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S/SW blog philosophy -

I credit favorite writers and public opinion makers.

A lifelong Democrat, my comments on Congress, the judiciary and the presidency are regular features.

My observations and commentary are on people and events in politics that affect the USA or the rest of the world, and stand for the interests of peace, security and justice.


Saturday, June 10, 2006

Little blogs

photo credit: Ernest vonRosen, www.amgmedia.com
Bloggers like me are probably an interesting lot to the blogosphere. You really must make a concerted effort to find us. We are like a thumbnail photo on a proofsheet of thousands. Even with a lupe we are hard to pick out in the crowd.
We do not work as hard at it as some others do. We do not shamelessly go after an endless number of links with just anyone, which I hear is the way to get your traffic numbers up. We do not post each day or multiple times a day. We sometimes post about the "lint in our own navels," which is only interesting to us. We sometimes do "bobble head" posts, which, for the unititiated, are posts that agree with the prevailing point of view and add nothing new to the discussion. And we sometimes rant just to get it off our chests. There are thousands of us.
Little blogs make up a larger community. And some of the Wise Ones on the panels at the YearlyKos convention have declared that our voices do matter. Because we belong to a community. Liberals/Progressives, political activists, we publish our opinions on the Internet. And we are happy when we find like-minded folks with whom we can dialogue. What we say and think may or may not make a difference individually. But we instinctively know that we make a difference in the aggregate.
Big blogs and little blogs are complementary. As I watched some of the sessions on C-SPAN I felt good validation from many of the speakers, none of whom denigrated bloggers who are far from the status of the Top Ten or Twelve. We owe the Top Ten or Twelve. I am clear about that. Because of the climate fostered on those sites, I have felt competent enough to publish diaries that got a few comments on a couple of their sites. And I felt brave enough to comment myself, rather than be a mere lurker. Thus, those sites have truly been the source of my strong sense of community, and my growth as a writer.

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My "creative post" today at Southwest Blogger is about boomerangs.

2 comments:

Kitchen Window Woman said...

I think that you have summed up "little blogs" quite well. I have no desire to chase down the latest headline or post multiple times per day but I do work hard at it. Writing isn't an easy task for me. I research, think, write drafts, and then publish (once or twice a week).

I do think that it is very important for people like you and I and all of the other small bloggers to express our opinions and to enlighten when we can because in Bush's America the pressure is on to conform and follow.

I missed most of the coverage of YearlyKos Convention on CSPAN because I did not know about it. Then when I did discover it they were forced to stop the coverage because of technical difficulties. Darn!

Carol Gee said...

KWW: I like what you say about ". . . Bush's America . . . conform and follow." Never!
Sorry you missed the coverage. When the "technical difficulties" happened, I must confess that my occasionally paranoid self felt that NSA did it. Out of a black van somewhere near the parking lot where C-SPAN had its little satellite dish pointed towards the sky, NSA scramblers sabotaged this little group of opinion-expressers and enlighteners. But then I got hold of myself and vowed to sit on my paranoia until it went away.
Thanks for your comment. I read you regularly.