Neil Hopcroft

A digital misfit

Lost in the blogosphere

In many ways I’m pleased that blogs have turned into what they are today. They are a technology that fills the same hole that ‘The Monthly Neil’ (or whatever I called it all those years ago) was intended to fill. They provide a passive way for readers to keep in touch with people. And an easy way to publish observations, thoughts, ideas and feelings in an undirected way.

“And in every bar there was a super star
With a seven year itch
There were fifteen million fingers
Learning how to play”

Voices. So many voices. But nothing to say. Everything has been said before. My writings here are not focused (or indeed original) enough to be of interest to anyone but the people who know me. And I don’t really have the kind of time it would take to make a single topic blog dynamic enough to be worthwhile. Besides, whatever the topic, there are already hundreds of people talking about it already.

So what? I don’t know. Its just that something feels wrong. Like theres something I’m missing.


6 comments

  1. Compilations are worthwhile…

    … especially the filtering of the vast quantity of knowledge that there is “out there” into something more compact.

    I see my LJ as a way to post random odds and ends and don’t make it terribly regular or focussed on a single subject (there doesn’t seem to be the demaind for that!)

    • Re: Compilations are worthwhile…

      Sure theres a lot of use to the filtering – for instance if you’re thinking about the kinds of tragedies that could occur you do well to worry about the things that happen to lots of your friends while you don’t need to be concerned about the things that haven’t happened to anyone you know.

      And if other people think its worth comment then its probably worth my looking at it.

      Blogs were supposed to be a mechanism for ‘self-publishing’, a way to get your voice in front of millions of eyes. But then the web was supposed to be that before, and, doubtless, cassette tapes before that.

  2. Well, yes, that was the original purpose, and it is still that. But it also feels like theres a lot of voices and not much to say – how to find the voices saying things I want to hear?

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