Blogging: a coming of age in 2009?

Posted on | December 31, 2008 | 6 Comments

Two posts that seem to chime in sympathy, harmonics ringing, from two people I read and admire, both here picking up on the wisdom of others:

“…we all talked at the same time, not listening to one another, sometimes seconding and praising one another in order to be seconded and praised in turn…”

from Leo Tolstoy’s Confession, 1882, quoted by Leigh Blackall.

“What worries me are the consequences of a diet comprised mostly of fake-connectedness, makebelieve insight, and unedited first drafts of everything. I think it’s making us small. I know that whenever I become aware of it, I realize how small it can make me. So, I’ve come to despise it.”

from Merlin Mann’s Better, 2008 – pointed out by Richard Sambrook.

Blogging may never ‘come of age’, and, in some ways, I hope it never does – but perhaps each of us, as individual bloggers, can begin to break the habits of the echo chamber, can start to resist the need, “…to speak, write, and print as quickly as possible and as much as possible…” (also from Tolstoy’s Confession). Many already do, of course.

Do we need the bloggers’ equivalent of the Slow Movement? Authentic blogging? Critical blogging? Reflective blogging? Blogging09?

Spontaneity is good too, though……….

Technorati Tags: blogging, merlin mann, leo tolstoy, leigh blackall, richard sambrook, Blogging09

Category: authority, blogging, enlightenment, intelligence, media

Comments

6 Responses to “Blogging: a coming of age in 2009?”

This thing called depth - elearnspace
January 2nd, 2009 @ 7:14 pm

[...] meaningless and shallow pursuits in favor of more substantial ones. John Connell asks how to best move to greater depth: “Do we need the bloggers’ equivalent of the Slow Movement? Authentic blogging? Critical [...]
Robin Good's Latest News
January 3rd, 2009 @ 10:25 am

Media Literacy: Making Sense Of New Technologies And Media by George Siemens – Jan 3 09…

In this first 2009 issue of Media Literacy digest George Siemens focuses on cloud computing, connections in social networks, changes in education, and on a cool resource for education technology-related conferences. Photo credit: Cyprien Lomas And to m…
Media Literacy: Making Sense Of New Technologies And Media by George Siemens - Jan 3 09 | Write a Blog Site
January 3rd, 2009 @ 11:27 am

[...] to eliminate meaningless and shallow pursuits in favor of more substantial ones. John Connell asks how to best move to greater depth: “Do we need the bloggers’ equivalent of the Slow Movement? Authentic blogging? Critical [...]
Alan Coady
January 4th, 2009 @ 11:39 am

I wouldn’t be too quick to get away from the “echo chamber” aspect, as this is often the only way to catch the attention of those far from the source. The very fact that someone is sufficiently energised to flag up an idea suggests that they find it resonant. When the process is repeated the consequent combinations of fundamental and individual overtones allow us to sees something from varied angles.
John Connell
January 4th, 2009 @ 12:43 pm

A fair point, Alan – for any idea to have legs, I guess it has to run for a time within the echo chamber before it can reach beyond to the wider world.
Slow Blogging, Depth and Meaning - and Credit Where it is Due : John Connell: The Blog
January 4th, 2009 @ 7:30 pm

[...] might be of its time. I wrote a slightly whimsical post on New Year’s Eve that proposed the idea, and then Will Richardson offered almost the same idea just a couple of days later. I took my [...]