tag:,2009:/1/tag:72.47.210.69,2004://1.4167- 2009-11-23T20:00:50Z Comments for Random thoughts about Blogging Overload Movable Type 4.23-en tag:72.47.210.69,2004://1.4167 2004-01-31T16:22:35Z 2007-12-16T23:15:30Z Random thoughts about Blogging Overload Richard MacManus http://www.readwriteweb.com Thought a) Some people post too much. Recently I subscribed to 7 Journalist Bloggers - 6 of them post too many items, so I've fallen behind already. One of them has 81 unread items sitting in my RSS Aggregator and it's only 3 or so days worth. It's too much! I don't have the motivation to catch up, so I will probably unsubscribe from most of those Journo bloggers. The 1 Journo blogger whose quantity I can keep up with is Jay Rosen, who posts 1 or 2 long essays per week. That's more my style.

Thought b) Robert Scoble has admitted he's a "Blog Addict". He's taking a 1-week holiday from blogging to clear his mind. While I'm not on the same scale as Robert, I have to admit also that my blogging is beginning to become all-consuming for me. The positives: I'm actively writing and generating ideas because of blogging, I'm watching less tv and reading newspapers less, I'm interacting on an intellectual level with people from all over the world. The negatives: family time does suffer, I'm reading less 'real' books, there are too many interesting things to keep up with and so one tends to lose focus.

Thought c) Will blogging ever be anything but an "online diary" to Normal People? I'd like to think it will hit it big sometime soon, but let's face it - we're a minority (or is it a cult?).

Thought d) Does Location matter more than than The Blogosphere would like to think it does? Is blogging too American-centric? I live in New Zealand, so I don't get to attend any of the blog conventions, blogger lunches, etc. And I do feel like I'm missing out on something. e.g. nobody sent me an invitation to Orkut (it's invitation only). I'm probably not interested in Orkut anyway, but it did make me wonder if living in New Zealand is affecting my ability to actively participate in the blogosphere.

Thought e) Somehow related to Thoughts c & d, but was Howard Dean's polling failure related to the fact that blogging isn't REAL enough? Location (of votes in this case) matters.

Thought f) I keep thinking about my Microcontent Wiki idea, which really revolves around trying to keep up with conversations and aiming for a sense of permanance to them which is missing. e.g. when is the tipping point for when blog conversations (via the comments sections on peoples blogs) peter out? Sometimes I want to go back to a conversation two months later and re-start it, but I know that no one apart from the original author will be notified and so the momentum of the original conversation is never regained. We need places where ideas can reside and continue being debated for all time. Wikis are the right tools for this, mostly. Except they aren't good at the Subscribe part of the PubSub equation. And Wikis to me don't have the same personal touch of weblogs - Wikis ain't Avatars.
(this thought is inspired by Erik's interesting post about effectiveness, which has got my brain spinning - but I don't know that I'll have anything further to contribute until a few days, when the conversation will probably be finished).

Thought g) Attention. Where do I start with this one... Pick me, pick me. It may be a democracy of ideas, but sometimes it feels like a Horserace (in the American politics sense of the word).

These are just Saturday Morning thoughts, before the real day starts. Ah, my daughter's just woken up and needs my attention :-) 

]]> tag:72.47.210.69,2004://1.4167-comment:35309 Comment from Dina on 2004-01-31 Dina http://radio.weblogs.com/0121664/ Hi Richard, interesting post !

Your point (d) made me think - i live in India and have been blogging for less than a year now. When i started, i too had the same feelings as you ... and still feel frustrated that i cannot attend the conventions etc.
Still, i feel connected to many bloggers, not just from America ... but those from South American countries, Europe, Canada, China and Australia as well. I met some of them F2F during a holiday to the US and the UK ... and was really neat .... but there are still many many more that i have never met, yet we rap together so well. You're the first person living in New Zealand that i'm meeting :).

Its funny ... today i do feel distance does not matter in an ever shrinking world ... when you can connect through shared interests, thoughts and values. Facilitated by blogging tools. Reaching out through comments, links and by sharing anecdotes and experiences. Allowing conversations and dialogue. That build bridges.

Would love to add you as a friend on Orkut - invitation on its way :)

]]> 2004-01-31T23:35:25Z tag:72.47.210.69,2004://1.4167-comment:35310 Comment from Amrit Hallan on 2004-02-01 Amrit Hallan http://www.quality-writing.com I won't say I'm "addicted" to blogging because neither do I visit many blogs, and nor am I able to post as frequently as I would like to. But yes, it has become an important engredient of my writing. It keeps my writing flowing. Sometimes I have to refer to other information while writing my blog posts and this expands my knowledge.

For me, my blog posts are more about my thoughts and less about the current issues and maybe that's why I'm able to post fewer entries. I do sometimes post links, but that's not really my kind of blogging.

Nice blog Richard. Another nice link to add :-).

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