Am I the only one who finds it supremely ironic that Nic’s rant against meta-blogging is supposed to be read by other bloggers?
I think a certain amount of conversation in the community is unavoidable, and even necessary. Blogging is intensely social. It’s a conversation with our audience. Sometimes our audience is other bloggers. So what? It’s my blog, and I’ll blog what I want to.
On one of the comments, Eve said:
We enjoy getting things off our chest, as you have done here, and if some others read it and comment, so much the better.
That is why there are no “influential” bloggers out here. Our goal is not to affect, but to be heard. There is a big difference, and an essential one.
I’m not yet convinced. I started blogging because I wanted to tell people about the geek culture in Johannesburg. After a couple of months though, I started writing off-topic posts. When I realized what I was doing, I made a separate blog just for geek culture posts.
I’m still figuring out what I want to do with Constant Flux. Do I enjoy getting things off my chest? Yes. Is it enough to be just be heard? I don’t think so. What is the point of being heard if you don’t affect things?
Like Spider Jerusalem said:
Journalism is just a gun. It’s only got one bullet in it, but if you aim right, that’s all you need. Aim it right, and you can blow a kneecap off the world…
Just because he’s imaginary doesn’t mean that it’s not true. I want to be heard. I want to learn. I want to converse. I want to rant. I want to fix the stupid broken systems that I rant about. I want my ideas to see the light of reality. I want to inspire people to grab themselves by their bootstraps and pull themselves out of the filth and mud that we’re letting ourselves descend into. I want to hack the future, and make it a better place.
I want to affect.
Is it a futile quest? Probably. But then again, Don Quixote is my hero. The Impossible Dream is my theme song. And maybe, just maybe, my blog is my gun.
Bang.
UPDATE (22 Aug): Elton from Fromtheold asked me to describe my blog. Thanks to him, I now have a manifesto! (Interestingly enough, he doesn’t actually write the boobie stuff. Someone else just writes it from his account. O_o)
8 Comments
Thanks for the links and for blogging about me blogging about other people blogging about blogs and bloggers. Nice one!!
Very meta and existential.
Let me quote myself here: “I reiterate that I grasp the fact that I am doing the same thing right now that I am condemning, do not point it out in the comments, I get it, I know that I am doing it but occasionally it is unavoidable.”
I recognise it, you are not the only one, I stated it in my article, twice. But it’s cool, thanks for reading and sharing and linking!
You mean that you reiterate (that you reiterated) that you grasp the fact that you are, by posting that post, condemning the posting of posts like the post that you posted?
My point still stands. Sometimes our audience is other bloggers. So what?
Nice post. Nice Transmetropolitan reference as well:)
Gustav - good point. Point taken, but I can almost certainly promise you that my audience is made up of more “readers” than “bloggers”… so it matters to me.
Well, you have affected me enough to get me to comment. so that’s a start
Seriously, I hear you. Of course, we would all *like* to affect, influence, change the world etc.
But for the most part, I think we are happy to accept that we might not bring about ever lasting change.
And you know, even if only 10 people read your blog regularly, you *are* affecting their world, albeit on a small scale. And that’s okay too.
You may be happy to accept that.
I am not.
Now I have a mental picture of you sitting on a horse, singing show tunes, tilting at windmills. Cool.
Madame, you have just made my month.
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