people who think that everyone wants to read about the minutia of their day-to-day lives, when in reality theyre too wrapped up in writing about themselves that they dont have time to read or care about what their family and friends are doing. Its a "Well, Ill just blog about the events in my life instead of picking up the phone, and the people who truly care about me will take the time to read it."

In my opinion, thereTexistsTinherent validity and valueTin a blog, no matter the subject matter. Publishing has never been so easy, so accessible or so inexpensive and these are opportunities we should celebrate, not disparage. Granted, there are those who write details that you or I might prefer be kept secret, but as one of laptop batteries the most transparent and open companies on the web, denouncing the practice surely makes SEOmozzers hypocrites. Even the most minute, boring life deserves the right to tell their story - we are the ones who choose whether to read or ignore; why pass judgement when we would want visitors to approach us with an open mind?

SEOmozs bloggingTseems (to me)Tno more noble nor, necessarily valuable and interesting than Tim the Iowa corn farmer. Vapid or genius, interesting to 2 readers or 20 thousand, publishing on the web builds up a base of laptop battery dedicated Internet users, potential SEO clients, a savvier public and a greater store of information. Is the world a richer place because we found out that Tims walk to the barn today took 5 extra minutes because he caught his foot in the fence? Id argue yes, even if its only by a very, very tiny amount.

Whats your opinion? Is Rebecca right to ward us all off of personal blogs? Should the under-five-reader crowds at Livejournal and MySpace give it up? Or does a blog, no matter the relative significance, carry some fractional value thats worthy of, if not our respect, at least our acceptance?