Journals – What makes a good blog post?
Writing a blog post is different than writing an essay. It is less structured, more informal and includes your opinion. There is no set length, in terms of words or numbers of paragraphs. That isn’t to say there aren’t expectations for your posts. Felix Salmon, a financial blogger for Reuters, has this to say about blogging:
Blogs are a conversation. Remember that. They’re not a sermon, they’re not a news article, they’re much closer to a discussion in the pub, or sometimes a graduate seminar. They can be funny, or serious, or angry; they can be two words or 20,000 words long; they can be pretty much whatever you want them to be, including heavily reported. But they’re distinguished by having voice, which is one necessary part of a conversation.
I want you to notice a couple of things about the information above. First, Mr. Salmon’s name is a link to his blog. This allows an interested reader to find his most recent posts. Second, I’ve included a link, using the word blogging, to the post that I excerpted. This is the equivalent of a footnote in a formal essay. I don’t expect footnotes; I do expect links to any statistics or research that you use to support your arguments. Third, I’ve excerpted a portion of his post on blogging to help make my point. As long as a link to the original post is present and the excerpt is indented (use the quote button on the toolbar) this is acceptable. It isn’t plagiarism as I have sourced the material and made it clear that the writing isn’t mine.
Links are a key feature of blogging. They allow the reader to further explore ideas and opinions that are related to the post. They also allow the reader to check the origin of statistics to determine for themselves the relevance and reliability of the source. You need to do some research for your posts. Incorporate links to these sites in your post if and when they help enhance the depth and/or breadth of your arguments.
Your posts are supposed to include your opinion but it must be an informed opinion. What is an informed opinion? It is an opinion that uses facts, statistics, and valid research to support well-reasoned conclusions. I could have an opinion that the world is flat but objective, scientific evidence would prove me wrong. It is an uninformed opinion. It could be my opinion that all government spending is unnecessary and wasteful but a reasonable person could point out any number of areas (policing, justice system, military, education) where at least some minimum government expenditures are necessary. I’m looking for well-reasoned arguments not hyperbole and exaggeration.
Any blog post worth reading will employ proper spelling and grammar. Proof-read your work (this is definitely a case of doing as your teacher says not as your teacher does!). You should also have some form of conclusion. It doesn’t need to be as formal as one that you would write for an essay but you do need to end your post by coming to some conclusion.
Check the rubric to see if your post meets the expectations. Make sure your follow the links in the original journal post. I try to lead you towards interesting and reputable sites to help you with your research. I try, wherever possible, to separate the sources that use more positive statements from the sources that use more normative statements.
Some examples of different styles and approaches to blogging.
First some economics and finance blogs (you may not understand everything in these posts yet as we haven’t studied these topics but hopefully you can get a sense of the different arguments and perspectives on the issues). Just because I selected these posts, it doesn’t mean I agree with everything in them and not that my agreement should matter. Don’t change your opinion on an issue simply because you want to agree with my perspective. Students last semester presented well-reasoned arguments for ideas that I didn’t agree with but still received full marks.
Felix Salmon
Jobless Benefits Extension Will Reduce Unemployment, Not Increase It (notice how he uses links and quotes to present multiple perspectives on the issue and refutes the perspectives he doesn’t agree with using clear, well-reasoned rebuttals, he then comes to a clear conclusion)
Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize-Winning Economist, Columnist and Blogger for the New York Times
Mr. Krugman’s blog entries are normally shorter than what I am expecting but he is remarkably good at breaking down difficult concepts into easy-to-understand points as well as using facts to support his arguments. A few of my favourites:
- Gradual Trends and Extreme Events (on global warming and extreme weather)
- Multidimensional Europe (considers multiple perspectives, uses facts and statistics to support arguments)
- Economics and Morality (this post has a clear opinion and uses some evidence to support it – it does, however, include a number of arguments presented as positive statements when they might be better considered normative statements (example below) – when you win a Nobel Prize you can make statements like this, until then include some evidence (proved to be the road to hell how?)
Utopia, of perfect economic justice, has proved to be the road to hell, while welfare-state capitalism — a market economy with its rough edges smoothed by a strong safety net — has produced the most decent societies ever known.
