Many times I have conversations with people who don't blog and some of whom don't get blogging at all. I usually find these conversations a little awkward, because by and large blogging is a different type of conversation and I find 'as I said in my blog' a sentence which annoys people and a conversation which begins 'I read in your blog' annoys me because I would rather they commented and had a blog-discussion than a real one. Real conversations start in a different way, I find.
But if you want to know about the usefulness of blogging follow this link from the BBC to an article explaining how bloggers get at the truth in a way nobody else can.
You are an expert in your little bit of the world and at whatever it is you know about it. Regular readers of this blog know a lot about, inter alia, horn playing, complex mathematics, university chaplaincy, computer programming, Portsmouth FC, teaching unteachable kids and their own very local geography.
You may be able to solve an international problem just because you are who you are and you have a public forum.
Blog on.
3 comments:
Right - I'm in a dilemma. Before reading this posting, I commented on your "Art of Noise" posting suggesting (ironically, as it turns out) that you email me if you want me to give you some information about a friend of mine. Given the current posting, I was not suprised that you replied via a blog rather than email. So, my dilemma:
1. I would not wish email you something like "in response to your blog..." as this would annoy you and, more importantly ;) make me look like some stupid person who doesn't take in what he reads
2. I would not wish to advertise my friend's contact details on the web without his permission
So what do I do? Advice, please.
Slightly more seriously, I think this dilemma presents a need for a bit more fluidity between blog conversations and other conversations than suggested in the current posting. Whilst I agree some differentiation is necessary between blog communication and other types, sometimes it is necessary to move from the (public) blog-sphere to the (private) conversational-sphere.
btw, I only know about your blog 'cos someone told me in conversation... :)
p.s. I'll email you ;)
St, I agree totally. It's weird how often the phrase "as I said in my blog" starts to grate me when I have to say it. It's almost like I want to invite the person to have a communal say on a topic that people have already been discussing - rather than have a private conversation about it sometimes (which is hard to do without citing coutner-points already made).
I guess this is mainly because my blog 'conversations' are normally efforts to find out the 'truth' of situations rather than a one-sided 'sermon' (though I realise I probably fail in that aim sometimes!) - and I find the more people involved, the more likely we are to come to 'truth'.
Also, blogging still hasn't really shaken the 'geek' tag yet - but hey, it took mobiles a few years to shake the 'yuppy' tag too...
:)
St. I do agree that it is annoying to say "as I said on my blog" to people who don't blog or read blogs, but I have to agree with Jon's point that there does need to be some flexibility between the two. I also think that we shouldn't get too het up annoyed and serious about it, got to keep some fun in here.
Post a Comment