DISQUS

Craver-VII · 2 years ago

From "Goodbye, Blog" (May/June 2006), Alan Jacobs wrote in Books & Culture. "Right now, and for the foreseeable future, the blogosphere is the friend of information but the enemy of thought,"

I don’t share his sentiments. You could say the same about a lot of things, but it really depends on how you use them. I believe that blogging has actually made me a better thinker, as I strive to communicate appropriately to different communities.

Do some people get tired? Yes. Do some people turn blogging into a brain crutch, and think less? Sure, but I still think the “enemy of thought” concept is overused. (I hope that doesn’t sound cranky or disrespectful, I’m just sharing my opinion.)

L.L. Barkat · 2 years ago

Oh, funny. I'll be linking to his article soon too. Because I have one of my own coming up on Today's Christian sometime in the next week (I think), and I want to see how the conversation will go.

Some people will do anything to get in on the conversation, even if they don't blog. (I'm thinking T.O. doesn't blog, due to the way the CT article was composed? Just a guess.)

L.L. Barkat · 2 years ago

Just got the news. It's up! And so is my companion post: "Blogging is a Waste of Time."

Jenn · 2 years ago

Yeah, why would non-bloggers talk about blogging anyway? Sheesh. (Not really as disgruntled as I sound.)

But I am dismayed to hear that Dr. Jacobs (of my alma mater) is such a blog-cynic.

Marcus · 2 years ago

Craver, I think traditional publishers feel especially threatened by bloggers. I don't think they really are, they're just maybe having a confidence problem that blogs are going to supplant books and culture.

L.L., Olsen is actually a blogger himself. Sort of. He's a good guy, but his experience with blogging is quite a bit different from most. Not community based in the same way.

Jenn, people like to be prophets of doom, you know? I wouldn't be too hard on the anti-bloggers. It still feels like the wild west out here. On my bad days, I can be a blog-cynic too. : )

L.L. Barkat · 2 years ago

Oops. Open mouth, insert bloggy foot. Now, tell me where he sort of blogs. I'm curious to know more.

Marcus · 2 years ago

Here's Ted's official bio at Tidings:
Ted Olsen is news director and online managing editor of Christianity Today. He has been writing the magazine's online Weblog—a collection of news and opinion articles from mainstream news sources around the world—since 1999. In 2004, the paper version of the magazine launched Weblog in Print, which looks for unexpected connections and trends in articles appearing in the mainstream press. The column was renamed "Tidings" in mid-2006 and now runs monthly.

In the meantime, Ted still contributes sometimes to what they now call CTliveblog. Here's his latest post there.

spaghettipie · 2 years ago

Interesting article and post, Marcus. Timely, too, as I was just talking with a friend about his blog and the difficulty he's been having with consistently posting. (He asked me to hold him accountable to posting weekly). The conversation ended with me asking him the reason he wanted to blog. Without having a compelling (to him) purpose, I said, I didn't see why he would be motivated to post. I think in the end that determines whether your blog lives or dies.

Marcus · 2 years ago

spaghettipie, I agree completely. The weird thing is when I don't understand why I feel compelled to keep posting. I just do. So I post.

Rebecca LuElla Miller · 2 years ago

Mark, this is interesting in light of what I've been ... well, blogging about the last couple days. The real focus is on writers building a platform but it came out of an article about blogging addiction. (Hmmm, did you just say you feel compelled to post??)

Interestingly, I've found blogging (and discussion boards) to be VERY thought-provoking. I've exchanged ideas with people I would never have had the opportunity to talk to in face-to-face life. In some cases, those "conversations" have gone a long way to forming my opinion about what I believe to be true about Christian fiction, art, theology.

If nothing else, what others say challenge my ideas, so I either have to understand them and undergird them or I have to abandon them.

I do think creating a community helps. Lots of times I get post material from someone's response to what I've written.

I think people might "dry up" as bloggers, but I suspect they are a) not getting feedback; b) receiving only atta-boy feedback; or c) not reading challenging posts from other bloggers.

Becky

Susan · 2 years ago

I think that I also feel compelled - just not as often as you - to blog. Not really sure why but since it wells up in me like an itch that needs to be scratched, and I have prayed about it - I'm assuming that's the Holy Spirit - although what He is doing and why He would do it through a blog is beyond me!

real live preacher · 2 years ago

I think what we're really seeing is the death of pontificating in major publications. People don't trust these kinds of things anymore. So you have to be more and more extreme in what you write. I don't think anyone's listening. And there will be no accountability when it turns out to be wrong, and it will.