Eric Schoenberg, Associate Director, Center for Decision Sciences, Columbia Business School writing for the Huffington Post
- Zombie Economics and Just Deserts: Why the Right Is Winning the Economic Debate (notice all the links, the clear rebuttals to multiple perspectives and the specific recommendation at the end of the post)
Greg Mankiw, Economist, Harvard Professor
- On Inequality (clearly structured arguments, uses research to support arguments, comes to a clear conclusion)
And for a non-economic blog…
John Scalzi (sci-fi author and long-time blogger)
- On teenage writing (longer entry, notice the structure and clear thesis – the language is relatively informal but it works for the style of the entry)
- On How Many Times I Should Get Paid For a Book (notice the link to the origins of the topic, this is a well-reasoned opinion that considers multiple perspectives on the issue)
- Being Poor (not a great example of what I expect but a very interesting look into what poor means)
Read at least three of these blog posts and comment on their strengths and weaknesses in the comment section for this post.
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-Gradual Trends and Extreme Events (Paul Krugman)
Krugman makes a very complicated topic seem very simple to the average reader. He uses graphs to make his point in a clear manner. These aspects are very positive and enhance the blog.
The weaknesses of this blog are that Krugman may have simplified the issue too much and therefore did not include all of the necessary details to look at this issue from many different angles.
-On How Many Times I Should Get Paid For a Book (John Scalzi)
This blog is strong in the way it looks at many different possible situations in which someone could pay/not pay for a book once or twice and expresses his opinion on the matter quite clearly.
The issue with this blog is that the author is in fact an author of a book and therefore has one sided views on the issue. He does not include many perspectives on the topic and therefore does not go into enough depth with the topic.
-Jobless Benefits Extension Will Reduce Unemployment, Not Increase It (Felix Salmon)
Salmon is very good at making sure that many points of view are included in his blog. He has many quotes from a number of sources and this is very effective.
On the other hand, Salmon’s blog sounds more like a lecture than a conversation piece. This made me not enjoy reading this blog as much as the others.
GRADUAL TRENDS AND EXTREME EVENT
Strenght: concise to the point and well explained
Weakness: left the article too vague by failing to show the extremes
BEING POOR
Strenght: touch the reader (emotional), to the point, making each point an argument on its own
Weakness: no thesis; no point to prove; no different views; repetitive structure
INEQUALITY
Strength: clear arguments and opinion; supported and understanding of the material; research supported
Weakness: use of non- reliable resource
Felix Salmon’s Jobless Benefits Extension Will Reduce Unemployment, Not Increase It
I liked that Mr. Salmon’s article was clear, simple, and fairly easy to follow. It was also very “well-rounded” and diverse in views and quotes. Unfortunately, I feel that, rather than write and explain his economic beliefs, Mr. Salmon is using the words and explanations of other people to do so. This patchwork/mosaic effect of the many quotes did not make me feel as if Mr. Salmon was talking – it was as if he were bombarding us with many views and announcing which were right and which were wrong. Perhaps that is why Erica mentioned that “Salmon’s blog sounds more like a lecture…”.
Paul Krugman’s Economics and Morality
The issues in Mr. Krugman’s post are very easy to understand, as is his opinion. Even though the topic has been simplified, he makes note that there are many more factors at play. The introduction to this post is jarring and is slightly confusing without having clicked on the links for background info. Throughout the piece, I wish for Mr. Krugman to bring up some statistics or theories for which to back up (or explain) his opinion.
Greg Manikw’s On Inequality
Of all the economic blog posts I’ve read to-date, Mr. Manikw’s uses facts and external links to back-up his point rather than using his opinion. Even though he is very knowledgeable and educated in his field, Mr. Manikw does not explain key concepts or theories, making the article slightly daunting for anyone not fluent in “Economese”. Although the post (and his opinion) is clear, and well-written, one must ask: where did the conclusion go?
10 Things Teenage Writers Should Know
It was an engaging read, and his arguments were broken down into concise points that were easy to follow. While I found his tone to be overly sarcastic and a tad bit condescending, it was more than made up for by his insightful suggestions and unique perspective.
I don’t think this post has any weakness per se, as it is a simple opinion piece with tips he would give to teen writers. However, if I had to single something out, I’ll comment once again on the tone of his writing: the blogger seems to have a pretty big ego, and periodically flaunts his achievements (more so in his follow up post “On Teens, and the Fact Their Writing Sucks”). While intentionally ironic, his remark (“Also, authors are prone to offer unsolicited advice to new writers on their sites, because it makes us feel all mature and established to bloviate on the subject.”) may be closer to the truth than he thinks.
