The Future of Blogging

The Future of Blogging

Via Shel Israel's blog ItSeemstoMe at "An Open Letter to John C. Dvorak: Time to Retire", we are directed to an attack on blogs by John C. Dvorak at his November 19, 2003 PC Magazine article "Co-opting the Future".

Dvorak's article has drawn cogent rebuttal, e.g. at

1. Steve Gillmor - "Gillmor Takes On Dvorak's Anti-Blog Stance", November 20, 2003

2. Adrian's Blog - Adrian Bacon has a great rebuttal to Dvorak's attack on blogs, November 21, 2003 and I like what he writes as a comment to Dvorak's post at Dvorak's site. I quote Adrian below [Update: September 22, 2004: Please note that Adrian has informed me that his blog has moved and now uses WordPress. He appears to have edited the original posting. That original posting is found below.]:

"I don't agree with you at all on this.

I blog. I Have done so for a long time. http://www.quicksurf.com/diary.html [Adrian's Blog]

I blog because it's an outlet. It lets me write what I want to write about, when I want to write about it, and how I want to write about it, because unlike you, I don't get paid for my writing, and I don't have to worry about deadlines or subject content. Even though I actually have quite a few regular readers, I really don't care if nobody reads my blog. It's there for me to put my thoughts down. I don't usually show any of the feedback I receive from my readers on my blog, but believe you me, I get comments about my blog. Some are sarcastic, some are funny, and some are a note of thank-you because I said something touching or provided a link to something that they found useful, or something like that. Some of it is hate mail. Some of the comments make it completely worth blogging. You never know how what you say is going to affect someone. By some counts, I have a bland blog. Others find my blog very interesting. You'd be surprised how many regular readers become regular readers because of one or two small things that you wrote that struck a chorde with them. A blog is a blog because it's personal, and it's about you.

Contrary to what you say, blogging is a complement to media companies. Jim Lynch said it best in his post."

3. In fact, see Jim Lynch and his November 21, 2003, writing on the future of blogging.

The opinion of PunditMania is...

The journalistic "pay for brains" model has its place in capitalist society, but it is not an exclusive phenomenon.

Many will find it to be a novel, revolutionary idea, but yes, people can also think, even if they are not paid to do so.

Indeed, he who is NOT paid to think or to write, has in some way far more freedom to write what he is thinking, than someone who must constantly look to see that he is not biting the hands that feed him.

So, blogging will not disappear. Quite the contrary, blogging will expand - indeed, into many new and novel areas.

Here are some areas in which blogging will influence the world or is already influencing that world substantially:

1. The Legal Profession. The legal profession is at forefront of blogging. See InstaPundit and the Volokh Conspiracy.

2. Publishing. The Publication of Ideas for many motives, e.g. Recognition and Establishment of a Reputation are important. Some forms of blogging will replace conventional publications.
Olaf Brugman at the Knowledge Bridge blog has posting that "Academic Publishing inhibits the Free Flow of Knowledge". Brugman writes:
"Publishing a book or chapter doesn't pay. And for most authors, to be paid is not the motive to publish. It is the recognition, the start of new conversations, the personal reputation that motivate to publish." These motivations are not going to disappear.

3. RSS and blogging. Blogs were the first to popularize the use of RSS, and RSS will be a gigantic development on the interent in the future - indeed, it alread IS a gigantic development.

4. RSS and the corporate world. RSS and blog-type communication at Triple Point show us the future of corporate interaction.

5. Blogs, RSS and PR (Public Relations). This is a natural field for blogging.

6. Weblogs in Education. Blogs in education will be one of the biggest areas in active applied learning. See the next posting at PunditMania for an inkling of what is to come.

7. Weblogs in Politics e.g. Bush/Cheney, Howard Dean, The Blogging of the President 2004 show this phenomenon already in action.

8. Blogs and Science. The so-called "scientists" are - remarkably - a bit slow, conservative and feeble, but even they will ultimately join the blog bandwagon, once they understand what blogs can do for them, their research, their understanding and their command of their areas of expertise.