Book on Blogging

Books about blogging are often shallow. Some publications may even reinforce the idea that the Internet is an interesting waste of time. But yesterday I picked up the book "Blog!: How the Newest Media Revolution is Changing Politics, Business, and Culture." It is written by New York Times best-selling author Dan Burstein and business consultant David Kline. The publication looks at social web media mainly from the entrepreneurial angle. This drives me nuts. I can understand that writers need to survive. However, the business imperative in most of blog theory is hard for me to relate to. Do the ebays and amazon.coms really need our help? Let's start with the dark side of the book. As rule #19 of their Corporate Weblog Manifesto Kline and Burstein list:

"BOGU. This means 'Bend Over and Grease Up.' ... It means when a big fish comes over (like IBM or Bill Gates) you do whatever you have to do to keep him happy (Blog!, 134)."

They actually mean that.
Apart from such rather painful parts the book is an easy read. ("The Internet is only just starting to flex its muscles.") I inhaled the book within hours. Interviews with NYC web sociologist Clay Shirky, and ICANN and CC board member and Japanese star blogger Joi Ito, are highlights. Joi Ito (photo below) says that "up to now, the Internet has been kind of a free-for-all, loosely organized, working anarchy of geeks and libertarians. The U.S. government was good at allowing a kind of bottom-up governance approach, but as more of the world economy starts to rely on the Internet for basic infrastructures, people are hoping and trying to regulate its use in increasing ways. Hollywood is trying to make it difficult for you to send files, the telephone companies and other guys are going to make it more and more difficult for people to set up their own networks" (blog!, 147). The current debate about a tiered Internet proves Ito correct. The assertion that the Internet is for geeks and libertarians, however, is disturbing and wrong. File sharing and peer production in the commons are a key value of the middle class household Internet that we have now. You do not have to be a geek (or a libertarian) to understand that. But Ito is correct in cautioning against what Microsoft calls "Trusted Computing." Ito argues that Microsoft links their goal of getting rid of spam to more dubious intentions. Speakers for Microsoft say "Let's make an Internet so that you can only connect to computers that are authorized and authenticated and secure." For me, Internet2 sounds like a stepping stone in that direction. We need to protect open standards.   

Published in 2005 the book still feeds of the popularization of weblogs in 2004 when the term "blog" was the most looked-up word in the online Webster. In 2004, the number of blogs increased by up to 4000 a day. In November 2004 the Pew Research Center found that 33 million people read blogs. These are not all teenage angst diatribes. Also authors with unusual expertise write. Readership of blogs, however, varies a lot. The average blog has about ten readers. The Internet's top dozen bloggers account for 20% of all incoming links according to a study by Clay Shirky. China has an estimated 300.000 bloggers (out of the 80 million people who have access to the Internet). Blogs, according to Kline invented by David Winer,  are here to stay. They are not the new CB radio. Their features may change but iterations of independent web media will be around for a long time.  They are a social web of real-time enablers of conversations. People contextualize knowledge and seek information from others with whom they share sets of interests.

David Kline in his introduction sums up some current key developments. He points to deep historical, cultural roots of blogging. Just think of Leonardo DaVinci 30.000 pages of diary entries. Some of the "network book" comparisons are a bit far-fetched: the fact that art was created as a web of influence/a succession of conversations is true but has in substance little to do with weblogs.
Other historical expeditions undertaken by the authors are useful. They write: "During the Renaissance, for example, 'commonplace books' helped educated citizens cope with the information overload of the then emerged printing era. In these self-published  books, people wrote  down their favorite sayings, poems, or speeches in order to help them organize and classify information as well as remember key moral precepts. Much like blogs today, commonplace books reflected the personal experience and conscience of their authors." (blog! 245) 

Kline quotes the journalist A.J. Liebling who said that "Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one." The sociologist Paul Starr is referenced with his observation that 80% of all 19th century American newspapers were openly partisan in their viewpoint. He goes on to celebrate today's citizen-journalism and the rise of citizen-experts who "argue publicly, learn collaboratively, share experiences, and archive knowledge collectively." I call this the WE++ Factor. Blogs do give a voice to ideas. Amateur journalism does challenge the mainstream media. A "mass amateurization" is taking place. "Knowledge, once held tightly in the hands of professionals and their institutions, will flow into networks of dedicated amateurs."  Some even call it the "amateur revolution." People find their obsession and feed it (love thy syndrome). A downside is that bloggers often write in "netspeak" (DN b l8= don't be late). These political blogs are not inherently left-wing or right-wing conservative. They are used across the political spectrum. Kline and Burstein look at the much discussed example of the Dean campaign's use of the Internet. Howard Dean raised over $45 million in online donations. The particular power of blogs is not just in numbers but it is situated in their ability to reach the right people, the so-called "influencers among the public."

The authors argue that blogs are more engaging because they combine personality and attitude with blogware. Blogs are conversations Kline says: one to one, one to many, many to one, and many to many. While traditionally newspapers deliver a package of sport, politics, and arts etc; weblogs mostly focus on one of these areas of interest. But RSS aggregation allows for a topical collection that also offers a variety of issues in one basket (if not on paper). You can pull together your personalized news-digest. Blogs influence politics. Bloggers spotted Condoleeza Rice while shoe-shopping in NYC at the very time that Katrina cracked one levee after the other in Louisiana. Blogs are an emerging art medium. Blogumentaries and video blogs (vlogs) attest to that.  Blogs also push careers. They are a good way to stay in touch with friends and colleagues.

Another, somewhat related book I recently came across is Web Theory by Robert Burnett and David Marshall.