Blogging, Part 1

Blogging, Part 1, originally uploaded by macatay.

We left the boat for a few days to travel to Colorado for the wedding of our old friend, Wink. While we were out in the crowded, crazy world, I read an article in Wired Magazine called "We Are the Web" by Kevin Kelly. It gave me a new perspective on blogging.

Kelly points out that users of the web, especially in the form of bloggers, are becoming producers instead of just consumers. They, or we, are offering up content for free in a kind of gift economy. From the perspective of someone who has watched the web closely and been involved for many years, he writes: "The deep enthusiasm for making things, for interacting more deeply than just choosing options, is the great force not reckoned ten years ago. This impulse for participation has upended the economy and is steadily turning the sphere of social networking - smart mobs, live minds, and collaborative action - into the main event."

So I like to think of a blog as a generous sharing, an outgrowth of enthusiasm, or maybe just the overflowing of impressions that crowd days of reading and travel. But I fear that, alliteratively and less positively, it might just seem like a brag, a boast, or just blabber. In any case, I very much like the fact of being an active participant in this big, wide web