On Inequality
Much like the first post I commented on, Mankiw’s observations were also clear and logically broken down into subpoints. His links were helpful and made it easier to find out extra info. As a result, his post was easy to understand, even for readers with a limited grasp of economics.
However, Mankiw does not offer a clear opinion on the magnitude of government interference in correcting inequality. Instead, he concedes that “Economists can help with the economic part of the disagreement, but we have no comparative advantage to help with the philosophical part”. Consequently, his post left more to be desired.
Economics and Morality
As with the other two posts, Krugman supported his ideas with concise (albeit unoriginal) arguments and informative links. He also has a clear voice/tone, and his inequality-directed annoyance gives the post a human touch.
However, I found that the post wasn’t particularly insightful; inequality of opportunity has been a hot topic for a while, and Krugmen hasn’t brought anything new to the table. The sole point I found interesting (“Utopia, of perfect economic justice, has proved to be the road to hell, while welfare-state capitalism — a market economy with its rough edges smoothed by a strong safety net — has produced the most decent societies ever known.”) was left unsupported, when in fact, it was too controversial to not warrant an explanation.
John Scalzi – Teenage Writing
I admire his style of writing because of its informality. The conversation-like article really attracted my teenage readership. I was very relaxed throughout the article because he rarely used any fancy, unfamiliar words to make his writing look better. However, I find his writing a little hard to finish since he writes a little too much on one subject.
Paul Krugman – Economics and Morality
After reading his work, I can now understand why he is such a respected economist and writer. I admire how he kept this article so short while expressing his ideas through clear examples and counter explanations. I barely found any weaknesses in his writing, but if I had to pick one, it may be that he uses a lot of technical terms that a regular reader like me may not understand as clearly.
Greg Mankiw
I also admire the writer’s characteristics similar to those of the aforementioned Paul Krugman. He’s clear to the point yet descriptive of difficult concepts. His work also contained links to some topics that required further explanation, which was very helpful. To be honest I couldn’t really find and weaknesses in his articles neither.
Paul Krugman – Gradual Trends & Extreme Events
Strengths: very clear, concise, easy to understand. Diagrams help illustrate his point and links are relevant and useful as well. Conclusion clearly stated
Weaknesses: feels too short and over-simplified. Krugman mentions an opposing viewpoint at the beginning, but doesn’t actually elaborate on it until near his conclusion; introduction of the “misunderstanding” he wished to clarify earlier in the post would have made more sense.
Greg Mankiw – On Inequality
Strengths: Concise and clearly structured, with alternate viewpoints considered and dismissed; conclusion clearly reached.
Weaknesses: Links are helpful, but some of them link to Wikipedia which (although the Wiki articles are wonderfully informative) doesn’t feel professional
John Scalzi – Teenage Writing
Strengths: Well structured, key points/advice are clearly stated and stressed
Weaknesses: (perhaps due to the nature of the subject matter) lack of strongm factual links to support opinion, seemed like mostly subjective advice
Gradual Trends and Extreme Event
Strengths: Topic is simplified enough for the reading to understand easily. Uses graphs in an effective way.
Weaknesses: Overly simplified. Feels unprofessional with colloquial words.
On Equality
Strengths: Organized into point forms to allow each point to stand out separately. Concise and easy to read. Provides links to difficult terms.
Weaknesses: Does not explain every term or difficult phrase. Links to Wikipedia which makes it seems unprofessional.
Jobless Benefits Extension Will Reduce Unemployment, Not Increase It
Strengths: Use of quotes from other reliable sources. Structured nicely.
Weaknesses: Too many quotes. Too formal.
Jobless Benefits Extension Will Reduce Unemployment, Not Increase It (Felix Salmon)
Salmon seemed to be well informed as he compiled a variety of opinions on the extension of jobless benefits. Salmon also does a good job of adding links to the sources of his information as each quote is accompanied by one such link. However, I did not feel like it was a blog post as Salmon did not express much of his own opinion in his own words but rather backed up and summarized certain opinions and refuted others. Because of this, his blog post did not seem as unified and the flow at times felt choppy.
