April 24 round up
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Tuesday 28 October 2008
Am I an Internet Impostor???
Since setting up this blog I have started to ask myself some fundamental questions as to why. There are many different types of blogs online such as newfeeds, blogs done by an organisational unit about a particular excavation or simply personal blogs; a reflection on studies or experience or just an area of interest. The reasons for 'It's not just a trowel, it's a way of life' was to gain more of an insight into the world of the blogger. Questions such as why do people blog, what do they want to achieve and what do they discuss are among the huge list I currently have! So if my blog is only active and online to try and claw my way into the 'blogosphere' for research about the bloggers themselves does that make me a fraud? After making contact with a couple of other bloggers (thanks Neko and Cas) who's blog pages are kept up to date with interesting posts that obviously mean something to them, I now feel slightly unnerved at my almost 'fake' blog. The one thing that surprises me most about this whole process is that I have become very attached to 'It's not a trowel...' After noticing I hadn't updated the blog for two weeks (shock horror) I felt incredibly guilty! Maybe that's due to the fact that its for my dissertation..... or maybe I'm being sucked into the 'blogosphere'.........
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6 comments:
Firstly, my pleasure. And a few more links whilst I think on them:
Anne Helmond (she did a great piece a while back on blog-guilt, and trust me, you are not alone in that!)
danah boyd, who's gone a bit quiet lately due to phd's, but her archives are more than worth a read.
Back to your post - I think it is really hard to define what, exactly "blogging" is, because everyone does it differently. How I blog is different to how Neko blogs, which is different to how you blog, or Anne blogs, or anyone else blogs. Each blog is as unique as their author. There are general trends, to be sure, but more than that is hard to define. You have to make your own answer at the end of the day.
Also, blogging isn't for everyone. The legion of never-updated and short-lived blogs are testament to that. It's harder than it looks to write consistently for any period of time, keeping (and building if you are lucky) a consistent audience.
More than that, you have to build a reputation as someone worth listening to. How do you build that reputation? When you get the answer, can you tell me? But I am pretty sure that somewhere in the mix, sadly, a decent sense of permanence from a good supporting archive is always useful.
The beauty of blogging for me is really the connections with different people and the communities that build up in comments, Twitter and the like. No blog is, or should be, an island. Traffic and the holy grail of readers flow through links and recommendations from other bloggers.
My thoughts are scattered tonight, forgive me as I ramble on things you probably already know. A few tips from over half a decade of blogging though (oh my lord, have I really been at the game that long?!):
1) Engage your readers in the comments. If they've stopped long enough to say something, give them the common courtesy of responding. It really does make a difference and make them feel welcomed
2) Believe in what you write and be honest - it will come across in your writing if you are being false.
3) Be comfortable in your writing voice (this follows from 2 really). If you enjoyed writing something, the chances are we'll enjoy reading it
4) Give out links like candy. No one is going to know your blog exists unless you link to other people you like. Don't spam people, but if you think someone said something good, reference them
5) Comment on other peoples blogs - I can only speak from personal experience, but I check out everyone who leaves a comment on Bright Meadow. Plus, I found you because of a comment you left on Neko's blog...
I think that might be enough. I'm turning into one of those horrible preachy people and you are going to hate me. All my thoughts above are NOT rules - as I said at the top, blogging is whatever you make it - they are just a few observations.
*small*and can you not have red-on-black text? I can't read it :( *small*
*kicks blogger* you would not believe the number of times I have tried to submit this bleeping comment!
Hi Cas
Thanks so much for your advice on this. I really appreciate you taking the time to help out! I didn't realise how difficult it would be to set up a blog and keep it running let alone exciting! Slowly getting there though. I still need to get used to surfing through blogs it's all a bit new to me.
I noticed how you said you enjoy the connections you make through blogging. It's very obvious from looking through some 'blogging communities' that it seems to be a great way of interacting with people that have the same interests. With the technology we have now it's made that little bit easier.
I appreciate the ramblings from you, and I most definately do not hate you :-) I'm grateful!
I've changed the colours on the page (still kinda playing about with it) let me know if it is easier for you to read....
:-)
Speaking as someone who 'lurks' rather than blogs ... guilt seems to be a very common feature in many people's blogs. As you say, it's also a feature with dissertations, so you've something of a double-whammy there! But if you're looking at the nature of blogging in archaeology, it has to be a good idea to experience it for yourself, along with all the guilt, uncertainty, doubt, etc. in order to understand the process properly. So I don't think that makes you an imposter - if you *didn't* blog you could be accused of being an imposter perhaps? Your blog certainly isn't 'fake' if you're using it to reflect on your thoughts, experiences, ideas as you develop your dissertation. Indeed, it can become a handy scratch-pad for those ideas and one which doesn't involve myriad bits of paper that you lose and which can generate near-instant responses and thoughts from others. Just my pennyworth ... J :-)
PS *Please* change the colours!
... and just stumbled across this by Andrew Sullivan. Hmm ... "the narcotic appeal of blogging ...". But there's some very interesting discussion on what blogging entails ...
Ack! Just fallen victim to my own rules there and didn't come back in a timely fashion. (To be true, I so rarely step outside the RSS reader and into the comments field, when I *do* I invariably forget to come back). One of those instances of do as I say, not as I do!
As Jeremy rightly points out, if you didn't blog at all THEN you might be at risk of seeming an imposter. I could go into a long discourse about the different anthropological approaches of studying communities, or whether you should be an impartial observer or a participant... But it is a Sunday morning, I've not had enough tea yet, and I am fighting off a manky cold, so I can't be bothered!
(And yes, the colours now (dark text/light background) are much more readable :) )
That's comforting then! Jeremy at least now you can consider yourself a participant since you've started blogging here :-) Although it's easy to understand what you mean about 'lurking' on other blogs. It's easily done once you start looking around on other blogs, once you start being directed here there and everywhere you would find it very difficult to comment everywhere you had been. I suppose all of us 'lurk' to some extent....
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