How To Research On the Internet - Part 4, Blogs

I’ve been talking about researching information on the internet over the last few posts. I realize it’s not a topic that’s directly related to health, but I think it’s a useful topic since information is key to improving your health. Without information, you have no choice but to blindly follow what other people tell you to do, never really understand why you’re doing it and what the effect might be. So here we are, on day 4 of this series, discussing one of my favorite topics, blogs.

What Are Blogs?

Blogs, a term that comes from the combination of Web and Log, are sort of like an online diary. A blog’s content are posts made by the author, also called articles. Some blogs post multiple articles a day, some post one every week. Some blogs are a one man or woman operation, others are commercial enterprises with dozens of employees. So what the heck makes a blog different from other websites?

Well, I suppose it’s the periodic nature of their content. Think for a second of the difference between a book and a magazine. A book is relatively static. It’s written and released and that’s it. Oh there might be new editions, updates or revisions, but these are rare and they don’t change the whole book, they just modify it slightly. A magazine on the other hand, completely changes its content with every article. A magazine might have some central topic or theme which stays the same from issue to issue, but the content of each issue is completely separate.

Well, the same sort of difference applies to blogs and static websites. A static website is exactly that, static. For example, the National Park Service website doesn’t change very often. They might add some information such as warnings or advisories, and once in a while they may update the site itself, but in general, the National Park Service website will always have the same content. 60 in 3 on the other hand, is a blog. If you came here two weeks ago you would see posts on workouts. Last week you would see posts about research. Next week you might see posts about bouncing on trampolines and the proper nutrition associated with eggs. In other words, the content on a blog such as 60 in 3 is always changing, much like that of a magazine.

Are Blogs Commercial Websites?

Many of them are, yes. For example, 60 in 3 has advertising which you can see on the left hand side of this page. Other blogs might carry advertising as well as try to sell you some products. For example, one of my favorite blogs, Mark’s Daily Apple, is a blog, but it also has an online store which sells nutritional supplements. Another of my favorite blogs is Louis Gray’s blog about technology issues in Silicon Valley. At first glance, this seems to be a noncommercial blog. It doesn’t sell you anything nor does it have advertisement. However, Louis Gray’s blog is still commercial in a way. Rather than sell a product or advertisements, Louis is selling his own brand. That is, Louis’ blog is a way for him to raise his own visibility, something that could lead to commercial engagements down the road.

So How Should I Use Blogs?

That’s an interesting question. Most bloggers are not professionals on the topic they’re blogging on. I’m not a doctor nor a personal trainer. Most of the other fitness and health bloggers aren’t either. Some of us might be amateur athletes and we may in fact have a lot of personal experience with our topics, but we’re not professionals. So why should you listen to us? Well, because the information we have and find is useful.

The Information Bloggers Have

First of all, bloggers have a lot of useful personal information. Much of this information is personal and comes from actual experience. For example, I’ve been working out for years and I’ve struggled with my own fitness and health issues. So many of my posts are based on that experience. Will everything I went through apply to you? Not really, everyone is different. However, much of my personal experience could be applicable to your own health problems and hence the information is valuable.

The Information Bloggers Find

In addition to having a lot of useful personal information, bloggers also serve as a filter of sort. Do you really have the time to read up on every topic that interests you? I know I don’t. Much as I would love to stay up to date on books, fitness, technology news, politics and other subjects, I just don’t have the time. So I rely on bloggers, people with interest in a specific field, to filter the news for me.

For example, I love news about technology start up and cool new online services. However, I just don’t have the time to keep up with all the tech news these days. So I rely on Louis Gray’s blog as a filter. Louis does the research for me and posts about interesting companies, services or topics. I then go and read his blog. In this way Louis has served as a filter for my technology interests. He spent time to sift out the valuable information so that I don’t have to.

The same applies to 60 in 3. There’s are endless amounts of fitness and health information out there. Instead of reading it all and trying to figure out what’s important and what’s not, you can subscribe to a blog like 60 in 3 or Mark’s Daily Apple and have that immense stream of data filtered to just the valuable pieces. Is it fool proof? No, not really. There are plenty of times when I look at Louis’ site and find nothing interesting and I’m sure 60 in 3 readers sometimes (but not too often I hope) have the same experience. However it’s better than any other approach I’ve found.

So How Should We Use Blogs?

You know that friend or relative you have who loves a particular topic? For example, my brother is a history nut. He loves history. You know how you always go to this friend or relative when you have questions about this topic? I certainly do. Each time I watch a movie that takes place in some historical context, I talk to my brother to see how accurate the movie got it. Well bloggers are like this person. They’re your very own personal expert. They’re not professionals but the’re the next best thing. They help us with common every day issues that we may not be experts on and they filter information for us so we can devote our time to other topics.

Bloggers can and do have their own bias, but it’s usually more of a personal bias than a commercial one. For example, I hate fad diets so I tend to have a bias against them. This means I’m unlikely to be objective when I review a diet I consider a fad. I try to be but, being human, it’s very hard for me to completely ignore my biases. So when you read a blog, keep in mind the following few things:

• Bloggers are NOT objective, nor do most of them try to be objective.
• Bloggers do have a bias and they usually make it quite clear.
• Bloggers are not professionals.
• Bloggers are valuable for the personal experience they have.
• Bloggers are valuable for the information they can filter for you.

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Like any other website, blogs have their own bias and their own issues. However, they’re usually more open about them than other websites. Blogs are useful for the personal experience bloggers share and as a filter for large amounts of information.

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How To Research On the Internet - Part 3, Commercial Sites»

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