There is a very nice saying from the movie The Dead Pool:

Opinions are like assholes. Everybody’s got one and everyone thinks everyone else’s stinks.

Blogging is a glamorous way of sharing your opinion. On the big stage. Where many people can come and read what you have to say. If they agree with you, they link to you. If they don’t, they blog about it and link to you. Either way, your opinion is reaching more people. If you’re influential, your opinion can push people into action. But that’s the keyword, isn’t it? Influential.

Every where you read on the rise of blogs as a medium of communication, you will see the word ‘personal’ attached to the list. There is nothing personal about journalism. That deals with stating hard facts and speculating on the future based on past facts and present scenario. Nowhere do you see a “Personally, I think that’s wrong”, because personal opinion is not allowed in journalism which is supposed to remain unbiased and neutral. We read newspapers every, and I’ve made my case rather clearly in the past.

Over at #indiawits, what started as a ranting and defending session quickly became a debate on the technicalities of the concept of “blogging”. I stick to the notion of opinionated blogging being the best kind, because it’s not (always) decorated to get more people to read what you write. I agree with @hiway that there is a civilised way of sharing opinions that does not resort to name calling. John Gruber does that (a writer I admire), and so does Wired; it still doesn’t make them any less bloggers or influential. It just means they have an opinion which people don’t agree with. That’s a part of the word, that not everybody will agree with you.

A diplomatic, neutral blogger will never be influential. Simply because he has no opinion which might influence others. They will read, informed (since there is nothing to agree or disagree) and move on. He might get a ‘Well said Jack’ mail from a few of his readers, but that’s probably the crux of it.

I’ll restate something I said from the chat that, on retrospection, was pretty apt:

If you don’t have an opinion, you don’t belong to your blog