| Weblogs on the move | 2003-03-30 03:31 3 comments |
 by Flemming FunchChris Corrigan mentions how it is a bit strange when the content of a weblog suddenly changes because its author is in different circumstances. Like here I'm for a couple of weeks vacationing in Europe. My weblog looks the same on the surface, but suddenly I'm just writing about little towns in France instead of about systems and technology and the world situation. When I'm traveling I really notice how my normal style of blogging depends on many factors than I normally don't think much about, and how I'm sort of lacking a format for blogging what I'm actually doing. Typically I work at my computer many hours per day and quite naturally I browse a lot of information sources, so I can maintain a certain overview. And I seem to have peace and quiet to sit and philosophize about things, and it seems natural to talk about self-organization or alternative economic systems or other meta subjects. And I don't have a great urge to talk about my physical environment or what I actually do each day. But if for example I travel, my mind is more on where my suitcases are, on what I'm getting for dinner, who I'm meeting, and how it looks where I am. Very different thing. Much more sensory input, but less abstract input, and much less chance to sit quietly and talk about any of it. When I'm on the move, what I could use would probably be a simple mob-log technology, where I could post photos and short notes from a cell phone or something. And probably I'd prefer for that to go in a sidebar to my normal weblog. It is obvious that there are different styles of weblogging. For some people it is simply recording what they do and think each day, and what they have for breakfast. For some, their postings are driven by what is in the news. For some, like for me I think, there is a certain meta thread that goes through what they want to talk about, even if the pieces might be sort of haphazard, and might or might not have anything to do with the 'news'. Some people manage to find a style that brings all of it together. Doc Searls says his weblog is simply that he answers his e-mail in public. Dave Winer seems to have a style where car trips and family matters work well on equal footing with technical issues and bigger meta issues. For some people, the ultimate of weblogging would be to have a camera attached to your head that would record everything that happened to you. For others the ideal would be a news studio or newspaper editorial office with hundreds of incoming feeds that you can select from. Others again would prefer a quiet spot away from all disturbances, where they can sit down and write about what they think, all by themselves. I suppose I'd prefer a combination of all of those. |