Second day of "Blogging"
In quotes because I playing with it, really.
This could become an obsession for someone (like me) with too much goddamn time on their hands. Especially if you've been reading blogs for a while.
Blogs have me online so much I can't talk shit about the "web surfers" of olden days, the people who clicked random links for entertainment. I've been berserk recently, following the war discussions, and it hasn't been pleasant (more on that later).
Anyway, I'm getting the feel for what a successful blogging tool is like. I get to modify XREBlogger/XREBloggregator/Whatever I'm gonna call it accordingly . . . just a bit is all that's necessary. But of course that's not the only reason I'm interested in this.
Truthfully, I've wanted a public speaking platform ever since Intersection days. And in those days I was looking at a specific set of goals and ideas. Those goals are still good but there's a bag of other stuff that has me concerned, not least of which is the way the RIME Current Events/Debate conference seems to have risen to devour the public debate space (man, you got to be old as hell to remember that!). The bag is getting too big, too full. I need to develop some kind of focus.
Crushing asshole comments and rhetoric feeblely disguised as logic is easy. Getting heard is hard and getting individuals to change their behavior is harder. Influencing the public debate alone is probably a sisyphean task. Finding and linking up with the right folks is only slightly less difficult.
A single blog is insufficient unto the task. A network though, properly used . . .
And "properly used" is the problem. It is my experience that too many grass-roots types (and I could name names) are as concerned with recognition as correctness. A lot can't seem to think of a solution that doesn't require themselves at the top of the pyramid. Human nature, I suppose. A number of folks are just pissed da fuck off and their idea of activism is ragging on people . . . more human nature. And a lot of the discussion takes place in self-reinforcing groups of people who don't know how the system operates. As such, those discussions have self-reinforcing errors.
Lotta lotta problems, lotta lotta issues. Notta lotta answers, because I feel like I've lost touch with folks on the ground. Alll this down-time has let me know that.
I have a couple of ideas, though. Primary among them is finding some way to facilitate the communication and exchange of ideas among the grass-roots. A lot of the discussion is done on the cheap, Yahoo mailing lists and such. Good looking web sites and/or blogs that folks will want EVERYONE to know about would help. A method of letting people know about new information would help as well--something like www.weblogs.com, maybe, or better, like www.syndic8.com specializing in syndicating Black interest/leftist/activist weblogs.
I'm feeling, though truthfully the public platform thing is more appealing to me (damn that human nature!), the networking thing is more important.
If I'm serious . . . and I think I am . . . I got work to do.
(Note to self: the application MUST HAVE A SPELL-CHECKER)
(Second note: a grammar checker would be nice too, but I don't know how! sob!
posted by Prometheus 6 at 4/7/2003 10:33:39 PM |
