Not only do I lack any measurable previous blogging experience, but (aside from hastily-scrawled threats written to poor interstate drivers and held up to my window at 70 mph) I've never really made a big effort to communicate with those outside my realm of ken.
That said, I can appreciate a good blog as much as the next shadowy lurker. Dooce has doubled me over with middle-school-quality-just-north-of-bladder-threatening laughter more than once. It speaks directly to both the hilarity and the room temperature fire of parenthood. It is authored by Heather Armstrong, a former web-designer who lost her job, ostensibly, because of her penchant for unabashed blogging. Now, having parlayed her wry wit into many an advertising deal, and having been named by Forbes as one of 2009's "Most Influential Women in the Media"...let's just say that it's all (net)working out for her.
When I'm feeling righteously indignant, which is more often than I'd like to admit, I head for Tim Wise's blog. A white anti-racist leader, Wise has cornered the market on, well, online white anti-racist leadership. "This is Your Nation on White Privilege" had me nodding at my monitor as if I were a bobble head. Aside from having an appreciable following, Wise has also published several books. Although he does not sell advertising on his site, and likely inspires the ire of more than a few, I would contend that Wise's blogged thoughts and essays have contributed greatly to the proliferation of his books and leadership engagements...thus facilitating his ability to march on.
Like a waterfall in slow motion, Part One
3 years ago
Ah yes, that whole bit about "I've never really made a big effort to communicate with people outside my realm of ken" is pretty familiar to me. I like The New Yorker and Time (and US Weekly) and Rachel Maddow and public radio because I can hear and read things that resonate with my values. I kind of live in a protected cocoon and I sort of like that. I loved that essay by Tim Wise.
ReplyDeleteBut I also get concerned that we'll all eventually barricade ourselves inside our own little worlds. In some respects, I feel like the web allows us to do that. We just of drift from website to website and everything we read confirms our world view. Or maybe that's just what I do. This is a pretty pessimistic view of the web. I guess the advantage to it is that it allows us to feel less alone. It's comforting to know there are people out there who feel the same way we do.
Kelsey-
ReplyDeleteYou are right on! I never stopped to consider how we all manage to turn the seemingly infinite interweb (as my daughter calls it) into an avenue to reinforce our own personal viewpoints. (I think that the farthest out I usually branch is News of the Weird...) Now that you say it, though, I'm going to make more of an effort to explore what's fringe to me.
Maria
This is an excellent point on the building of mental barricades through blogging, one I am concerned about myself, especially as more and more people tune solely into their personal sources of news.
ReplyDeleteUm, Candance...
ReplyDeleteNot to existentially bind and gag myself, buuuut...in the end, aren't all barricades mental?
(It's been a long day.)
Maria