Program Details

Program Details

You may not have heard of her, but in cyber-space, Heather Armstrong is practically an A-List celebrity. She's a blogger - and she makes a pretty healthy living at it. This week on Utah NOW Armstrong will join us to talk about what it's like to share her personal life with cyber-strangers in the blogosphere.

Additional Information

Have you ever wandered into a web log on the Internet and find yourself captivated by the mundane experiences of a complete stranger. Though it's hard to explain, there's a reason blogs are popular. Could be a voyeuristic tendency that's just part of human nature?

But not all blogs are all that interesting. Some of them are packed with the dreary minutia of empty lives. Scrolling through one of these is like being forced to watch a slide show of your neighbors cruise to Alaska. The difference, it seems, is so obvious. It's the same reason one book works and another one doesn't. It's the writing.

We don't often think of a blog as a literary form, but why not? What is a blogger really doing if not telling a story? Maybe that's the way to think of Heather Armstrong's acclaimed and wildly popular blog - dooce.com.

It's not so much a daily entry as another in a collection of mini-memoires or short stories. Tonight, Heather Armstrong will be with us to talk about her life as one of the most successful bloggers in cyber-space. She's learned a thing or two over the seven years she's been at this - like where you draw the line - what's too personal. It's hard to know the boundary in a form that thrives on brutal honesty.

Visit Heather's website at dooce.com.

Filed under the following topic(s): Society and Community, Arts and Culture.