When I read the "New Yorker" or "Time" or "The Village Voice", there are certain sections that are like road maps for my mind. (I won't share which as I don't want to bias anyone...) I know, in choosing those publications, whether it be on-line or in my hands, I won't read the entire issue--however I WILL read my favorite bits. It is almost a religious vow. (At least, obsessive.) Always, it comes down to these details: information I must have for my life at this time; entertainment I must have for my life at this time; delicious stylings by the writer.
When I read "The New York Times" or "The Boston Globe" or "The Washington Post", I seem to need to read everything--even the ads. (All the ads...) Sure, there are favorite columnists and sections in each where I know I'll glean more information that is useful than from others. But the total experience of reading the particular publication over-rides the bits and pieces therein. I have only a certain amount of allocated time to get through my reading, each day. I want to know where I will spend it. Upfront. This gives me more choice and a better quality of life.
So too, would we benefit, if it were so in the Blogosphere.
Why people, who merely want to announce family events, choose to create what they label as "our blog", do so is a pet peeve of mine. FaceBook, MySpace , Twitter,and other social media outlets (including family websites) exist for this purpose. Anyone who knows your family, or has reason to become familiar with your family, will be able to find the information, visuals, etc. on those sites. Those places were created for just this purpose: to keep people informed about the daily details of your whereabouts; the banal and dramatic moments of your blood kin and friends! But it doesn't mean those details are blogs!
I admit it: I'm a writer who follows the lives and work of others of my ilk. Given the fact that print media is still relegated to those "in the power spots", or those whose ideas reflect the tastes of the majority, it became exciting when blogs emerged. Suddenly, the voices of the voiceless would be given a platform--a platform easily accessed--and best, unedited by powerbrokers or mainstream interests. Blogs seemed to be the underground columns of the freepress that used to pepper city sidewalks in the sixties and seventies. Checking the numerous sites created (for free) that allowed excellent writing to emerge, my fanship grew. I could follow writers I didn't agree with, as well as writers whose styles illuminated my life. I could follow student writers, noting how they grew; using the growth as examples to my own students, in class. If a particular favorite blogger wrote something boring, I could go on to the next blogger, and find something much more interesting or enlightening, for that day. It was a readers' (and a writers') Paradise. (Well, almost.)
The Blogosphere had been born, with a house promised for every head.
Then, perhaps like any human endeavor, it became populated with those just out to sell something. Or to toot their own narrow horn. Or to get a few minutes of public notice. It began to resemble those holiday tomes. I wanted freedom of expression to reign, (I also needed some kind of index--where could I spend time away from the "family Circus notes" and get to writers who were practicing their crafts? To writers who showed style, content and concern with a wider world?) While I might adore little Tina's new kitten, I don't need a blog post about it--unless there is something deeper happening--a lesson or a theme or a product that revolutionizes the cat (or the kid)! A blog post should be a mini-drama in a few columns. It should contain something that jars us, or changes our thinking, or challenges a response.
This is MY post, and this is my thinking. It is what I'm trying to do here--and what I want to read from others. It is what I look forward to and spend my lifeforce on. Please help define the boundaries in Blogtown. Think before you create. Re-read before you publish. Save the "we did this on vacation" prose/information for the holiday cards. Or FaceBook. Or MySpace. Or Twitter--social media outlets that cry out for exactly those tidbits and visuals.
Let's create a BlogTown where there is real writing; abstract thinking; debate; style; exciting information; transformative culture and open ended questions.
(If you disagree, well, here's the great part: start your own blog!)
When I read "The New York Times" or "The Boston Globe" or "The Washington Post", I seem to need to read everything--even the ads. (All the ads...) Sure, there are favorite columnists and sections in each where I know I'll glean more information that is useful than from others. But the total experience of reading the particular publication over-rides the bits and pieces therein. I have only a certain amount of allocated time to get through my reading, each day. I want to know where I will spend it. Upfront. This gives me more choice and a better quality of life.
So too, would we benefit, if it were so in the Blogosphere.
Why people, who merely want to announce family events, choose to create what they label as "our blog", do so is a pet peeve of mine. FaceBook, MySpace , Twitter,and other social media outlets (including family websites) exist for this purpose. Anyone who knows your family, or has reason to become familiar with your family, will be able to find the information, visuals, etc. on those sites. Those places were created for just this purpose: to keep people informed about the daily details of your whereabouts; the banal and dramatic moments of your blood kin and friends! But it doesn't mean those details are blogs!
I admit it: I'm a writer who follows the lives and work of others of my ilk. Given the fact that print media is still relegated to those "in the power spots", or those whose ideas reflect the tastes of the majority, it became exciting when blogs emerged. Suddenly, the voices of the voiceless would be given a platform--a platform easily accessed--and best, unedited by powerbrokers or mainstream interests. Blogs seemed to be the underground columns of the freepress that used to pepper city sidewalks in the sixties and seventies. Checking the numerous sites created (for free) that allowed excellent writing to emerge, my fanship grew. I could follow writers I didn't agree with, as well as writers whose styles illuminated my life. I could follow student writers, noting how they grew; using the growth as examples to my own students, in class. If a particular favorite blogger wrote something boring, I could go on to the next blogger, and find something much more interesting or enlightening, for that day. It was a readers' (and a writers') Paradise. (Well, almost.)
The Blogosphere had been born, with a house promised for every head.
Then, perhaps like any human endeavor, it became populated with those just out to sell something. Or to toot their own narrow horn. Or to get a few minutes of public notice. It began to resemble those holiday tomes. I wanted freedom of expression to reign, (I also needed some kind of index--where could I spend time away from the "family Circus notes" and get to writers who were practicing their crafts? To writers who showed style, content and concern with a wider world?) While I might adore little Tina's new kitten, I don't need a blog post about it--unless there is something deeper happening--a lesson or a theme or a product that revolutionizes the cat (or the kid)! A blog post should be a mini-drama in a few columns. It should contain something that jars us, or changes our thinking, or challenges a response.
This is MY post, and this is my thinking. It is what I'm trying to do here--and what I want to read from others. It is what I look forward to and spend my lifeforce on. Please help define the boundaries in Blogtown. Think before you create. Re-read before you publish. Save the "we did this on vacation" prose/information for the holiday cards. Or FaceBook. Or MySpace. Or Twitter--social media outlets that cry out for exactly those tidbits and visuals.
Let's create a BlogTown where there is real writing; abstract thinking; debate; style; exciting information; transformative culture and open ended questions.
(If you disagree, well, here's the great part: start your own blog!)
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