Ich bin ein Blogger

Think of this as Volume 14, Number 18 of A-Clue.com, the online newsletter I've written since 1997. Enjoy.

Recently one of the publishers I work for called with good news. I was being named a contributing editor. I was no longer "just" a blogger.

Well, thanks but no thanks.

I have been using blogging software since 2003, when the folks at Corante gave me a free store front. In late 2004 they introduced me to ZDNet, and I'm now doing pretty well, especially since their parent company (CNet) was bought by CBS Interactive.

But that's not the point.

The point is that journalism companies hire bloggers and later claim they are "promoting" them to journalists. They're not. It's not a promotion.

Blogging can be journalism, but blogging can be many other things. It's really just an interface for instant publishing. You set up your look-and-feel once, with a graphical interface, you get your little blogging window with its rows of controls, and when you're done with an item you hit "publish."

It's a miracle. I'm barely old enough to remember hot typesetting. My first publication was essentially a Xerox process. You had to get it to the the printer, get it from the printer, and find a way to distribute it.

There are tripwires in the blogging metaphor. Not only is there no publisher, there's no editor, and we all make mistakes with our own stuff. I've issued more corrections and updates than I can count, and I will doubtless make more.

I do something like journalism as a blogger, but in practice my blogging is more like an interactive column. I write to provoke a reaction, to get conversation started. I seldom do "stories," instead I tell stories, and when I "do" stories no one reads them. Press releases and interviews aren't that interesting, unless you get a premium "get." (And then you're an interviewer and transcriber.)  Companies can publish on their own — using blogging software. And they can add their own two cents to any online discussion — using blogging software. They can also respond to my blog posts. I welcome that. It makes me money.

It's amazing how few have done so over the last five years. And it's also amazing how, despite their apparent success selling ads against blogs, publishers still want to pretend they're not running "just" blogs, that their writers are some sort of authority or something. We're not. Some of us (like me) are intelligent observers, entertainers in a minor art, while others are players in what they're writing about, and still others are technical experts. Anyone can play.

What it takes to build a blogging audience is three things. You need a brand that draws the crowds, you need to build a personal brand, and you need to be regular. That is, you need to hit publish regularly. This is harder than it sounds. There are many writers who find it tough to even do a weekly column — multiple posts per day makes their brain hurt. Not everyone is good at it.

Which means we should honor blogging as something separate and to the side of journalism. I'm honored each time I cash a check for it, but then I'm easy to please.

The failure of blogging as a separate business is down to the fact that blogging is hard work, if you're doing it right, and that most people who are good at it don't want to be in business. We'd rather blog. Thus we still have a need for, a desire for, publishers, people who can put ads against our stuff, who can do enough drum-thumping to gather a crowd, and who can give us our portion.

Where does blogging go from here? In the end blogging is just software. The question is, how must bloggers change to keep their audiences? I see them associating into larger-and-larger groups, with more or less editorial control, and that's one way. Supporting new platforms and seeking new business models is another way. Adding new types of files — graphics, video, audio — is still another way.

But the way forward is always to entertain. Have your own voice. Don't take it too seriously. Correct what's wrong upon request. Don't get mad at the audience. I have violated these precepts myself from time-to-time, but always to my regret, so don't you make that mistake.

May blogging, as a minor art, live long and prosper. I'm glad I found it, or that it found me. It fits with the way I work, with the way I write, with the way I think.

Stay in touch.