Impact of Blogs
While a lot has been said about blogging in general. I was actually amazed at the influence blogging would have on my life. The area where blogging has the greatest influence and value to me personally is in the area of reviews. Prior to widespread popularity of blogging i would typically spend a lot of time researching products. This was an imperative need when buying a new product/item that i had no prior experience with. Even more so when researching vendors and the quality of their services. I usually take the customer reviews hosted at the product or vendor PR material with skepticism.
The advent of blogging changed the equation a whole lot. I now frequently find myself referring to blogs of other individuals for unbiased opinion on product/vendor reviews. Recently i also found that blogs help in tapping into the experience of individuals even for ideas on planning my trips to my vacation destinations. I have found that they offer a far greater insight into the practical aspects as compared to the travel sites.
While i do not tend to make decisions based on one blog but a general consensus among many blogs does indeed provides feedback which in my experience has been difficult to ignore. On the whole this new found democracy in voicing opinions is indeed a working to be a very helpful tool in my daily life.