In the post before this, 'Craig Moore' asked me if I had a Powerpoint of the talk I gave in Great Falls. No, I don't. And, no offense meant to Craig, but I do wonder just how people ever conveyed knowledge and ideas before Microsoft came along. But, always being accommodating, I will post my outline for the talk. The core remained the same, but I did cut parts out, and deviate from the narrative as audience reaction permitted or dictated. The thesis, on the other hand, was and remains consistent.
Greetings:
Expectation as theme
Types of blogs.
Essayist. (Digby, Daily kos, Michelle Malkin)
(Pretension
of journalism)
Blog
aggregator. (Glenn Reynolds, Atrios.)
Photoblogs.
Personal
blogs. Most popular website in
Montana
?
Thought experiment.*
Everyone is
unhappy.
Commenters
are unhappy:
Don’t
like subject. (boring)
Don’t
like writing style. (jarring, big words,
small words, verbose.)
Don’t
like penmanship (design).
Don’t
like the person. (vulgarity)
Don’t
like the implications of the writing.
(Political divide.)
Suck it up. Commenters are not blogging. Writing is
blogging. So why would the bloggers be
unhappy?
Don’t
like criticism.
Don’t
like attitude.
Didn’t
meet expectations!
Differences.
Blogging is opt in. The happiest bloggers are likely those who
don’t accept comments.
The
writer chooses to write. Why?
Acclaim.
Importance. (impact)
Validation. (agreement)
Frustration. (venting).
Profit! (silly)
Commenters
challenge that.
First
read is not a choice, Comment is.
Subsequent
read is a choice.
Personality
(conflict, no conflict, strong, weak.)
Commenters stand in opposition to the blogger.
Relationship building and impact.
Expectation
as a tool of relationship.
Like
minded, (acceptance)
Contrary
minded. (Debate vs. disagreeable
disagreement.)
Trolls.
Personal
exposure and anonymity.
Public
exposure. (politicians)
Trolls
seek to usurp power from where it belongs.
Ultimate
power and setting the rules to serve that.
Commenters are at a disadvantage
because they don’t know the rules.
The blogger sets the rules.
Those rules should and must serve
the expectations of the blogger.
The real power of blogging is in fulfilling expectations of blogger and commenters. Community is built.
Like
minded community (social networking)
Advocacy and organization.
It’s
dynamic, organic and fungible.
The media
sucks. Its expectations are well known. We all agree on that.
Evolution. (Social networking, change in standards, the
government.)
Discussion.
*The thought experiment was really simple. I asked everyone in the room to imagine that I had given them 20 minutes to write a 'blog post'. Then, they were to have 5 other people read it. The end result? Everyone in the room is unhappy about something, because at least one of the 5 readers didn't like something about what the 'blogger' wrote.
Keep in mind that I am available for finer parties, Bar Mitzvahs, funerals, proms and sporting events. My fee structure is such that I require lunch and at least an hour of good fishing talk with an attractive woman.
P.S. The outline was copied from a Word document, so blame the formatting issues on that. There's times I really hate Microsoft.