This Phenomenon Called Blogging
As a worldview analyst, I want to take a look at the topic of blogging for a moment. What is it about blogging that makes it appealing? What does the explosive growth in blogging indicate about us as a culture?Here are a few thoughts that I am chewing on.
There are some positive reasons.
One, blogging builds community. We live separate lives, for the most part. Independence is touted as a virtue. What loses? Community. The thing is, we are relational creatures. It is God’s design. Blogging taps into that basic human wiring. We get connected in a large virtual community. We find other people who share our convictions. We find kindred spirits. It is not a perfect proxy for the old fashioned kind of community, however. I can’t come over and help you move some furniture if you live in Asia like Joe Missionary, for instance. Still, blogging builds community so I think it is popular and good.
Two, blogging provides a platform for shaping thought. It is an easy way to get your ideas out there in the marketplace of ideas. We can bump our ideas up against each other and learn. Sometimes the thoughts we shape are our own. Blogging helps me understand what I am thinking. I am able to coalesce my ideas into a more focused, articulate and cogent form. I blog to get my thoughts to all fly in formation, as it were.
Is all of blogging positive? Not necessarily.
Blogging taps into my desire for control. I own my domain. I make the rules. If I want to be rude, I can be rude. If I want to blow off some steam, I can vent. If I want to say nothing in particular, I can blog about … well … nothing in particular. I can just make noise. I am allowed to. It is my blog. I make the rules. No social mores to worry about. No constraints. No restrictions. In short, it appeals to our culture's love affair with autonomy.
Blogging, for some, appeals to a desire to complain, but do it and stay invisible while doing it. It is a way to easily slip into and out of an argument with no strings attached. Post a comment as “anonymous”. Set up a blog using a pseudonym. We say what we want and then walk away. If someone else’s comment bugs us, we delete it. In short, we don’t have to follow all the rules of engagement that normally apply in social settings. This allows us to get away with being rude and blunt. We don’t have to temper our words and act like nice people. Exception: I am not all against pseudonyms. A blogging friend of mine reminded me of the importance of internet safety. Point taken. I do think some are attracted to the notion of staying anonymous for reasons other than safety, however.
Finally, alas, blogging can appeal to our pride. I see a whole lot of blogs registered in the ecosystem at TTLB including yours truly. I get caught up in checking my rankings and evolution on the ecosystem. I admit it. It is kind of like a game, trying to see whose posts got the most links?. Who is advancing up the chain the quickest? Who has the widest reach?
The Lord continues to work on me. He used two instruments this week. The first was Joel Belz. I found myself convicted. Was I trying to make a name for myself through blogging? Was I not thinking “small” enough? Was I out there promoting myself? Ouch. The second person the Lord used was my wife Leslie. She asked, Jeff, would you blog even if your audience was just ONE other person? Translation into blogspeak, would I continue to blog even if I remained an “insignificant microbe” in the ecosystem?
Ouch. I had to stop and repent. I sensed pride rearing its ugly head! I want to blog for the right reasons. The heart is deceitful, and my pride needed to be exposed.
Let’s continue to build community and join together. Be encouragers. Be generous and self-less with your praise. Also, go onto the other team's turf some more. Be the visiting team once in a while. Take a look at some blogs who don’t agree with your point of view. Post a comment, but do it respectfully and put your name on it. Own it. Let your posts and comments always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt.
Let’s use this emerging technology to promote good ideas, challenge bad thinking and build community. Let’s blog for the right reasons, and reflect the character of Christ while we are at it.
Blog On!
(hat tip: James Walters for some excellent insight on this topic)
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