I had an epiphany today while I was running about blog content. It's taken me a few weeks of blogging, thinking about why I care, what right I have to consume incremental bits on the Internet, and why anyone else cares (or might / should care). One of the guys that works with me has a great quote - "blogging is like giving everyone a printing press - and NOT everyone deserves a printing press." I've consistently countered that by saying "everyone should have a printing press - you just need tools to decide whether or not to read what they write."
Over the weekend, I got an outbreak of self-referential blogs. Robert Scoble (the self proclaimed "Microsoft Geek Blogger") wrote that Mike Padula is doing a study as a student at Cornell about why people blog. Marc Nozell referenced Fresh Air's interview with Bill Moyers about blogging (among other things). My mother - after commenting in one of my blogs remember to write about your mother - then tried to convince me over the phone that blogging was a bunch of useless chatter - the world didn't need anymore of it.
As I get deeper into the blog thing, I get more intrigued. It feels to me a lot like email did in 1993 and the web did in 1995 - there are endless directions to go in, lots of businesses to create, huge potential impacts on society, thought, communication, and technology. But - thankfully - it's early, chaotic, and like most things that evolve - Darwinian.
So - while I don't necessarily have an answer yet, I'm going to focus my blogging more on things that are relevant to me and assume that those that are interested in what I'm interested in will read this blog. Those topics - today - including (self referentially) the blogging ecosystem, venture capital, technology, creating companies, and running marathons.
I reserve the right to change my mind tomorrow.
COMMENTS (2)
Brad
I have been thinking about this a lot lately too as I am working on launching a next-gen blogging platform. I have written a couple of posts on some of my musings about why people might blog here:
"Blogs as aspirational media/refrigerator doors" http://gould.weblogsinc.com/entry/8424321443242854/
and here here: "Micro-fame" http://gould.weblogsinc.com/entry/5721728850650362/
I am also looking around for various studies about who bloggers are, their psychographics, and their motivations. I am particularly interested in affinity- or relatively tightly focused group blogs, as opposed to purely personal blogs. I will post what I find.
GRG
I think the more important question is why don't people blog? What blocks people from participating in life in a fully engaged way?
I'm ripping off someone else's thoughts when I say that blogs remind of the revolutions wrought by 18th and 17th century pamphleteers...and those revolutions were basically good for humanity.
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