Fear and Loathing of the 'B' Word
Okay so I have resisted and derided this whole web logging phenomenon since it hit primetime. Hell now every ignoramus with half an opinion and an internet connection has a soapbox! I mean why on earth would anyone want to read about what Chris did at work today, or what flavour ice cream was served in the cafe at lunch? Which seemed to be the extent of some peoples efforts. But hang on a minute though... I am an ignoramus and I have half an opinion on lots of stuff! If you can't beat 'em... Join 'em!
Seriously though I have recently been most impressed with the level of discourse at many online logging sites. What web logging has done is put some form and structure around what would have otherwise been badly put together and improperly maintained personal websites that would scare potential audiences away. Now, with web logs, people can have their say and not worry about crappy web design or having to decide on some sort of structure to put their opinions in. Otherwise unsaid comment is now widely accessible and visible via the best public access broadcast system of the day: the internet. Technology web logs consolidate information about all manner of techy things, political pundits have been born and made it big online and the intelligent everyperson now has a place to say his or her piece to the wider audience. If he or she has something interesting to say then people will surely listen. It is quite amazing how little rubbish there really is... Okay so left handed macrame might not be your thing, but hell it doesn't mean your cack-handed uncle shouldn't try and consolidate his left handed audience using an online web log! The point is that even if you have a very narrow focus on your web log, if you can atract more than two or three like minded people then you have consolidated an audience that would have otherwise probably not existed. This is the true beauty of the net in this sense. Small niche's can come together across great geographical divides and share in a common interest. I cant think of another way an average Joe could reach so many pairs of eyes so easily.
I have one fundamental problem with all this stuff... The name, and this is the only time I will ever write it on this site, 'blog', 'blogging, 'blogger' etc etc ad nauseum. Its of course far to late now to change the anything now that it is ingrained in popular culture. But should I meet the genius (It is probably well known who this person is, but for obvious reasons I have not tried to hard to find out!) that put web and log together and came up with the 'b' word (as it shall now be known), I would be sure to let forth a long chain of expletives clearly expressing my dissatisfaction with the stupid sounding contraction that, to me, mocks what has turned out to be an important communication mechanism... I am sure then that the discussion would probably turn to a debate on the factual and plot errors in the Star Wars movies, as I am sure to an almost certainty that this person is a complete and utter trainspotter... Note: I really like trainspotters. Honestly! They are the most fascinating and interesting people on the planet. (more on this later!)
There I said it! Maybe I am alone in feeling this way, but I truly loath the 'b' word as the description that has made it into our language and popular culture. So as a mark of (tongue in cheek) defiance the evil name shall never be uttered here!
In his online 'b' word a former workmate and friend of mine Darryl Burling, now considers me to have ascended to true geekyness embarking on this effort. Maybe he is right... I have some geeky reasons for doing this at this stage and some not so geeky. Some of these reasons I will outline in later posts, but mainly I sussed out what it was I have always wanted in my own website:
Seriously though I have recently been most impressed with the level of discourse at many online logging sites. What web logging has done is put some form and structure around what would have otherwise been badly put together and improperly maintained personal websites that would scare potential audiences away. Now, with web logs, people can have their say and not worry about crappy web design or having to decide on some sort of structure to put their opinions in. Otherwise unsaid comment is now widely accessible and visible via the best public access broadcast system of the day: the internet. Technology web logs consolidate information about all manner of techy things, political pundits have been born and made it big online and the intelligent everyperson now has a place to say his or her piece to the wider audience. If he or she has something interesting to say then people will surely listen. It is quite amazing how little rubbish there really is... Okay so left handed macrame might not be your thing, but hell it doesn't mean your cack-handed uncle shouldn't try and consolidate his left handed audience using an online web log! The point is that even if you have a very narrow focus on your web log, if you can atract more than two or three like minded people then you have consolidated an audience that would have otherwise probably not existed. This is the true beauty of the net in this sense. Small niche's can come together across great geographical divides and share in a common interest. I cant think of another way an average Joe could reach so many pairs of eyes so easily.
I have one fundamental problem with all this stuff... The name, and this is the only time I will ever write it on this site, 'blog', 'blogging, 'blogger' etc etc ad nauseum. Its of course far to late now to change the anything now that it is ingrained in popular culture. But should I meet the genius (It is probably well known who this person is, but for obvious reasons I have not tried to hard to find out!) that put web and log together and came up with the 'b' word (as it shall now be known), I would be sure to let forth a long chain of expletives clearly expressing my dissatisfaction with the stupid sounding contraction that, to me, mocks what has turned out to be an important communication mechanism... I am sure then that the discussion would probably turn to a debate on the factual and plot errors in the Star Wars movies, as I am sure to an almost certainty that this person is a complete and utter trainspotter... Note: I really like trainspotters. Honestly! They are the most fascinating and interesting people on the planet. (more on this later!)
There I said it! Maybe I am alone in feeling this way, but I truly loath the 'b' word as the description that has made it into our language and popular culture. So as a mark of (tongue in cheek) defiance the evil name shall never be uttered here!
In his online 'b' word a former workmate and friend of mine Darryl Burling, now considers me to have ascended to true geekyness embarking on this effort. Maybe he is right... I have some geeky reasons for doing this at this stage and some not so geeky. Some of these reasons I will outline in later posts, but mainly I sussed out what it was I have always wanted in my own website:
- A place I could point lots of people to and say "there is my opinion on X"
- A place to share some of my thoughts and interests with lots of people and see if there are any like minded folk out there. (Please don't let me be alone!)
- I am about to embark on a personally life changing adventure (moving countries) and I wanted somewhere I could let people know about stuff that happens along the way from my perspective
- Somewhere to put Google Ads to gather click through revenue!
posted by James Andrews at 10:00 PM
3 Comments:
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