Gradual Trends and Extreme Events (Paul Krugman)
Krugman does an excellent job of simplifying the topic making it easy for someone who doesn’t know a lot about climate change like me to understand what he is saying. I especially appreciated the use of graphs as they were able to effectively communicate Krugman’s point in a visual way. However, he may have oversimplified the topic and did not cover the cases of extreme weather events. He simply defined extreme events to be when the temperature exceeded a certain threshold. In addition to this, Krugman should have included specific examples of recent extreme weather events that readers can relate to. This would have enhanced Kurgman’s blog post as it would have allowed readers to see the connection to their own lives and to observe its relevance.
On Inequality (Greg Mankiw)
Even though the question presented at the beginning of the blog post was broad, Mankiw does an excellent job in addressing the most important and most prominent topics when it comes to inequality. He is very thorough and includes many sources to back up his points. However, Mankiw uses a lot of economic jargon in his blog post making it difficult for people who have not been exposed to economic terms and concepts before. He includes Wikipedia as one of his sources which undermines the reputability of the information in his blog post.
On How Many Times I Should Get Paid For a Book
This is a well written blog post where the author talked about different aspects of the issue and shared his opinion about what he thinks is acceptable and what is not when it comes to not paying for the book the second time of acquiring it. I especially liked his simple language and casual way of writing, as a reader it was easier to engage in the article. One thing that I found was weak was that it was too wordy, in-spite of the fact it was easy to understand, I was impatient to read his conclusion.
Economics And Morality
Krugman’s blog post is concise and to the point, in his few hundred words he was able to introduce and discuss the issue and share his insight. Although it was short, it did not lack in humor and it included all the essential elements needed for the readers to understand and possibly reflect on his ideas. This blog post did not have any obvious weaknesses, but the intro paragraph was somewhat difficult to understand because of the technical terms, but I’m sure the intended audience was not targeted at high school economic students.
Teenage Writing
The author’s casual tone is easy for me to follow his ideas and logic, as well his simple language and conversational way of writing easily engages the target audience teenager like me, however, the blog post was very long which can make teenagers readers lose interest and patience, as a result, they may be tempted to stop half way and not read rest of the tips on writing.
Being Poor (John Scalzi)
Strengths: The phrasing of the posts, coupled with the content, relates to the reader very well. There is a very defined tone and that is: practicality. This blog has a target audience: the middle to lower class (economically speaking). By focusing on this specific group of people, Scalzi can better determine how his blog should be constructed. Every post is phrased the same way and ending with what the practical definition of “being poor” actually is. The tone is very sympathetic (or quite possibly, comical, given that you are the 1 out of 10 high-class person who stumbles on to this blog) . With posts such as: “Being poor is a heater in only one room of the house” and “Being poor is thinking $8 an hour is a really good deal.”, Scalzi’s tone truly connects with his intended audience financially (boo-hoo).
Weakness: By focusing on the middle-to-lower class, this blog does not really attract the high-class people. And, as we’ve seen many times in the world of business (and essentially the social structure as we know it), its the people with the big money that really influence the world. This blog would typically not catch the eye of a celebrity (whatever that means nowadays), so it would generally mean that its reputation is springing from quantity (of viewers), as opposed to quality.
Global Trends and Extreme Events (Paul Krugman)
Weakness: As the blog pops up before my eyes, I feel a wave of boredom wash over me. The giant boxes of text, the face of some really old dude, the uninteresting photos, all these little components come together and make me feel like just opening this blog for the purpose of letting it waste a tab slot on my Google chrome web browser.
Strengths: The content is very informative and interesting. Given that you know a little bit about global issues, you might actually like it (yes , I admit I don’t really pay attention to what is happening around the world, but isn’t that every typical teenager in North America today?).
Jobless Benefits Extension Will Reduce Unemployment, Not Increase It (Felix Salmon)
Weaknesses: Like the Paul Krugman, the big block of texts make me feel really bored. Plus the advertisements are placed in very strategic and eye-catching spots (as an economist, I applaud the effectiveness of the advertisers, but as a person reading a blog, I hate it), distracting me as I read.
Strengths: This is kind of weird, but I feel like the use of red text really has an effect on readers. It almost subconsciously motivates people to take action (I don’t know , it’s just the effect of red). So readers not only gain information, but they kind of already want to do something about it. Plus there are well-placed links in a bearable quantity (maybe to counter-balance the excessive and abundant advertisements?) that help further connect and inform readers on the blog post.
