This one’s simple: Blogging is a social activity. It’s not “social” like a FaceBook “cow clicker” pseudo-game, or “social” like raiding in an MMO, more like a good dozen-plus-player version of Frozen Synapse, with sparks flying between ideas as people connect thoughts and forge new conceptual links. It’s asynchronous and persistent, both very useful for fostering communication.
Yes, it usually starts with just getting words in type for one’s own benefit, but blogs are, by nature, getting words in type out where others can see them. At some level, socialization happens. Bloggers engage in hobnobbing, rubbing digital shoulders with each other. Ideas cross-pollinate, links sprout, groupthink evolves, and every once in a while, the pulse of the “blogosphere” actually indicates a strong interest or opinion on a topic that is relevant outside of the blogging circles. (Case study: Blizzard’s RealID kerfluffle, where the voices in MMO blogging circles tended to be almost uniformly… concerned. For good reason. It’s not so much that bloggers drove opinion, more that they were a good cross-section of gamer moods, and near consensus among such a disparate group is usually significant.)
It’s even possible to forge friendships online. Now, noting that it’s possible you’re befriending a persona instead of a person, it’s still true that social interaction online is still social interaction. Those are people out there, not Turing-complete bloggerbots. (Though in twenty years or so that might no longer be true.) People with interests, feeling, histories, preferences, and sometimes even a sense of humor. Over the years I’ve met a bunch of pretty cool people, like Psychochild, Professor Beej, Larisa, The Friendly Necromancer, Gordon, Cynwise, Ixobelle, Klepsacovic, Gazimoff, Yeebo, MBP, Dblade, Saylah, Nugget, Dusty, Syl, Thallian and Anton, Tipa, Ferrel, Pete, Victor Stillwater, Anjin, Modran, ZombiePirate, Void, Rog, Stabs, the guys at KTR and Word of Shadow… others I’m forgetting at the moment, and others that have dropped off the grid, like Wiqd, Mike Darga, Phaelia and Andrew of Systemic Babble. Anyone I link to over on that Blogroll on the right is someone worth reading. I might not always agree with any given one of them, but then again, I don’t always agree with my local friends or family. Even when I don’t agree with them, there’s usually still something interesting there.
Blog writing often follows blog reading, and the two tend to positively reinforce each other. Commenting on someone else’s blog is a great way to make the two work together even more. It’s about communication, really, and as some are wont to remind us, humans out here in “monkeyspace” are social animals, for better or worse. Thing is, with a blog, you can take it at your own pace rather than diving into a real time social gathering with real people around. The ability to filter and react at leisure isn’t exactly a magic potion to make wallflowers into butterflies, but it does go a long way toward opening conversational channels that might not otherwise exist. Blogging isn’t a FaceBook or Twitter pith contest, neither is it an Instant Messaging textspeak competition. It’s not a Ventrilo cacophony or monkeyspace mosh pit. It’s a more sedate matter, allowing for deeper thought and more civil dialogue.
In theory, anyway.
Practice, as always, varies as widely as fingerprints, but blogs really do offer a communication platform that isn’t quite of the same nature as some of the other big “social” media. They are valuable as a result, and a crucial ingredient to the social stew that is the modern internet. I’d even go so far as to call it a leavening ingredient, one that counters the leetspeak ADHD impetus of far too many “social” media outlets. There’s great value in the long form of written communication. There’s value in having outlets that aren’t controlled by big media conglomerates or corporations. It’s important to have places where impassioned writers can make cohesive arguments and keep public records without being shouted down by troll hordes or censored by The Man.
You may not change the world in big ways with your blog, but blogging is changing the world. If nothing else, it’s a good thing to be aware of and understand the potential of the beast.
…and sometimes, you don’t need to be a big force of change, you just need to be a good part of someone else’s life. Blogs can help forge links that might not otherwise exist between people, and sometimes, that makes all the difference.
Well said. Thanks for including me in the list of friend/bloggers. I love the community that has organically formed between so many people. It’s really interesting to see how we all interact via crossposts, comments, and twitter.
Anyway, keep up the good work. I would count you amongst my friends too.
Thank you for those words. I like blogging more than Twitter and all those other social sites that limit communication. Trying to figure out how I can get on that list over there. I must suck. 😛
Waitaminnit… I thought you were on there. Man, I really suck at keeping my blogroll up to date. OK, that’s my project for this week.
The best blog weeks are when we’re all linking to each other in a dialogue. Ideas get chewed pretty thoroughly and quickly.
Wonderful post, Tesh. 🙂
This is so much what blogging is about for me, personally, exchange – a quiet place to find like-minded people and players that are equally passionate about the things I love. I’m lucky to have found my corner in this vast blogosphere so early on and people like you, Tam and Larisa (I miss them both!), Kleps, Shintar, Psychochild, Ironyca and Liore have been great influences from the day I started off, sharing different perspectives with eloquent words while being approachable and forthcoming. all the insightful debates we’ve had in the past have made me a better writer and most of all, a better, more educated gamer/geek.
Even if I haven’t met any of the great bloggers in my blogroll, which has grown a lot since (and keeps growing!), I feel that there’s a link between us and our daily exchanges, no matter how small, are what makes blogging such an inspiration. in the end, everything big is made up of small things – as the Kender say. 🙂
[…] me, there are two main reasons. The first is community. I think Tesh really nails it that there's a feeling of camaraderie between bloggers. I've met a […]
That was beautifully and depthfully put – agree 100% – your post rings very true for me. I have actually nothing I can add – except “heyyy, Tesh :)”
That is a great post. Of course, any post that links to me is sure to be a winner. 🙂
I 100% agree. In many ways, I feel closer to the people in this community than I do my coworkers. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Fantastic post! I think you pretty much nailed why I blog: to be part of the “grand conversation” of the MMO blogosphere. It’s a richer and more satisfying way of exchanging ideas and opinions than I’ve encountered in any other medium.
For all the soloing I do in these MMO things, I’m still social about them. I just socialize here. Thanks, you all, for the group.
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Thank you for saying I’m cool people! I really do appreciate it! I happen to think you’re pretty awesome too! I’ve always enjoyed reading your blog!
Aweh, you mentioned me and I only just saw. *leaves greasy trails of happiness behind*
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