This is part 2 of a 3 part series on blogging & social networks. Part One: Bridging The Archipelago. Part Three: Own Your Own Mothership.
Take a deep breath. Now exhale. This is going to get personal.
I've been thinking some more about this ongoing tension between social networks (specifically - Facebook) and the rest of the web (specifically - Blogging). In my last post on the subject -Bridging The Archipelago - there was a hint of angst, a lament that blogs and bloggers weren't as connected as people on Facebook are. The inference being that blogs should perhaps be more like Facebook. The same insecurities are evident in other articles on the web about Facebook and the slow demise of Blogging. I've been framing this the wrong way - Facebook and Blogging are not in opposition and Blogging is not inferior to Facebook.
An optimistic point of view would be that Twitter and Facebook are gateway drugs to longer, more thoughtful forms of self-expression but that hasn't happened. Why is that?
Blogs are less connected than Facebook. They also require more work and more thought. There's also the self-consciousness which every virgin blogger must get over. Twitter and Facebook deftly side-stepped this problem by limiting what you could say to just a handful of words. When you sit down in front of Twitter or Facebook, you're not staring into the gaping maw of a blank screen. There is a buffet of high-carb sugary status updates for the mind. Adding your own bon mots to the mix is easy. Updates are real-time too. There is a comforting and addictive immediacy to Facebook & Twitter that encourages snacking on these low-fibre news portions throughout the day. Add to this the connectedness felt when someone 'likes' or comments on something you posted and it's easy to see why more people spend time on Facebook than blogging.
The pace of blog updates is less frenetic than Facebook. Life is slower in the Blogging Archipelago. Aside from sweat-shop blogs like the Huffington Post, Mashable and TechCrunch, personal blogs have been updating at the same pace since 2003. That's not such a bad thing. In fact that's something worth celebrating. What has to date been seen as a weakness could be one of Blogging's strengths. Rather than standing outside of Facebook & Twitter, looking in and wondering why people aren't out here blogging, we should work from the inside, carving holes in the walls offering glimpses of what life is like outside the walled gardens. Instead of trying to be more connected and real-time, treat our blog posts like postcards we send to our friends on Facebook and Twitter. A glimpse of what life is like on the Blogging Archipelago. Postcards from the Isands.
This recent post on Salon's blog talks about how they've slowed down the pace of blogging and now have more readers than ever...
We've also -- completely against the trend -- slowed down our process. We've tried to work longer on stories for greater impact, and publish fewer quick-takes that we know you can consume elsewhere. We're actually publishing, on average, roughly one-third fewer posts on Salon than we were a year ago (from 848 to 572 in December; 943 to 602 in January). So: 33 percent fewer posts; 40 percent greater traffic.
-- Salon ~ Hit record
... 600 blog posts a month. That's still a hell of a lot of posts even for a large group blog. I only mention this because I hope it's indicative of a trend towards slower, more thoughtful writing on the web because - frankly - looking at Facebook and Twitter can - at times - be fucking exhausting.
This is my Blog. Everything on this page - the words, the colors, font size, font type, and line height - was fussed and fretted over, by me, so that it would be readable, by you. I made this. Not Facebook. Not Twitter. I have complete control. That's just one of the benefits of being a blogger.
If you have a personal weblog, you are in a uniquely privileged position. You can write what you like, when you like, and anyone with an internet connection (half the planet) can read it. This is the stuff of science fiction. Stop comparing yourself to the latest "successful" blogger who just got a book deal. This isn't about a book deal. This is the end game. Self Expression, not Self Promotion. You have thoughts, things to say that can't be said in 140 characters or don't belong on Facebook. That book you've just started reading - what are your first impressions? The computer game you just played, was it good? bad? - why was that? A walk by the river on an autumn afternoon or a song or snippet of conversation leads to a train of thought that leads to a Revery. What was that like? Where will you go with that once you start putting words to screen?
Some of you might have tried blogging a couple of years ago, felt self-conscious about it and gave up. Maybe it's time to give it another go. To get off the Facebook and Twitter threadmill and spend more time on longer forms of communication. I joked that Blogging is like old media but personal blogging is the best of both worlds - it isn't driven by the frenetic schedules dictated by newer big commercial blogs and it doesn't have the overheads of old media; this isn't your job, it's your hobby. It's a place where you can flex your writing muscles and hone your writing skills, away from the gaze of your friends, family and co-workers. How personal will you get? It's up to you.