Gradual Trends and Extreme Events:
Strengths: The post is easy to follow and easy to understand. The author also uses graphs to help make his point clear. It’s also short enough and simplified enough that someone who does not know too much about climate won’t get bored half-way through and stop reading.
Weaknesses: I think the author over-simplified the content of his blog post. He only touches on the opposing views that he presents in the beginning of the post without actually going into detail.
On Inequality:
Strengths: This post is very structured, clear, and concise. The author comes to a clear conclusion after looking at multiple viewpoints and providing adequate evidence.
Weaknesses: The author does not provide much background information at all, so for the people not familiar with the terms or topic, they may not be able to follow along. The author also links a wiki page as evidence, which takes away from the professionalism that is presented.
On How Many Times I Should Get Paid For a Book
Strengths: This post was very easy to follow and very easy to understand. The author presented a lot of examples and different viewpoints, as well as came to a clear conclusion.
Weaknesses: Although this post was very easy to follow and understand, I think the author provided a lot more examples than he needed to, making the post overall slightly long and redundant. Some people just don’t need ten examples to understand what you’re trying to say.
On Inequality
Pro:clear points, a lot of road mapping for the readers
Pro:thought provoking
Con:did not fully explore the issues, especially on how government should interfere
Economics and Morality
Pro:a lot of good links that provided information
Con:too informational and did not point out new developments with equality projects in our world today
Teenage Writing
Pro: great research about the domain (readers)
Con: focused too much on one single area (feels like beating a dead horse)
On Ineuqality
This blog post has clearly marked paragraphs divided into concise points. This blog post has a strong introduction which smoothly transitions into the main points of the article. This blog post has strong flow and has a professional tone. It is believeable.
However, this blog post contains a lot of terminology, and is confusing at some points. Perhaps a little expansion or more specific examples would improve it.
Zombie Economics and Just Deserts: Why the Right Is Winning the Economic Debate
Communicates extremely well a complicated economic issue. Gives great explanations of the various situations written about, and is written very convincingly. This blog post seems very well thought out and supported, with a clear line of logic.
However, the topics it covers are sometimes too complicated, and some more time would have been well spent explaining the relationship between hunter gatherer groups and the subject.
Gradual Trends and Extreme Events
I very much enjoyed how concisely and directly the author made his point. I enjoyed the graphs and found them very useful. As well, the author centrally refutes a main point of the argument opposing him. This blog post was short, to the point, and effective.
What I found was weak in the blog post was once again its brevity. I feel like the author could have made a much stronger argument about global warming with a longer blog post. On its own, the blog post makes a point, but it is a very small one. If anything, it feels like the smaller part of a larger post.
On Teenage Writing:
The author conveys to the reader a strong sense of voice. We perceive the author as a character within his own story, rather than the narrator of some factual, unbiased account. The sense of voice is enhanced by the author’s reference to pictures, and informal tone. The reader feels comfortable, ready to listen to whatever the author has to say. This informality seems to give the author more credibility, as it feels like a trusted expert sitting down to talk to the reader at a table. The tone is supportive, informative, and helpful. The informality breaks barriers between the author and the reader, and in doing so strengthens the relationship between the two. The author also supports his points with support from linked articles and writing samples. One area for improvement, however, is the author’s lack of clarity in writing. Naturally, the informal tone makes way for less precise writing. Clarity and precision of language are harder to achieve when trying to convey a natural sense of writing.
How Many Times I Should Get Paid For a Book:
This author also makes a point of supporting his arguments with linked articles. Again the author conveys a strong sense of voice. Readers *enjoy* reading the article because it doesn’t feel like reading a textbook. It feels like having a conversation with a really entertaining and insightful person. He uses all kinds of lingo to connect with readers, and it works. He also makes a strong conclusion and comes to one definite point. There’s no confusion as to what he’s arguing.
Multidimensional Europe:
This guy starts with the word “troll”! Great! I’m hooked. What more does he have to say? Of course, it’s a little difficult to follow what he says afterward, as he tends to get a bit technical. He also includes links and visual aids, but the graph does little to entice a reader and more to support points. That’s great, but there needs to be more incentive for a reader to stay invested, as he grows a bit more formal as he references technical terms. The article ends quickly, however, so there’s no real concern.
