Webmastering Biker

Installing the stumbleupon toolbar and hitting the stumble button has been both an insight and a curse as I've got thoroughly addicted to stumbling sites that other people have found. As a social networking/web 2.0 application, stumbleupon has been a phenomena in the simplicity of it's idea yet it's genius in understanding the complexities of social interaction and human curiosity. It's been one of those things that I have understood more the more that I have participated, and I have genuinely been intrigued by the humour, style and creativity of the sites that people find.

On a stumbling session I will find usually a smattering of decent humour, well designed sites and inspirational artwork that I wouldn't have normaly found if this facility wasn't available. However, there is the very rare circumstance when you find something that is truely remarkeable that mere words can't describe. Pure luck of hitting the stumble button found myself looking at A Mother's Journey a photographic masterpiece following the traumatic events of a childs final months battling cancer. It is no wonder that this work won a pullitzer as the energy and emotions are captured so vividly and dramatically. It is hard to not be touched by looking at these photographs and following a journey that some would say is the hardest a person can take.

It is nice to be reminded that there is a human touch to working on the web sometimes and I for one feel better for knowing and sharing such important sites like this and being reminded that the internet is not all about cool widgets and clever designs.

Future Mrs. Biker told me the other day that there were only 7 basic stories in the world with only variations on theme that diiferentiate from the masses of stories published. This discussion ensued due to one of my favourite ramblings on the 'unoriginality of Harry Potter' and what is basically a collection of different ideas collected from C.S Lewis to the 'Worst Witch' books that I remember from when I was a kid. At this point, I would add that, though I have laboured to stay true to my principles, I have, like many millions, actually got quite addicted to the books.

Anyway, back to my point about originality. Though I don't have much to back my better half's statement, the idea that nothing is original is rather an obvious one, the more so when it comes to blogging when you add the many millions of people who decide that they have something to say. I read once, that the age of traditional journalism has been superseded by amateur editorial's brought on by the web 2.0 phenomenon and blogging is by far the most journalistic medium that people are using to express themselves. However, what is evident is that a great deal of us can't all be unique and original in what we post.

The only original content that bloggers really can aspire to providing is unique knowledge of which there is little going around. The successful bloggers in industry are usually in places where they have access to important knowledge, so people like Vanessa Fox, Matt Cutts etc. have a healthy position to base blogging on. The rest of us have to base our blogging on conjecture and debate and where a person is without a source of unique knowledge of interest to others, their success is based on interpreting, debating and cogitating already known fact in ways that appeal to other people.

The sign of a good blogger really has to be in the ability to read and then formulate new ideas. Since I started blogging, the greatest time that I have spent is in reading other people's work, and that I think is one of the secrets to being a successful blogger. Time will tell if this experimental blog will become popular but I know the direction that I should be going.

Reading Andy Beard’s article on the reasons why people link to each other, I realised that I did actually fit into quite a few categories when it came to linking and commenting on peoples blogs. This isn’t something that I am ashamed of, I link to Andy’s blog because I regularly read it and feel by linking to his blog I am showing a relevance to what I write about as well as showing a resource that readers might not have known. Similarly, I would be inclined to link to people who comment regularly, and certainly would link to people I know, besides I link to my work blog which isn’t a selfless act.

There are many reasons that people link to each other and all of them are selfish (I don't think Andy is cycnical here, just a realist). Just as I don’t work for a living giving away my services for free or product vendors don’t sell their wares at cost prices there is one thing that is prevalent in society in general and that nothing is free. There is nothing in the internet world or the real world that offers something for nothing. The next time Tesco are offering a 2 for 1 offer, they aren’t doing that for their own welfare, these loss leaders are intended to raise awareness and pull in extra customers to spend on their other products. So, in most cases there is no such thing as a selfless act, there is always an agenda.

This is not to mean that everything that we do has a seedy motivation. The very idea of social interaction and networking in any environment is to gain knowledge to achieve ones ends and gain new ideas to overcome obstacles that may present in everyday life. Blogging is only an extension of ways in which we can gain that contact with other people. The next time I link to someone it is going to be a selfish act. The selfish act is most likely to involve gaining new ideas and contacts, promoting conversation so that I can learn new things and contribute to other dialogues and exchanging knowledge. If there was no benefit to me in the long run, then I wouldn't do it. It's as simple as that.

I was talking to the future Mrs. Biker the other day about blogging and she turned around and said to me "I don't get blogging, it's just filled with millions of useless, childish uninteresting ramblings. I hate reading the mundane trivialities of people who have nothing to say".

I replied that a great proportion of blogs are just like that and most within a few weeks just stop and give up because they realise that after the one or two things that they really wanted to say, it was in fact quite difficult to continue writing interesting material week in week out. However, there are blogs out there that are useful and popular and if you have the material and the dedication then it is worth attempting.

She wasn't convinced. And then it occurred to me that there was an analogy that is quite appropriate to blogging. Here is what I should have said to her..

Do you remember the first time you went to secondary school at 11 years old. Usually this is the biggest move a child makes and entering a huge building filled with people you don't know is a daunting place. I remember the first break time wandering around the school yard filled with thousands of people who scared me witless. I will admit that I didn't enjoy my first day at the bigger school.

But after a few days you make friends and start hanging around with people you do like. That school yard is still filled with thousands, and you can't hope that you will connect or befriend all of them but having a few friends makes this all irrelevant. Similarly, the playground is full of different kinds of people, some will not like you, some are indifferent and some will openly like you when you meet them. Being a child in a playground is all about finding a small network of people that relate to you.

Blogging is no different, it is filled with a multitude of people and it is unrealistic to assume you can connect with everyone, but after a while if you persevere you will have your own little circle of people who relate to you. It is realistic to assume that you will encounter many more people who may or may not like what you do. Blogging isn't always about shouting to absolutely everyone in the world, but is more about finding a network within the multitude so that you can connect with people who relate to you. The other's whom you don't connect with are not important.



I think I'll try this with her.