All That Blogging Jazz

[monk222]

Bryan Appleyard gives us a celebration of blogging, and judging by his account, the blogosphere is still a growing phenomenon, as opposed to the cultural fad in decline that I've described it to be. His comments are a prelude to his list of the top one hundred blogs.

But before he goes into that list he makes one observation that I want to bring out, and that is the great gulf one crosses with the click of a button:

So the blogscape is not for the faint-hearted. Start blogging and you will initially be lulled into a false sense of security by the ease with which you just knock out a few paragraphs and click Publish Post. At once, there it is, out there for all to see. Remember, I do mean “all”. There’s a shocking disconnect between one fact — you sitting at your computer — and the next — what you just wrote being instantly visible to the entire world. Try to think of it as like stepping out of the toilet to find yourself standing on the centre spot at Wembley on cup-final day.

Yet the disconnect is the point. Blogging, says the supreme blogger and Sunday Times contributor Andrew Sullivan, “is the spontaneous expression of instant thought”. In addition, as Matt Drudge, one of the originators of the form, puts it: “A blog is a broadcast, not a publication.” The true value of blogs is the combination of that initial, unconsidered improvisation, done on the spur of the mood and the moment, and its ensuing broadcast to the largest audience ever created — about 1.5 billion internet users.

I remember before I even started blogging, I came across a tip that you should never put anything on the Internet that you wouldn't want to see put up on a highway billboard, and I imagine that even goes for 'friends only' and 'private' posts, because once it's on someone's server, with e-security being what it is, that material is potentially out of your hands and you are effectively thrown on the mercy of the gods, and the gods generally just like to laugh at us or strike us down.

Nevertheless, it is easy for me to forget about the public exposure. Of course, this is easy to do when, instead of an audience of 1.5 billion Internet users, I seem to have only one reader these days - Hi! - and write in virtual and real seclusion, enjoying a peaceful obscurity. Or maybe it's useful to forget.

But to leave it there would be disingenuous, no? For a lot of us, blogs are the easiest way to leave our mark in the world. As Appleyard relates, this is the double-edged sword that gives blogging a lot of its thrill. One of my childhood wishes was to be an author, and this is as close as I'm going to get. And maybe this is too close!

Comments

[miss-next.livejournal.com]

I'm quite security-conscious, but there is also the "safety in numbers" argument. There are lots and lots of people out there with friends-only blogs, so anyone deciding to hack one at random is quite unlikely to pick mine. :-)

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

I rely on that "safety in numbers" defense for my public posts - who has that much time to waste to make a big deal of my blathering, or even notice it?

In your case, though, notwithstanding what you put on your filters, it doesn't seem like you'd have to worry too much if someone put up your posts on a highway billboard, with the exception of some awkwardness with your work buddies, so to speak. But I guess that's enough. ;)

[miss-next.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, that and Charles' wife. I don't think she would care for my opinion of the way she treats Charles to be pasted up on an enormous hoarding, somehow. :-)

[neowiccan.livejournal.com]

i do hide in my own obscurity. my blog's public, and sometimes i'm overly frank in it.
if i ever decide to run for office i'm screwed.
:) khairete
suz

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

Not running for public office would probably be the least of my worries. If anyone cared, I cold end up getting stoned to death, as I bring out the medieval impulses in people. :D

Public Office

[poovanna.livejournal.com]

Yup! Our lack of self-discipline in our blog entries precludes us from ever running for public office (although I would argue that Scarlett Johansson's assets are a serious matter. And those blogging about them deserve to be elected, as it indicates deep maturity and capacity for reflection).

Re: Public Office

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

Don't forget Paris Hilton! She has her charms as well that are worthy of reflection - a certain easy-going personality.

(http://s170.photobucket.com/albums/u251/monk65_photos/?action=view&current=1Paris.jpg)

Re: Public Office

[poovanna.livejournal.com]

I love her.
Elegant and classy - The Grace Kelly of our times.

[barbatrick.livejournal.com]

Seems that you have more than only one reader. ;)

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

And some readers with sex appeal, which is more important. ;)