Any blogger worth his salt will second-guess his motives for blogging, not just once but weekly. I posted on my blogging reservations a long time ago, when I was with blogspot. There are so many pitfalls for both blogger and reader–frittering away time, inflating the ego through comments and hits, writing for the blogosphere buzz instead of for nobler reasons, feeling like one is in-the-know, settling for information in lieu of understanding, and on and on. For all the pitfalls, is it worth the time?
And what of email? Similar pitfalls but in snail time. We send emails in the hope that we will get one back, one that will “encourage us” [=praise us]. Replies shouldn’t be too long. The medium demands speed and brevity. It hardly replaces letter writing, though that has its own set of dangers.
In thier latest issue, n+1 authors present an entertaining and insightful critique of the “intellectual scene” as it pertains to the email/blog world. Commenting on email they write: “It fits our phase of capitalism, the collective attitude is casual, natural-seeming, off-hand; the discipline is constant and intense.” In other words, it takes time and energy to look cool, hip, and in need of no-one. From selecting just the right fade and wear on a pair of jeans, to aiming for the perfect tone, length, and lightness of an email, our age is an age of disciplined casual. In reality, we want recognition from others–praise, acceptance, full inboxes, and heavy-commented blog entries. Of course, there are many unrequited bloggers and emails out there because we want recognition, but we don’t want to recognize.
n+1 continues: “Western civilization has become a giant inbox; it will swell and groan but never be empty till it crashes.” What a sad existence! What a decivilizing existence. They point out the effects of our unchecked cybersociety: “ceasing to be able to be alone, and yet refusing solitude without entering into company.” In short, community is cut off and personhood stifled. More could be said, but I’d rather hear it from you (but you don’t have to comment!). Consider the decivilizing nature of our interactions with technology, technology that “liberates in emergency uses, and decivilizes in daily use.” Consider how and why you email and blog.