spontaneous birthings
head fluff when illuminated can reveal some very special thingsArchive for blogging
why blog?
I’ve been swept up in a blog tornado and question why I blog here. Why I blog at all? When I first started, I felt as if I had to say something meaningful, something serious, something that felt like a ton of bricks. A friend commented, “Just write for goodness sakes!” And I did.
But what I’m finding out is that blogging is not just about writing. It’s more than that. I’ve just finished reading Naked Conversations for a class in digital technology, and now I care about my blog. Before, I wrote about my life and thoughts because I am a writer and writers share these types of things. But now, I feel I should do more than share. I am not a fan of “shoulds” in general, but when you blog, you are held responsible for the chain of exchanges that will follow. You guide a conversation that will transform into something you have no control over simply because it has been picked up and picked apart by readers. And you have to be OK with it.
In case you’re curious, you can find a link to my blog for class, musings of a mediabot, here.
blogmunity
One of the more frequent topics discussed in the Communication classes I’ve taken so far at Johns Hopkins is the fluctuation of community in a dominantly-digital media environment. Some theorists contend that civic responsibility is a foregone ideology; people are more individualized than ever before. Whereas the TV set in the living room was the hearth of the family, now TV sets in the parent’s room and the child’s room are indicators of a society that no longer talks to each other. On the other hand, theorists more likely to embrace the digital potential, argue that contemporary communication platforms, such as blogs and video podcasts, are creating a new society that is more unified than its predecessor.
Both groups have well-grounded arguments. Generally, I am one of those “old fogies” that is highly suspicious of the rapid pace at which American society produces (whose products often seem useless and a quick money-making scheme). If you need an example, does the segway help? I will not rant about the segway here, but know that I detest it and the fact that some encourage laziness in the disguise of efficiency.
However, I am leaning more towards joining the cheerleading team of the latter group, the group that proudly recognizes bloggers and members of other collaborative digital communities as initiators of a new community – a community of people who like each other, who desire to be connected in ways much more intimate than ever before.
Take my personal example. As a teenager and college student, I was always in search of the “other side.” I was interested in the flip side of whatever was considered mainstream, including music, films, academic doctrine, etc. Like my classmates and all young adults, I sought uniqueness and individualism and sought friends with similar disregard to popular culture.
Perhaps age and maturation shifted my perspective to coincide more so with mainstream culture. I no longer desire to defy or question for the sake of questioning. But I’m not sure if I would have recognized this change if I did not blog. I’ve just recently been introduced to the web indexing of keywords called folksonomy that makes it easier for users to link to other like topics within their own web page or to another web page.
I found myself creating tags (or categories like those on this blog) that were easy to understand. I even changed categories that I thought were too obscure for most people. Why is this significant? It indicates that deep inside, I want to be part of a community that uses the same language and descriptors to make it easier to connect to each other, both literally and figuratively. I am no longer the rebellious 18-year-old. I now choose to be a member of the ever-increasing digital majority – bloggers.
The question is: Are we part of a community barely connected by millions of individual bubbles? Or are we forging into an army of new collaborative communicators?
Mood poetics
As of today, 1,200 people have visited my blog (or only 1 or 2 people visited it 1,200 times, but that’s not the point). Who are these people? Who are you people?
I always feel compelled (at least on my blog, yes, this blog) to say some enlightening thing, something regarding life or just being a breathing soul-to-soul seeking person, but my mind is too tired for poetics.
School is kicking my butt. At some moments, I wish I could tae-kwon-do it to the moon for a day or two, give me a breather, but it’s nearing the end of the semester (already!) and the threat is on to complete Final Papers and prepare for Final Exams and still keep up with the weekly regiment. And then I found out last night that my 2-welcome-to-JHU classes are the more demanding, work-heavy classes in the curriculum. Great.
I realize more than ever how important it is to maintain a positive attitude. I even kick better when I do. Last night was a clear example. I was in no mood to be in school, in no mood to be friendly (a surprise to some, but I can be quite moody at times – despite all of my “no mood” conditions described here), and in no mood to go to tae kwon do. But I went, and I stunk.
That being said, I will try my best to be positive. I am positive energy. I am #1 positive person!!
Oh yeah, and thank you Mr. or Ms. 1,201 person for reading this.
intrigue
This is officially my first post, and strangely, I feel like it is not me who is typing these words. The idea of blogs is almost too expansive for me to comprehend. The act of imprinting my thoughts into a network that extends miles around the globe without any direction or intention of mine is a bit elusive. How can I maintain ownership on my thoughts? How do I know what is truely expressed from me, the real day-to-day me, and that I won’t discover the dreaded pseudo-me who writes for selfish possibilities? Blogs have become more than personal megaphones, an open doorway swinging back and forth teasing passerbys to peak in and take a look at the crowd. Now they’re two-way streets between sellers and consumers. They’re mirrors to the writers themselves, magnifying their obsessions, their flaws, their significant inconsistencies, and at moments, shine brilliance unexpectedly.
I wonder if blogging will affect my life. If my eye grows keener on instances and observations simply to be able to jot them down. And if I’ll want to jot them down for the pleasure of remembering, or if there’s a greater message I want to get across.
spontaneous birthings 