02.18.03
Only connect
I’m becoming aware that over the last few week I’ve been measuring my level of busyness as an inverse proportion of the time I have free to blog. My lunchtimes seem to have disappeared recently, so there’s only the briefest, partially digested posting going on. Sorry.
Of course, this might be seen as ‘purer’ blogging than writing screeds of opinion, but I’m really interested in the way that my blog is, for me, acting as a kind of surrogate in-work social life.
One of the bitter conclusions I make is that work, in all but the rarest circumstances, just doesn’t provide the social structure and interaction I look for.
Don’t get me wrong, I work with nice, decent people. But the bloody work itself irrevocably colours most work friendships. I find that the friendships I have with workmates tend to be very tightly delimited - some stuff is just completely out of bounds. This is understandable, and probably necessary, where power and money relationships are involved.
But I can’t help but think about the niche that blogging fills. I sometimes wonder if two of the most basic human drives are curiosity and the need to connect with others.
Funny how blogs can (if you like) be reduced to two basic operations:
- Showing people what you’ve found (links) or thought (commentary) - i.e. displaying and encouraging curiosity and, implicitly, connecting with readers
- Receiving their comments - i.e. readers connecting back and rewarding curiosity with more information
Blue Witch said,
February 18, 2003 at 3:51 pm
Jon you are the only one I can talk to, all the other commenting systems are down (Haloscan and Enetation, and Yaccs is down intermittently). Sob.
I’m really interested in the way that my blog is, for me, acting as a kind of surrogate in-work social life. One of the bitter conclusions I make is that work, in all but the rarest circumstances, just doesn’t provide the social structure and interaction I look for.
I empathise with that. I was rambling on the other day about the way blogging has recently filled a niche (actually a huge pit probably) for me. Living in a rural area, with an aging population, not going to w*rk and not having kids or the desire to spend my days with those who do, has left me rather isolated in social, intellectual and cultural terms.
However, I also recognise the dangers of worsening the current situation by becoming over-involved in blogging. A thin line, I think.
Jon said,
February 19, 2003 at 5:48 pm
A supplement or a replacement? Yes, quite.