Light Blogging

There hasn't been much in the news lately to blog about. There are the usual hollywood scandals, political battles, and regular news events, but nothing that has been of much interest to me.

One of the dangers of being a blogger is that you get your views out on the information highway and allow others to comment and/or take aim on your ideas and viewpoints. It is not a medium that is easily monitored and the rules are still being written because blogging is so new.

When a blogger makes a post or a commenter leaves a comment there are lot of things that must be taken into consideration. Let's talk about the blogger first and then we'll talk about commenters.

Blogging at its best is simply an attempt to throw an idea into the ring to see how people will engage in a discussion. A blog post can, but does not always represent the opinion of the poster. The key is to read the post to look for the questions that are triggered by the post. Usually these appear at the end, but often by that time readers have already found something in the post to trigger an emotion or thought. Bloggers hope that readers will read to the end so as to address the reason for the post.

Bloggers often find something in the news and direct to other websites or blogs through links. The news item may be serious, quirky or downright weird. These links are meant to be a springboard for discussion and do not often represent the convictions of the blogger. They are simply supplied for the purposes ot a discussion.

When a blogger states a personal conviction, the replies can be quite interesting. Because the post has to be short (otherwise most people won't read it) the blogger has to be as thorough and concise as possible. But that doesn't mean that he will succeed in covering the issue completely. This must be taken into consideration before comments are posted. Because bloggers take the risk of putting their thoughts into words, they should be given the benefit of the doubt when a controversial subject is raised. The best way to do is, is to ask questions.

Let's briefly discuss commenters. There are generally two kinds of commenters. Reactors and Responders. Reactors usually comment viscerally, or from the gut. They address the issue subjectively as they see it and usually come across as opinionated. Their language often has a lot of emotion tied into it and reactors often use words as statements of fact as if everybody should know that their opinion is common sense or conventional wisdom.

Reactors often miss the point of the post or introduce new information that does not relate to the post or may draw parallels that are irrelevant to the issue. They often take a word, or a phrase out of context. Reactors rarely address the gist of a post and may inadvertantly hijack a post. Other reactors join in and before you know it, the subject of the original post is relegated to the background and may never be readdressed. Reactors often feel as if they have to say the last word. Winning an argument is often more important than getting a broader understanding of an issue.

Responders on the other hand are usually very thoughtful. They look for the "theme" of the post and address the main point. They often ask questions, and usually qualify their comments by referring to the post, the links, or a question that my have been prompted by the post.

Responders come across as more reasonable and are often willing to clarify their comments when another commenter asks a question or when a reactor misinterprets their response. They acknowledge the validity of other commenters contributions and are often willing to let others own their opinions.

Allow me to post the number one rule of blogging, and commenting. "Seek to understand, before seeking to be understood." Ask questions before providing commentary. The more civil the discussion, the more likely others will join in. The more reactionary the comments, the more likely that a thread (the discussion happening between commentors) will be hijacked.

If you have a topic you'd like to see something posted about, or if you have a link, please email your ideas to me and I'll try to find something that addresses the point and post it on the blog.