It’s not a fear as such, it’s more of an expectation on my part. My education drilled into me that what I write needs to be well thought out, accurate, and complete. I like blogs to be the same. Karl challenges my thinking by pointing out that science is not that way and has never been that way. It’s worth a read.

Boutin suggests that it’s difficult for the individual writer to be noticed when the blogosphere is now full of “organized” or “professional” blogs like those found at The Huffington Post or Engadget. (He doesn’t mention Wired.)

What he suggests may be partially true but what he misses is that blogging is not just about being noticed by a lot of people. Blogs are about thinking and about creating what Ewan McIntosh calls small passionate communities.

Over the years I’ve written in many forms and in many places from newsletters, to emails, to my .Mac site, to listserves, and blogs. None of them generate much traffic but that’s okay. They all serve a purpose. They’re all about community.

At the moment one of my favorite places to write is a group blog that’s only for those of us that are setting up a new Leopard server. I use it to post what I’ve done and what I still need to do. On any given day my posts are read by no more than four people but that’s okay. I like to write it and I look forward to reading the comments members of my group leave. Writing the blog is helping us move forward and get the server ready.

Blogs are about a simple technology that meets a need and creates community. I don’t see that going away any time soon.

These thoughts were further solidified with the NY Times article How Many Web Services Can One Person Use?

Tagging may help. I think David nailed it when he started his session by giving us the tags he’d like us to use when blogging or tweeting about his session. It may not save our writings from being lost in the general info noise of the web but it would at least help those attending the session find each other’s work. It would help create what Ewan McIntosh calls “small passionate communities.”

He spoke about people–students and teachers–finding small passionate communities. So often people think they need to have a huge readership on their blogs or hundreds of friends on Facebook. Instead McIntosh suggests it’s about having a “small compassionate community.” I think he’s right.

This morning a colleague and I discussed teacher blogging. I don’t think every teacher needs a blog to reflect on personal practice. I think reflection is important but there are many ways to reflect. A blog is just one way. (Remember conversation?)

Having said this, I do think there’s room for most teachers to use blogging tools/technology. Blogs are a quick easy way for a teacher to post to his/her “small compassionate community”–students and parents.

Hopefully it will open up again once the Olympic hoopla is behind us.

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