Pare $1$ Underline each expression that should not be used in academic writing. These include contractions, shortened forms, slang, and vague words. Can you imagine what the Internet was like before bloggers started doing their thing? Jorn Barger was among the first dudes to write a blog. He used the word weblog to describe the stuff he wrote; later the term was shortened to blog. People write blogs abour lots of topics. Tons of people use blogs in the way that people have used personal journals in the past. Ive kept a handwritten journal, and that's okay, but keeping a blog is way better. Other people use blogs to share opinions on things commonly discussed in letters to the editor of a newspaper. More people seem totally comfortable writing blogs, though, perhaps because they don't feel so much pressure to be grammatically correct. Blogs offer writers a nice way to connect with others interested in the same issues. Blogs have lotsa different looks; some look totally amateurish, and others are quit