My chosen blog is called englishrussia.com, a blog devoted to all things Russia. I have always had an interest in Russian affairs so this came naturally. What drew me to this blog was their use of imagery as a primer for written commentary. For instance, it is common knowledge among Russiophiles that the roads in that country are in deplorable condition. To best convey this, for instance, there is a photo, posted January 16th, of a car which was swallowed up by a road which had fell into disrepair. This more powerfully illustrates the neglect of the Russian transportation than mere words. Each photo is accompanied by a small commentary relating the who, what, when, where, and why. Each post has a section for readers to make comments on the photo. Although, like any forum for internet publication, comments will often reflect idiocy, belligerence, or unwanted commercial solicitation, these comments are often valuable because they reflect a heterogeneous experience of reading the blog. People from all over the world, and many Russians in particular, are quick to defend their country in the face of less than flattering photographs. In truth, many of the posts do reinforce Western negative presuppositions about Russia; i.e. posts showing ramshackle apartment buildings or mountains of trash. But there are also many beautiful images of a pristine Arctic snow or an ice sculpture of the Kremlin.
Anyone can post images on this blog, although registration is required. Apparently the site is quite popular, as there is ad space on the site. These adverts are generally focused on an audience interested in Russia, offering travel deals to Russia or items of Soviet kitsch. This, and the fact that it is updated often a few dozen times a day, lends englishrussia to a slightly jumbled feel. It does not link to other websites, which is odd considering that many blogs centered around a particular theme love to link to other blogs of the same theme. But they do sell ad space, so they might not want the user navigating away from their site.
Ultimately, englishrussia.com encourages you to draw your own conclusions about the chosen subjects, eschewing lengthy analysis by a digital gatekeeper in favor of a more egalitarian approach. The power of the image resonates with the user, and coupled with differing opinions from other users, only enhances the famous mystery that surrounds the Russian land.
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