The web is a wheel…
May 21, 2008
Image via Wikipedia
Or - what goes up, must come down - but eventually, it’ll come back up again. Note - if you’re reading this blog for writing insight, skip to the end, past the links 
I was randomly surfing this week, based on some Zemanta posts on one of posts I was writing (I’m liking Zemanta more and more) - and I came across an interesting little tidbit, that I’d been emailed in a different format. So I went back, found the email and am now stewing mildly.
Though to be fair, its not abuse of a buzz word that has me stewing at the moment - its the fact that once again, it appears people are following ‘the money’ instead of a geniuine need to communicate. That might be incredibly uncharitable of me - but to be honest, I never believed that ‘problogging’ would last forever, so didn’t dive into that wholeheartedly. Money, for me is a secondary consideration (which is perhaps why I’ve been so slow to finish monetizing the blog templates on most of my sites)
Y’see - Louis Gray has reported back on some stuff that he’s seen and heard, and has made some really interesting observations around Web2.0.
Technology, in my opinion does not equal changing a landscape - user choice does that. Its got nothing to do with the cool toys that us geeks run around using - if the average user doesn’t care and isn’t seeing YOU there - all you’re reaching are other geeks. In the case of bloggers this is a very bad thing - cause most geek bloggers are also GOOD bloggers. They know how to use everything they need to. So does it matter that all of those terms and ‘tricks’ in the image above are changing the face of blogging? I don’t think so.
Second point - if we’re heading into micro span content and conversation so be it. If Twitter is where its at, I’m a bit worried about attention span - bit its good for crafting the ultimate micromessage. By microspan I mean ‘micro attention span’ - we’re not needing to wait for information now, which means we’re more likley to seek out only the things that interest us. Which means we can niche to the max - which is long tail….
Third - there’s no such thing as content control - reading between the lines of some of the posts I’ve seen spring up lately, the one thing that i’m seeing is that if people are posting on the web, its available to the web. Fair enough - but I still believe, firmly, in attribution. We don’t believe in DNAless crimes or creations - we shouldn’t believe in content without attribution. And this is where things are swinging back up again - yes, of course, the probloggers may find themselves in a difficult position - but those of us that are fighting against splogs and all those other ‘fun’ things that spring up, just for money, might also find ourselves in a slightly better position.
I can’t help but wonder why people are making such a fuss. Some of us have embraced 2.0 since it ’started’. My thoughts on it - once people start using the term beyond the buzz word is that Web 2.0 in part is about the exploring spirit - we find the new stuff, we adopt, we adapt our models to use it - or file it away for another time - and then we continue. Anyone that’s sticking with one tool, is shooting themselves in the foot - but at the same time, I think we should pity those bloggers, not revile them.
Stepping forward
I think that the next steps in blogging are - of course - tying comments into one place (self hosted if at all possible - even if its some form of mirroring of blogging - though, of course, that leaves it open to various forms of abuse - not limited to removing whole swathes of conversation. A central comments database would be hilarous, and huge and unwieldy but would also support the cutting out of ‘legitimate’ spam.
Micro content is here already, so all we need now is to embrace it - beyond that - all that’s left now is to find a way to move forward. Money isn’t and has never been the be all and end all of blogging for many - this just confirms it.
And for the writers…
If you think that the technology is getting MORE complex - don’t. Writing on the web - wherever it is - is something that will always be needed - and if the monetization of blogs stops, it might cut a lot of the chatter. Half of my blogs are monetized, half aren’t and I see no difference in posting - commenting or working with them. This changes nothing for bloggers like me - and you, perhaps - so if people are telling you money isn’t in blogging, feel free to laugh and tell them that’s not why you’re blogging in the first place.
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