The Surge of Blogging at Orem High

In recent years, many students at Orem High have taken to blogging for a variety of reasons. Some began writing in blogs as a means for communicating with friends outside of school, others use their blogs as a replacement for a journal or diary, and other students simply started blogs because everyone else seems to have one. Another percentage of the student body doesn’t have a blog, but still enjoys reading them.

Angie Joseph, a senior, started her blog because “[my friend] Hyrum had a blog and I was like, I’ll start a blog, why not?” Kaitlyn Shute, another Orem High senior, said she started her blog because “it was a hobby of another one of my friends. I wanted to try it and I ended up loving it.” Another blogger and Orem High Senior, Sarah Hamilton, when asked how she feels about running a blog said that “it feels like it’s my live journal almost.”

Common topics that are written about on blogs range from talk about fashion trends, rants about their daily struggles and experiences, and banter about music and media. According to Kaitlyn Shute, her blog is a place to write about “events and things that happen in my life and opinions.” Sarah Hamilton prefers making posts about “outfits that I wear and fun events in my life”. Hyrum DeGering, another senior, say that his blog is to “point out the worldly compliments people give each other and to give out advice.”

Personally, I like the idea of running a blog because it allows me to have an informal outlet to express my opinions and ideas while also providing me with space to be creative and receive feedback. According to Angie Joseph, she enjoys blogging because “in real life, when I talk to people I talk about shallow things, but on my blog I can talk about what I want.”

While other students don’t have their blogs, they enjoy reading those of their friends and acquaintances. Kaitlyn Shute said that whether she likes a blog “depends on the author,” she said that “some of my closest friends she just blog about their lives and others blog about recipes and home decoration and fashion and that’s fun too because I don’t know them. It’s different.” Hyrum DeGering says that he enjoys reading blogs about “art, fashion, food, or art design.”