Montana Jones

Blogging about bloggers talking about blogging
(Navel gazing the navel gazers navels)

Yup, I took the time to listen in to the Montana bloggers radio show. Here is my input:

First off, "triumphalism"? Who uses words like "triumphalism"? Hey, this is public radio guys, what if someone ignorant had been listening? They could have popped a vessel in the brain. Even I had to dictionary.com that bad daddy. I think using triumphalism in a sentence is pedantic.

Second up, I could not tell you guys apart by voice so please forgive me if I refer to you all as "one of you panelists". Karen, you are the exception. Your voice was as melodious as the pipes of pan, as sweet as a sugar beet, as distinctive as a ruby in a sea of cubic zirconia.*

Credibility.

Karen, I liked your explanation of credibility. By "liked it" I really mean "agree with it". A credible blog is nothing more nor less than a blog I like to read.

The problem here is that this is not what credibility really is. Not so much for the personal diary blogs but the problem can exist with them; whether a blog is true or fiction for example. Credibility becomes a serious issue in the political and journalistic blogs. It becomes far too easy to fall into the trap of only reading that which we agree with. To put ourselves into an echo chamber that makes our own opinions louder and drowns out the challenges. Truthfulness and deep examination becomes casualties. But then again, we are not really journalists are we? We are bloggers. In our world it is all about me. Yes me. My blog my rules. My thoughts, my ideas, all things I agree with are good, all else is evil and should be shunned. Blogs without credibility encourages this a little too much. I think one of you panelists mentioned this while talking about journalistic blogs. In spite of all the hoo-haa about whether or not bloggers are journalists I think if someone is going to blog about things like politics or current events, when a blogger works to effect many people in the community, country and world, the standards of credibility need to be set higher. A good blogger definition of what credibility really is wouldn’t hurt either.

(And a side note to all the wanna-be political bloggers out there that I hate to read. Please set your personal standards for credibility really, really high. You know what they say about opinions and assholes…)

Community.

When I first started tinkering with these pixilated words my motivations were selfish. I was in it to practice my writing chops and have a forum that was all about me. Damned if I cared if anyone was bothering to listen in. A funny thing happened after, oh, the first comment I received. I had the epiphany that it is not all about me. I found a set of Montanan blogs that I enjoyed reading, put them over on the sidebar so I could find them easier and the next thing I know I have people dropping semi-regular notes in the comments, I am regularly cruising around to check other peoples blogs. I find myself truly fascinated by what is going on in these peoples lives. I think they call this community. Cool.

I have to confess, in real life I am one of those people that forgets to keep in touch. I am like that online too. I don't often comment elsewhere. A post has to be pretty spectacular for me to link it. Perhaps you should think of me as shy. Don't worry fellow bloggers, even if you do not hear my voice I am still here. I am interested in this Montana blogger community. I am paying attention to you.

Journalism and blogging.

I only have one item to comment on here, concerning bloggers on the payroll. Any blogger paid to express a certain viewpoint is not creating a blog. They are creating press releases, or propaganda, or a commercial website. Failure of full disclosure should result in loss of credibility. The ugliness of this is that it can be very difficult to distinguish between a paid site and a true blog. Let the reader beware. I have long since stopped believing what I see on teevee, I have never trusted information I find on the internet.

Diary Blogs.

Ellie, thanks for calling in with your comments. I think you articulated very nicely what Karen was stabbing at earlier. Blogging is fun. This is certainly the point behind my own blog. Often there is no goal to a blog, it is a chance to express ourselves. We don't have to win the flame war or shout down an opinion, all we are here for is the writing, the creativity, the sharing, the ability to reach across ether and touch or be touched by other human beings. I made a rule for myself, no blogging about politics. I think this has been a good rule for me. I have only been at this a short while but you have no idea how many news articles I have read that have made my blood boil and made me want to reach for the keyboard. It has been much more challenging for me to find the interesting parts of my own life. I tried a blog once where all I did was rant about the news. It went nowhere, no one read it, it made me angry all the time. Blogging for fun is much more pleasant, both for the reader and the writer.

So Ellie, (I hope I have your name right) what is your url? You sound like someone I should like to read and keep up with.

Your final comments.

Well said, well done.

• Sharing
• Friendship
• Interaction
• Wonder as we move to the future

And finally, Karen, thank you for cracking me up more than the other panelists. I must agree with you that all Montana bloggers are really good looking! Should there ever be a Montana blogger meetup the world would likely shift in its orbit from such a concentration of animal magnetism.

M. Jones

(*well what do you want me to say? That I could tell you apart because you were the chick? Take the poetry and run with it.)

Posted by: Montana Jones / 9:52 PM