Economics and Morality:
Strengths:
Krugman raises a very well-reasoned argument against absolute free-market capitalism, explaining how it defeats it’s own intended purpose of ‘equal opportunity’ clearly and simply, rarely resorting to using economic jargon.
Weaknesses:
Welfare-state capitalism is presented as if it were the only other option, but there are countless alternatives. As a result, no evidence is given to support the claim that it is in fact, better than free market capitalism.
Zombie Economics:
Strengths:
Well argued, well supported arguments, backed with lots of evidence. Manages to address bias in others’ arguments while remaining fairly objective themselves.
Weaknesses:
Schoenberg is incredibly long-winded in raising his solutions to the free market problems.
On How Many Times I Should Get Paid For a Book:
Strengths:
Considers many perspectives, not simply addressing them, but understanding them. Fitting level of formality, written as if it were a personal note to the reader, and the reader alone. Raises intelligent points about the morality of purchasing media.
Weaknesses:
Does not acknowledge those who wish to be paid multiple times. Does little in the way of evidence (although it may not be entirely necessary, based on how rooted in opinion this piece is)
Jobless Benefits Extension Will Reduce Unemployment, Not Increase It
Strengths
- The blogger puts forth multiple perspectives of the same issue (jobless benefits). These perspectives are put forth using opinions of authorities such as Peter Coy, Kelly Evans etc, who are all from formidable backgrounds and experiences
- His approach to quote blog post to present different views is excellent because it feels like he wants the reader to see the original opinions of the different authorities without any authenticity lost in understanding.
Weaknesses
- The author could have been better off with more media (pictures, videos, animations) to make the blog seem less wordy.
- The blog did little to present the author’s own opinion, instead, it focused on other opinions and refuted some.
On How Many Times I Should Get Paid For A Book
Strengths
- The article was easy-to-understand and engaging due to its casual language
- The article clearly demonstrated his opinion
Weaknesses
- The article was wordy and repetitive. The author kept repeating the same things (Holy Macaroons! Shut up! We get it! Do you have something else?)
Gradual Trends and Extreme Events
Strengths
- The article is very reader-friendly and doesn’t make you feel like you are reading it for homework. It is concise, easy-to-understand and the graphs effectively demonstrate his point.
Weaknesses
- The article offered only one view of the author.
- The article was too concise to the point where it felt that the author could provide a little more background.
ON INEQUALITY
Weaknesses
There was no conclusion, it abruptly ended. However, I might be wrong… After all he is the chairman of the economics department at Harvard. The lack of a real introduction is present. It did not seem attention capturing at all.
Strengths
The blog had nice flow. Everything was not just giant chunks of texts being thrown at you. His section were organized accordingly and this was quite easy to read. He used links for places where confusion might arise, such as when using acronyms.
ECONOMICS AND MORALITY
Weaknesses
The introduction was very hard to read. I had to read it multiple times and even then I still didn’t really understand it. So I skipped it.
Strengths
Effective usage of links because who knows who Mark Thoma and Eric Schoeneberg is. Everything else is pretty easy to follow and understand as well.
MULTIDIMENSIONAL EUROPE
Weaknesses
Not enough links to help normal people with the economic jargon.
Strengths
He starts of very strong and attention capturing with a well written introduction.
Gradual trends and extreme events
Strength: It’s very easy to understand and the graphs provide great illustrations and support the author’s points. The link attached regarding the record high of the temperatures also made the article more convincing since we know that he’s not just expressing an opinion or assumption.
Weakness: The author could have also talked about extreme cold conditions so readers can also know about the other side of the story. Putting more relevant examples could have made it more interesting and cause the readers to actually care about the article.
On Inequality
Strength: Each paragraph focused on a central point or idea. The flow and the organization of each paragraphs make it easier for readers to follow through.
Weakness: Some of the terminologies that he used are a bit hard to understand. He could have briefly explained them on his post and gave more examples to expand on his opinions.
Being Poor
Strength: The post is thought provoking and really opens the eyes of the readers about poverty. It leaves a strong impact to the readers.
Weakness: The author used anaphora to emphasize on what being poor really is but he used it to excessively considering the length of the post. The emphasis wears off as you read it and makes it less interesting. Some points are kind of exaggerated and the post overall is too opinionated. There aren’t really any proofs that these things actually happen.