Damn you, Blogs! Damn you to hell!

I once heard someone give advice about starting a blog.  He said that if you immediately can't jot down ten topics to write about within a couple of minutes, you probably shouldn't consider doing on any scale greater than hobbyist level.  While there may be some truth in that, I feel that advice doesn't tell the whole picture.  I, frankly, find most blogs to be nothing more than the extensions of their writers' egos, my posts included.  Who cares what I write down and why should they?  While I like posting articles on JustBS.org and recording podcasts, I am not an authority on any topics that show up on the blog and this can be said for most of the other writing I've seen in the blogosphere.  That isn't to say that all blogs are bullshit and should never be read, but it is to say that the reader must look at the credentials of the writer and decide if that writer's voice actually should be heard. 

This is very tangential to citizen journalism; in fact, they almost go hand in hand.  For example, I have written many reviews on movies and other topics that I like.  I've also written opinion pieces.  Great for me.  But you the reader should realize that I've never had a class on movie theory or even looked at a book about the topic.  I'm just saying what I like, which is all fine and good, except it isn't.  It isn't good for me to droll on and on about things I know little about or at best just a little about.  Would you listen to anything I write regarding medical advice?  I sincerely hope not as I've had no training in the field.  I remember a time when professionals were left to do jobs that they were good at while we who weren't good at them didn't do them. 

Sadly, with blogs and the internet in general, every professional and nut job alike is given a bullhorn to shout their opinion to the heavens.  What happened to trusting people who were trained to do tasks while ignoring those who weren't?  I'm not trying to take the position that everyone must receive this training in school, although some fields really should be taught in the classroom before practicing.  All I'm asking is for people who don't know what they are talking about or what they are doing and representing it as fact or some other kind of knowledge to stop.  That's all.  If nothing else, do the world a favor and make it clear that it is opinion.  We all have our own and we are entitled to them, to a degree, so it isn't some big deal if you come clean about it.  Somehow, the world will keep turning.