Choose WordPress, Choose Life

The blog bug has bitten.

I’ve watched my blogroll expand dramatically in the last few weeks, as I discover more friends with wayside blogs, and others sign on for the first time.

In my experience, blogs = summer. They’re a way to make regular work routine more interesting, and a way of staying in touch with the people you’re used to seeing every day. Yes, it’s true: blogs are a good substitute for Facebook.

What I like about blogs versus something like Facebook is the fact that isn’t not all about you (and your photos), but rather, about what you have to say. Blogs provide a space to post any idea, any thought, any picture, poem, video – regardless of how superficial or deep the content. Rather than a social networking tool where privacy is far beyond your control, blogs are as private or as public as you make them. There’s not business of tagging and untagging photos. No ‘I like’s or pokes. Or super-pokes for that matter.

And in my explorations of the rapidly growing blogosphere, I’ve noticed some differing trends with respect to blog service providors. In short, you’re either on WordPress or you’re on Tumblr.

Now, before I get into anything resembling a debate, I will openly state my biases. I’m a WordPress user, and have been for over a year now. It’s easy to use, has way better layouts than Blogspot and, frankly, is awesome. I’ve just encountered Tumblr in the past few months, and am impressed in some points (like layout design), but disappointed in others.

My biggest beef with Tumblr is the inability to comment on posts if you’re not registered. I believe the comment function is the fundamental right of any blog-reader – whether he or she is registered to the blog service or not. Comments are the reason blogs can, in  my opinion, fully replace the positive functions of Facebook, because they effectively become a forum for people to meet ideas and vice versa. I mean, half the letters in “comment” are also in “community”.

Think about it.