Saturday, March 19, 2011

On Blogging

ORN:  5.2 miles total, with 3 x 1 mile repeats, average 7:47

I've been blogging for a long time, with my first post in 2002 on my still-existent professional blog.  This running blog emerged in late 2004 with, surprise, surprise, a race report on what was then my longest run ever, a whopping 12 mile trail run.  I like to write and, even more, enjoy reading what others have to say on areas of interst.  Blogging is real, personal, and bypasses the professional editing that tends to water down useful ideas.  

Yet, blogging has really faded.  I lamented this in my reflections on 2010.  I've also wondered just what to do with blogging.  Do I just give up and force all my thinking into two sentences on FB updates that scroll by in a matter of hours?   Surely there's a better approach but I couldn't give voice to it.  Then I read this post from Seth Godin, one of the clearest thinkers on marketing out there.  I copy here in its entirety.   


Bring me stuff that's dead, please

 

from Seth's Blog by Seth Godin

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RSS is dead. Blogs are dead. The web is dead.

Good.

Dead means that they are no longer interesting to the drive-by technorati. Dead means that the curiosity factor has been satisfied, that people have gotten the joke.

These people rarely do anything of much value, though.

Great music wasn't created by the first people to grab an electric guitar or a synthesizer. Great snowboarding moves didn't come from the guy who invented the snowboard... No one thinks Gutenberg was a great author, and some of the best books will be written long after books are truly dead.

Only when an innovation is dead can the real work begin. That's when people who are seeking leverage get to work, when we can focus on what we're saying, not how (or where) we're saying it.

The drive-by technorati are well-informed, curious and always probing. They're also hiding... hiding from the real work of creating work that matters, connections with impact and art that lasts. I love to hear about the next big thing, but I'm far more interested in what you're doing with the old big thing.

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Blogging is much more than showing off my miles.  It's far more an exchange of ideas, observations, mulling, plans.  A way to connect.  And if that's now for a more select audience, fine.  If you are reading this, THANK YOU!   To read a blog is to listen.  To post a FB update is merely to talk.  And I think we can stand for more listening than talking.  


Persevere...and keep blogging!




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4 comments:

Al said...

Hi Joe:

This is a nice post and I started to follow your blog when I was looking on how to dress for winter. Your guide took me all this cold winter running outside and dressed with the proper layers.
I just had to check the weather and check your spreadsheet and don't think what to wear just follow it and that was great for me.

When it is time to read I don't want to waste time to read "quick" posts in FB just read a substantial post in a blog and that's when my RSS list gets useful so keep posting and thank you for your blog.

Cheers.

Wes said...

well said, Joe. I've cut back quite a bit on my blogging in the last year, but I don't think I want to give it up. ever.

Darrell said...

Joe, I'm conflicted about the blog vs. FB dilema. I met some great folks through the blogs but now find that I don't have the time to keep up properly even though many of disappeared from the blog world. I do miss these folks but don't really do anything to continue the relationship. FB has allowed a small glimpse into some of those lives.
FB is a nice quick way to stay in touch but does tend to be superficial.
I'll keep reading those blogs that offer up content but I find that I don't go looking for more. The running blogs appear to be still intact just with a new group of folks.

David said...

My blog reading slipped when Bloglines went under and I didn't work to set up a new aggregator. I finally did in Google but I don't visit my Google account often enough so my activity is spotty. I still read what folks write. I just don't read it "fresh."
As for writing, I may never write a "race" report with as much conviction as my Cowtown write up. And there's nowhere else I would do that than on my blog. The blog is history in a cyber-cell that will be there to be found eons later.
Persevere!