Ed Note - This item was originally written when I first started blogging in September, 2002. Some of the original comments have become obsolete.
The word "blog" is an abbreviation of "web log", which is a sort of "online diary", or according to this reference: "A frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links." As I'm not quite sure I've completely grasped the concept myself, I searched for more explanatory material and found this excellent description by Meg Hourihan. After reading her description, I realize my meager effort won't measure up to her standards, and may not even be worthy of the name "blog".
For starters, I'm not using one of the popular blogging services that provide all the neat bells and whistles that Ms. Hourihan mentions. At least for now, it's a relatively low-tech implementation on my own site and is going to be mainly text and hyperlinks. I will date-stamp the entries, but I'm not convinced that the exact timestamp is all that important, and I'm not going to worry about that. There will also be no way for readers to add their comments directly, although anyone who really feels strongly compelled to comment is always free to email me, and I'll add their comments to the blog if they so desire.
Ed. note: The comments above, written long before installation of the GeekLog software, are obviously no longer applicable.
I really think the slick packaging is not as important as the content, but that scares me too. I'm not sure if I'll be able to produce profound thoughts on a regular basis. According to Catherine Seipp, as quoted by Hourihan, a blog is more than just random drivel about one's own life; it should contain commentary on the events of the day and their coverage in the media. I guess that requires one to have a certain level of awareness of the events of the day and their coverage in the media.
So if I'm not completely sure what a blog is, and I'm fairly sure I can't maintain a good one, why am I bothering with this? I'm not really sure. I've been aware of the blog craze for a few years now, but haven't paid much attention. A couple of years ago, I forwarded some long-forgotten amusing email to a former boss, and he replied that he had just recently started a blog and had added my contribution to it. I took a look, thought it was mildly interesting, but never returned for another look. That's not really a criticism. It's just that there's so much stuff out there, and so little time.
Ed. note: Since I got bitten by the blogging bug, I've made sporadic return visits to Rick's site, and it has led me to some sites that have influenced some entries here.
And that's one thing that I've been wondering about. There are so many people out there faithully blogging away, and how many people ever read what they have to say? What is it that compels us to record our thoughts for an audience that we're not sure exists? Of course, for centuries people have been recording thoughts in diaries to be read by nobody, but diaries were supposed to be secret. Presumably blogs are intended to be read, by friends and strangers, but what if they aren't? Is it a waste of time? Or is it good exercise for the brain to regularly produce content worth reading, even if it isn't read?
More recently, I got blogs on the brain again after receiving email from an old college buddy with whom I had had no contact for about twenty years. He had stumbled into my website somehow (I'm not sure I want to know what he was looking for when he accidentally found me). In the subsequent exchange of email, he mentioned that he had a blog. Jeff seems to be maintaining an interesting mix of information on his own life and commentary on the issues of the day, especially in the information technology industry which keeps him fed. As I looked at some of his blog entries that were links to amusing/interesting pages he'd found, along with his own comments, I realized that this might be a good substitute for my habit of sending email to large groups of friends when I find something amusing. Instead of mailing stuff like that, it can go on the blog, and people can read or ignore it as they choose.
That raises some interesting questions about blogs as a method of staying in touch. If I keep the blog up to date, anybody who cares what I'm doing or thinking recently can check the blog. But does that improve or reduce contact? If blog-reading replaces email or telephone as a method of keeping in touch, do we suffer from the loss of two-way contact? Does a blog become just a frequently updated online version of the old Christmas card form letter we get from friends that we haven't actually talked to in years?
It also raises the old "push vs. pull" question of information delivery. Each has its pros and cons. "Push" (e.g. sending email) gets information out to people that might otherwise have missed it, but risks boring/annoying people with information they don't really want. "Pull" (e.g posting on a website for people to browse) ensures that nobody gets information without specifically asking for it, but risks people missing information that they didn't know was available.
That's probably more than enough babbling. I'm going to see how this "quasi-blog" develops. I might decide I like it so much I move it to a fancy blogging site.
Ed. note: Still running on my own site, but with fancy blogging software.
I might decide it's a waste of time and kill it. Or I might just keep it as it is now; a simple set of pages with my latest random ramblings. Enjoy .. or ignore!