In the age of Web 2.0 everyone and anyone is trying to get noticed for their 15 minutes in the spotlight. Is blogging in a saturated environment worth it? Are we really affecting change and being a guiding voice? If not, you should probably stop blogging.Hmm. It touches on why I've never successfully managed to blog for very long so far, and is making me consider once again why I should take the time or make the effort to blog now (aside from that it's a class assignment). After all, the world is full of blogs. Who needs another blog?
One reason, and the main reason my husband blogs sometimes, is to find connections. Somewhat counterintutively, it sometimes helps to broadcast your interests and ideas if your ideas are a little strange and need to find a narrow audience - harnessing Karim Lakhani's "broadcast search" idea, which I referred to in my crowdsourcing project. If you can send out a call not only in a public space, but that is persistent over time, you have a much wider reach and a better chance of your message getting to exactly the person who's interested in what you're saying, whom you'd be interested to talk with too. I certainly think that's a valid reason. I'm not sure that what I have to say is very unusual, but I like the idea of having a better chance of making contact with someone who'll like it or find it useful.
Another reason is to gain a sense of my time longitudinally, an idea that's motivated pretty much all journaling forever. It's so easy to lose track of what I thought a week ago, a month ago, last year, or even yesterday sometimes. Life moves ahead quickly, and faster all the time, and it becomes more and more expedient to surf the now and navigate the stream of information and experience as it goes past, ever in the present. There are definite benefits to this, if you can really manage it, but I think I lose things as well, a certain level of perspective and self-knowledge. Perhaps keeping better track of my path will restore some of that longer view.
Both of these ideas largely benefit me (although I'd hope the first one could benefit someone else if what I'm saying is useful to them), but I think there's a larger reason, and that is to take active part in the dialogue of the world. We have unprecedented tools to see the scope of humanity in the modern world, but they're of no use unless a diverse population steps up and takes hold of them. Every person who adds a bit to our story makes it richer, shows reality more accurately, doesn't leave the record in the hands of the powerful and their created vision. Is my life and my viewpoint Terribly Important in a traditional sense? Perhaps not, but that doesn't mean my voice, even in the aggregate, is useless. My life exists. Speaking about it is respecting my deeply held democratic viewpoint that everyone is worth hearing, every view is unique and impossible to duplicate, every story adds a dimension to history and to the fabric of human experience. Perhaps someone will find individual value in examining my particular thread, but either way, my thread holds the warp together in this little spot, and that's something.
This is a great post. I often ask myself why I blog, and sometimes I feel really, really silly doing it. But then someone tells me how much they like what I've written or shared, and I get a renewed sense of purpose. Even if it's just someone saying "me too!"
ReplyDeleteThanks, Keegan. For what it's worth, I find what you have to say very interesting; it's definitely a different viewpoint than the ones I often see in my usual sphere. I think it's a myth we absorb from the old world of limited access to media that one has to "qualify" to be allowed a chance at the microphone, because it was a limited resource. I think one of the most profound and exciting things about social media is exactly this, that the whole world can now talk to itself and each other, without mediation by powerful people and moneyed companies. We can truly see and hear ourselves, if we're willing to talk and listen. It's huge, awe-inspiring and a little terrifying, but I wouldn't go back.
ReplyDeleteI've taken my time getting around to blogging. Not necessarily being a digital native, I found the idea of "being seen" a little hard to swallow. But as I discussed (with myself) the reality of the situation, I realized the powerful potential of blogging, and that by not doing it I was just adding one more item to the list of "things I should do." I've never shied away from letting my opinions be known, so what better place to rant and NOT be interrupted, let my opinions fly, crack jokes only I laugh at, etc. Thanks for the post, Marty!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm still getting my mind around what things to blog. I'm active on Facebook and tend to post my thoughts there for discussion with my friends, but since trying to put some things up here, I'm beginning to notice some ideas that might benefit from expansion to the longer form. Blogging gives a little more space for idea development, rumination, and so on. I can see continuing to use both in different ways, so that's interesting.
ReplyDelete