origins of blogosphere

I'm just going to make this claim now and get it out of the way. I think that Orson Scott Card correctly spelled out how important internet communities would become in the future in his book Ender's Game.

In the book, Ender's siblings gain some political ears and social power though posting on a system that is essentially like the internet (but very reflective of how it existed in the 1980s). These kids were able to move political opinion like stones in a game of Go. I think that the system describes fairly accuratly describes the direction that the blogosphere wants to take. Now I'm not expecting some nobody from nowhere to grab the ear of world leaders as strongly as they did, but the sense of an individual citizen creating that much power with the written word is definitly accurate.

I'm curious as to what others think about this. Is there another book published earlier than 1985 that spells something like this out? I could always use another good book to read. The focus would have the be texted based community through a network that acutally has some purpose to it's existence.

everybody starts somewhere

A blog seems to be a journal or diary, a public exhibition, a newspaperesque column, and a website all rolled into one. They seem to be used in a myriad of ways, but most that I have encounter stick to its namesake: a weblog. An online diary or perhaps a journal with a particular audience, which is probably why it reminds me of a newspaper column.

Starting a blog right now seems a bit strange to me. I feel a bit bad for having not (really) started one years ago and feel a little worse for having not picked one up when they were just started to become fashionable. Instead, it seems that there is an odd expectation for people to have a blog. I wonder sometimes if a blog will become as common as an email address. It will be on business cards (already is) and found nessary on resumés (probably also).

What this blog will become I don't really know. My mind jumps from subject to subject on a daily basis and my hobbies cover a wide range (though mostly in the realm of geekdom). I also fear a lack of self censurship, giving me something in common with Joe Biden.

But I'll find a way to deal with these issues, and I suppose it is about time that I stake more land in the frontier of the internet, though I am only renting it from Google.

My audience will be whoever feels like listening, my subjects whatever I feel like, its direction wherever evolution takes it.

Also, as with any new adventure with writing, I expect to suck for quite a while.

Only diligence can lead to mastery.

-David