Ming the Mechanic:
Your blog when you're not there

The NewsLog of Flemming Funch
 Your blog when you're not there2005-08-12 23:00
2 comments
by Flemming Funch

It is sort of weird with a blog. It stays there even when you're not paying attention. I was busy the last few weeks, and didn't post anything, and didn't even check my comments. But still, about a thousand people are looking at it every day. OK, that's probably to a large degree because Google serves us a lot of my old postings, so it obviously isn't all folks who deliberately go and see what ming.tv has on today. But it is still a little strange, to have a lot of visitors when one is not there.

And that's where the organization of a blog is maybe not completely appropriate. You know, it shows your latest posts first on the front page. So, is it like I've been saying the same thing every day for the last month? Do my last couple of posts suddenly gain an unintended higher importance? Are thousands of people coming by, thinking, "Why did he post exactly that, and then nothing more?" I don't know.

On the other hands, there are aspects of how blogs are accessed that make it no big deal that you're not there for a while. A lot of people read blogs through blog aggregators. So, they don't lose any sleep over the fact that you haven't posted much. And the moment you post something again, they'll notice. They don't have to go checking everything day, wondering.

Likewise, this blog is part of a blog community in the New Civilization Network. Meaning, that a bunch of members watch the blogs there through a simple blog aggregator in the member area. So, they notice too right away when you post something again, and don't lose much sleep either, if I don't do it for a while.

But, still, I personally lose a bit a sleep about not blogging. A feeling like one is letting people down. That a lot of people go in vain and look for your postings, and there's nothing there. In reality, it is probably much fewer people than it feels like, but, well, it is just a feeling, not necessarily a fact.

Likewise, I'd also always have some mental obstacles to blogging again, if I haven't done it for a while. I've lost the thread, for one thing. And then I'm wondering if somehow my first posts would be particularly scrutinized. Why does he show up after a month and then post THAT? Well, the feeling goes away quickly, and I don't really worry about what anybody thinks. But the starting and stopping is a little difficult.


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2 comments

13 Aug 2005 @ 01:26 by Ge Zi @24.126.199.23 : do this all the time
Hi Flemming,
yeah - know the feeling, even though I don't blog as much as you by a long shot. But it's always like a kind of an obligation, once you have started a communication line.
Maybe the solution is to see this really as one cycle of communication. you say something, others answer and ...
here is the problem - the blog does not really offer the means of an acknowledgement to finallize the communication.
Maybe you should invent something here ;-)
Once you have done this then you blog to your hearts content and each blog is done with after the ack.
more like babba describes how he quits smoking - he does that 20 to 30 times a day.  



13 Aug 2005 @ 03:01 by ming : Blogs
Yes, maybe it should be structured so that each blog entry is its own thing. One says it, other people maybe answer, and that's good enough. No obligation of saying anything the next day. No promise that it is an open channel. I don't know. Maybe it is the other way around. That a blog should be an open channel, without any promise of any particular particles appearing on it.  


Other stories in
2012-05-03 00:04: An evolving path
2012-01-02 13:52: 2011 Accomplishments and 2012 Aims
2011-11-17 02:20: Your inner piece
2011-02-01 00:05: Slow Mo Flow
2011-01-22 18:40: Recognition
2010-08-23 00:36: Where's Ming?
2010-07-20 14:24: Getting other people to do stuff
2010-06-22 00:27: Inventory
2010-06-19 23:10: Conversations
2009-10-28 12:31: Then a miracle occurs



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