I really enjoyed our meeting today. Marco’s English was great! He really as a great sense of humor and knows how to use it. I can see why he has 10,000 + “hits” a day on his blog site. I think that it’s really cool that so many people are interested in what he thinks and what his opinions are on certain subjects. I like that he doesn’t focus on celebrities, but focuses mostly on Peruvian politics. I think that it benefits the people of Peru because the blog is telling the stories as they are without sugar coating them. I think that Marco is doing a great job of getting the information to his viewers with a touch of humor.

Getting to talk Marco about his blogging was probably my favorite part of the day. I liked that we got to sit down directly and casually while he explained his career as a blogger. I thought his passion for what he does and his code of morality were great to listen to. Its interesting to listen to him talk about how writing what he believes has afforded him a career in such a shacky profession that’s typically a hobby.

It was interesting to see what a simple young man Marco turned out to be, despite the internet hype that supposedly has sprung up around his persona in the recent past here in Peru. As we found out today – Wednesday – during our tour of the “America” TV Station, as a response to the growing interest in his online activities, he’s been invited numerous times to be a guest on that TV station’s syndicated talk shows.

Obviously blogging is a rather controversial issue, especially from the point of view of the upper echelons that used to have tighter control over what information gets out to the public and at what rate it could spread. Like I said in the first paragraph, Marco’s just an average, fun, young guy, anything short of an egotistical pop culture maniac eager to use modern information technology for the furtherance of his own ego.

That said, his growing celebrity status within the realm of alternative media here in Peru is very unique, as only a handful of people so far have been able to reach a status comparable to his. To me it didn’t exactly appear as if Marco’s newly found semi-celebrity status causes him all that much distress, and it remains to be seen how he can handle the situation and whether or not he will be in a position to maintain an independent status, refusing to fall into an automatism of blogging for his own sake, as opposed to freedom of information’s sake.

And although his blog isn’t about celebrities or boulevard events per se, one of the main stories he was involved in dealt with extramarital activities of a Peruvian presidential candidate. That, I thought, was quite TMZ or Perez Hilton-esque, and for somebody holding ambitions to be a serious journalist – albeit in a non-traditional media setting – stories like this should remain anecdotal side notes, yielding center stage to more pressing issues that determine and influence the livelihoods of countless Peruvian people.

Given the public interest his blog has stirred up, I’d love to see Marco use this status in order to draw more attention to issues that affect people in more ways than to provide them with ammunition for the early morning water cooler conversation in the office the next day.

By re-publishing a story (and corresponding youtube video) about a high-ranking Peruvian military general informally having made dangerous comments about Chile, a neighboring state notoriously having rather bumpy diplomatic relations with Peru, he seems to be taking his blog in just such a direction.

mi inglés no es tan bueno como para transmitir mi bochorno ante tanta buena onda. i just wanna say thanks for your kind words. hopefully we’ll meet again.

Your are Great. And so is your site! Awesome content. Good job guys! Interesting article, adding it to my favourites!

i really enjoyed the meeting .i started following the tips given by marco in blogging i hope one day i will become like marco