My Journey Through This Magical Land we Call the Blogosphere

When deciding what issue I wanted to blog about I realized I needed to feel passionate about it or I would never be able to really get into the project. I chose punishment vs. rehabilitation because I knew exactly how I felt on the issue. Now looking back, I fear that may have hindered my ability to remain unbiased. Although I tried to give unbiased information when it came to the links I provided and to show both opinions through the quotes I gave, it was always clear how I stood on the issue. I think it is important to know and say what you believe, but it should never polarize your readers. I hope this never occurred in my blog.
Although I entered the blogosphere with a clear idea of how I felt on the issue, as I became more informed on the topic and read more comments from my readers I began finding inconsistencies within my own opinion. I never stopped believing that rehabilitation should be the main purpose of the criminal justice system, but I did find myself stumped when asked about the effectiveness of rehabilitation for white collar crimes such as fraud. Issues were brought to my attention that I had not yet considered such as victim rights which seem to be pushed aside when you are dealing with an issue like rehabilitation for criminals. I found myself reading about crimes (such as the Austrian father who kidnapped and rapped his daughter for 24 years keeping her locked underneath their house) that seemed so unforgivable that my gut instinct was that they should rot in prison and not be given the chance to reform. Yet these feelings went against the basic premise of my argument for rehabilitation. I wanted to write that rehabilitation should be for most but not all, yet to say that seemed like trying to weasel my way out of holding a strong opinion and it also opened up a whole other can of worms about what qualifies you as someone who deserves rehabilitation. As I dug deeper into the issue, the harder it became to hold strong to my confident earlier opinion.
Another struggle I faced was balancing the information I gave in my blog while keeping it entertaining and interesting. Most evidence regarding rehabilitation is found in examples of successful programs, yet you can only do so many blogs that explain different programs before that gets old. To add some variety I included posts about celebrities, posts with quotes, and other somewhat off topic posts. Although I think this kept readers more interested, it limited the amount of on-point information they received on my issue.
Sadly, one of the hardest obstacle I came across was keeping to the deadlines of each blog post. I have always been a procrastinator and working last minute is when I work best. Because of this, the flexibility of the blog project became both a blessing and a burden. The assigned postings rarely came on time yet I do not feel this hindered my blogs ability to make its point.
Overall, my experience creating this blog was extremely positive. I have become very interested in the opinions of my readers and their comments have truly helped me better understand my own topic. Reading other blogs has allowed me to read views I would never have thought about. I also read views that although I disagree with I was able to further strengthen my own opinion by knowing them. Although my deeper knowledge of the issue of rehabilitation vs. punishment in the criminal justice system has also deepened my confusion around it, I feel that my overall understanding of its complexity has greatly increased.
It is not enough to have an opinion, you must also know why you hold it.