There’s a name for it

13 December 2008

Is blogging evolving, or am I just looking for validation of my own tendency to post less often?

In between the slow bloggers and the rapid-fire ones, there is a vast middle, hundreds of thousands of writers who are not trying to attract advertising or buzz but do want to reach like-minded colleagues and friends. These people have been the bedrock of the [blogging] genre since its start, yet recently there has been a sea change in their output: They are increasingly turning to slow blogging, in practice if not in name.

Go see Dan Cohen for a thoughtful examination of (scholarly) blogging and a pointer to Sharon Otterman’s New York Times piece quoted above. I like his take that

… personal content management systems (what blogging platforms really are) are, despite the genre's early, unpromising forms, perfectly suited for serious thought and scholarship. With blogging, there is no requirement for frequent posting, and I subscribe to many scholarly blogs that have infrequent, but substantive, posts. Put us in the slow blogging camp…

I like the personal publishing concept, and departing from the stereotype of blog as vanity outlet.

One Response to “There’s a name for it”

  1. Craig says:

    Brian,
    Your publicist just called and asked you revise this entry… and post at least five more over the next week…

    In all seriousness, I certainly understand what you are driving at. Of late, I’ve been on a “post every other day” production level. Most of it due to a lot of trip reports that have finally set to a point of coherence, or just having interesting things to write about.

    As mentioned before, I started blogging for a selfish reason – I was tired of having incoherent and inaccessible analog trip notes. The blog was a way to organize and digitize trip notes. If someone else wanted to read them, then good. Always good to share.

    I think over the last six months, the “purpose” has evolved a bit. I find it useful therapy to break away from the dry, boring, structured technical communication that dominates my day job. The blog is a creative writing outlet.

    And it is free, except for the time spent.

    Craig

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