Blogging: It's a social thing; you wouldn't understand

Blogging: It's a social thing, you wouldn't understand...unless you're a blogger. There's a nice post by Shel Israel over at Naked Conversations titled The Importance of Seeing Ernest.

It's very well-written, short, and very sweet and touching. There's enough anger out there. It's refreshing a concise and personal note on the power of blogs to create friendships, confidences, trusted relationships and the business that springs from that basis. I like Shel's words so much I'm copying them here:

The importance of it is that it reminds me that the blogosphere is more of a social thing than a marketing thing.  Friendships, trust relationships and confidences are built and shared.  This is the aspect of the blogosphere that gets my passion.

Business that comes from the blogosphere comes because of the trusted friendships you make. These days, marketers are coming in droves to this new medium, and they are missing the fundamental importance of the Personal Web.

Shel covers a lot of territory in those 2 paragraphs. Thank you.  (I liked his post so much I blogged about it my main blog also. )

Comments

[Brent]

I've just begun blogging and I have realized a couple of things. It's a small blogosphere after all. I can see that acting and writing on other blogs must be done with the proper blogging etiquette. I have been reading as much as I can about what that etiquette is, but there seems to be many opinions regarding the subject. What I have learned is that laying out your opinion is fine, but you need to hold back with the ranting to some degree. I mean ranting is pure entertainment sometimes, but it can get negative fast. I really hate reading a negative post. Kinda bums me out, but yet I still write my own rants on occasion. I think if you want your blogging reputation to stand the test of time, you need to stay open minded to other opinions. It may sound boring and cliche, but we never learn anything when we just blurt our opinions.

The other thing I have realized, is that it's very ADDICTIVE. If like myself, you have been affected by obsessive behaviour, you will likely have to deal with that issue. Passion can easily become obsession and that is not good for an individual, or the people around that individual.

Also, regarding friendships, confidences, and trusted relationships, it's not easy to do when you come across like an opinioniated buffoon. (something I struggle with daily) I'm learning though, and it may turn out that blogging can actually help a person learn something about themselves, and how they are affecting others.

Buffoon = The term Buffoon is a (usually) friendly term for someone who provides amusement by his appearance or behaviour or both. Strictly, a buffoon is, "A ridiculous, but nevertheless amusing person" and is often used to upbraid naughty school children ;-)