I’m sure you’ve noticed that lately I’m having a hard time coming up with things to post about here. Part of it is that it seems like the entire focus of everyone’s attention has shifted to the economic crisis, but part of it is that I think I have gotten too attached to pet subjects and familiar ideas. There’s a value in sticking to the same subjects, namely the veneer of expertise that one develops over time, but there’s also the danger that you can become dulled to the ability to see things with a beginner’s eyes. That’s sort of the idea that Mike Rowe was expounding upon in that video clip about anagnoresis and peripeteia the other day — that our expertness can limit our ability to see things in simpler and more direct ways that can, in some circumstances, lead to new and better ideas.
So, without going to the extreme of traveling to Colorado to bite off some sheep testicles, I want to try to break out of my experience-blindness and try to find some ways to refresh what I do here. When I re-skinned the site a couple of months ago, I think that was the point where I planted this seed in my mind. I’ve decided that I’m not crazy about the way it turned out (the look, that is), but I also think that the cosmetic change was only hinting at bigger changes that I would like to do.
But I don’t know what changes I do want to make yet. Blogging is very different in 2009 than it was in 2000, or 2003, or even 2008. The successes of the social media websites have eaten away at the reasons a lot of us started blogs years ago, but at the same time genuinely fail to address the “bigger picture” ideas that blogging evolved through the politicization of American culture. And, as seemed inevitable even in the earliest days, the realm of blogs seems to be threatened with the tsunami of mindless money-grubbing SEO blogs that offer absolutely nothing while drowning out genuine voices and ideas.
What that means in practical terms is that it’s likely that my routine posting will be even more fitful than it has been for the last few months. There was a time when I made sure I posted five days a week, come hell or high water, but I think those days are gone for good. More recently, I have tried the model of only posting when I had enough stuff saved up to crank out a couple of link-heavy posts, or if there was something so time-sensitive it couldn’t wait. I might try to regularize that model a little better. Having played with Twitter for a few months now, I think it’s safe to say that I am just not one for the model of lots of short-burst mini-posts, but maybe I can integrate some more spur-of-the-moment stuff. At any rate, my guess is that I will probably only post a couple of times a week for a while, and that there may be some experiments here and there.
I know exactly what you mean. I’ve definitely slowed down since I started on Facebook. I have other arenas to talk to my “mommy friends” and everyone else is on Facebook, so I tend not to blog much about the minutae of my family life, which is probably boring to everyone. (This is why I don’t read Dooce; her life is not nearly as interesting as she thinks it is.)
I’ve taken to writing only when I feel like holding forth on a subject, which is sometimes hard these days because yes, now that the election’s over, everyone is focused on the economy, and I’ve got nothing original to say about that.
Still. I read and enjoy your every entry. So don’t quit altogether, now.
Thank you for the kind words. I’m not planning on quitting, just trying to figure out how to make this more interesting to me again. Facebook is not a good substitute for blogging, as I have always practiced it anyway, and Twitter is really only for people who can’t think in complete sentences. But both of them DO address valid ways of interacting online. I just need a little fresh perspective, that’s all.
I like you.
Thank you. I like you, too.
I also like you, you cranky old fucker. If you figure out how blogs are evolving, let me know.