i·me·michael

new journalism guerilla journalism editorialism story-telling emergence gossip navel gazing phenomenon collective observation information dissemination information aggregation group therapy microcontent personal voice historical documentation time capsule water-coolering armchair journalism alternative journalism valuless crap blah blah blah blah blah…

It’s the latest topic of conversation everywhere you look. I do and I don’t want to go into it, but I will. My own opinion is that even some of the people that are at the forefront of generation blog are losing touch with what it is. Some people have invested a lot of time trying to establish blogging’s journalistic credibility. Others are trying to elevate it by pointing to how blogging may be shaping the future of the web. All of it much to serious for the average blogger.

Is it a form of journalism?

Yes, but it’s not the same.

Is it writing?

Yes, but it’s not all it’s about. Also, a blog doesn’t need to have any writing at all.

Is it about linkage?

Yes, but again, it’s just one aspect of it.

Is it all of the above?

Yes, it’s all of the above. Then again, it can be none of the above.

So what the hell is it?

To me, blogging at its core is about one thing.

immediate.personal.expression

To say that it’s about this, or that, is categorizing only one aspect of what blogging is. You’d be exploring a single face of a many sided object. It’s like picking up a rock and saying, “This is what a mountain is.” Well, you’d be right, and you’d be wrong.

Blogging may have started out as a form of personal journaling, and linking to interesting sites, but it’s gone beyond that. That element still exists, sure, but you can’t say that that is what blogging is anymore. There are many different types of blog out there now. Genres based on design, common interest, common viewpoint, etc., and within it all is each individual’s unique take on what blogging is. The only commonality is that of personal expression. The blogger has the opportunity to express himself any way he wants, any time he wants.

There are almost no walls between the blogger and his ability to express himself. He isn’t hindered by technology. He isn’t stopped at the door and asked for his credentials. He isn’t expected to be Hemingway, cummings, Plath, Gibran, Nietzsche, Foucault, Jung, Rumi, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Dali, Davis, Patterson, or Zeldman before coming to the table.

So what makes a good blogger? Well, it’s different for everyone. Personal tastes vary. Different forms of expression appeal to different people. There is no right or wrong way to do it. Ultimately a friend summed it up best. If you create an honest product people will be attracted to it. This is not to say, “Build it and they will come.” What I mean is, if you create something honestly, and give yourself honestly to it, then that is going to come across. Of course the better you are at your chosen form of expression, the more validity may be ascribed to what you do, but this is not a given. What visitors think of your blog, or take away from it, is out of your hands.

You can learn some basics of blogging, but these should by no means be viewed as fences. The field is wide open to expand the vocabulary. Blogging should not be seen as some constrictive serious art form. It’s about expression, pure and simple.

immediate.personal.expression