Is the blogoshpere dead?
Justin Bathon on Saturday, November 8, 2008 at 11:37PM That's what Nicholas Carr thinks. And he is no slacker.
Sorry that a few of my posts lately have not focused on ed. law, but instead on blogging generally; but, since this is a blog itself the topic has always interested me and since I was asked to speak on blogging not long ago at a professional conference as if people perceived me as some expert, I thought I would start studying it so as to better pretend to be one.
In short Nick is making the same argument I have been making lately. The blogosphere is transforming. It is not what it once was. Even the Economist agrees. The professional world has caught onto this little secret we had and they are investing heavily in it and as a result everyone else is catching on. These days when I tell people that I blog I don't get the reaction I used to get a couple years ago ... namely "what's that?" Nowadays I get "that's cool. What's the name of your blog?" Here is the reality:
Blogging has entered the mainstream, which—as with every new medium in history—looks to its pioneers suspiciously like death.
Of course, we are not looking at the death of the blogosphere. But, we are looking at its transformation into an accepted member of society. And, as with anything, when mainstream society gets ahold of something, it comes out different than when it went in. It is the different between a kid and a teenager and an adult. I suspect that blogging is in its teenage years now. I think blogging is getting more professional while much of the personal realm of blogging is going to alternative outlets like Twitter and Facebook.
As blogging gets more professional, it is going to need more rules of governance. Personally, I signed on with CASTLE because it is legitimization. It is a form of governance that I am accepting because I know it makes my blog more marketable in the new professional world of the edublogosphere. Also, I am beginning to invite in more "contributors" as another professional validation tool for my blog. And, if you need any more evidence of this professionalization, just look at what EdWeek has done.
But recognizing that this is the period we are in is important because we can have some control over the rules that develop for this new professional realm. How do we count this type of writing? Professional? Research? Service? How much does it help the larger entity? Do we have relationships with the larger, sponsoring entity? If I get to count this in tenure at UK, should I be advertising for them in this space? How frequently do we need to post? What is a Technorati rating worth? Are comments important? How does all this translate into a professional contribution? There are lots of questions that need to be worked out and I suspect a person could build an entire research career around just this one issue.
In the end, though, we need to start looking at blogging differently. Blogging is a teenager and soon it will be an adult. The carefree and reckless years of our childhood are over and now we are beginning to face responsibilities. Who are we going to be in a few years?
Reader Comments (3)
You bring up some very interesting points. As blogging hits puberty there is a transformation, an evolving set of rules, greater obligation and regulation. But I also agree the 'cool kids' now consider it dead because it can't be 'cool' if everyone is doing it. The 'cool kids' have to move on to the newest toys of social media because they are self-professed (and some times industry-recognized) leaders and they have their groupies. They have to 'get in' before the rules and regulations do. They want to be one step ahead of the rule-makers and regulators. They need to arrive at the next destination first and the groupies won't follow until they proclaim the last destination 'so yesterday.'
But their declaring it dead doesn't make it so. What they are really saying is it's not the forefront anymore...mainstream implies 'not cool' and way too many rules.
I understand this to be less about what the "cool kids" are doing with new tools and more about how the use of social media tools is gaining wider acceptance. I think our recent US elections have had a lot to do with this. Perhaps these identified trends are a big part of the answer to the question, "Why Is Voting Cool Now?"
There are going to be folks who keep moving to the newest tool because the tools are changing and they want to be on the bleeding edge, and I am not one to ignore that innovation side of things. I do think it's exciting to see blogging moving mainstream, however, because we are continuing to experience a tectonic shift in the way people obtain and process information.
I agree the team blogging approach is a sound and good one. There are not any hard and solid answers to your questions, "how often should I post" and "what is a technorati rating worth?" I find myself disciplining myself (if that is the correct phrase) to post at least once per day. I sometimes post more, and I often long to post less, but I sense digital relevance is directly related to posting frequency. I think being a relevant and trusted source of information in our new environment is tied to consistency, useful outbound hyperlinks, and a willingness to engage in conversation/dialog about issues rather than embrace strictly a broadcast-only model of information dissemination.
@ Susan - Are you saying I am not "cool?" - No, just joking. I am not sure we are at the point yet where we have lost all the "cool" kids, but we are starting to lose the tech. kids/adults. We are probably still a few years away from the point when blogging will be considered "not cool."
@ Wes - You make some interesting points in your last paragraph that I am probably going to have to think about more. "digital relevance is directly related to posting frequency." Could be. (Again a nice study ... tying Technorati ratings to posting frequency). Also the broadcast only v. dialog models are interesting -- I am not totally sure. Seems like most of the Technorati Top 100 are broadcast type blogs and more and more owned by large companies. Perhaps this is an edublogosphere thing?