Why the Blog? part II

Torley, while I understand all of the things you say about blogs .. I find them impossible to understand. Im always lost .. dont know how to find anything. Navigation is different from blog to blog .. and generally, after some really unhappy experience, learned to avoid them.

I have friends that never write .. when you see them and ask "what's happening?", they say ... read my blog .. and I dont .. and the friendship doesn't really grow based on that. Every time I try I get lost, confused and frustrated. So I dont have the information I asked for. And they dont communicate with me the way they want.

I dont like being frustrated, so I avoid the cause .. and in this case the cause is Blogs.

Its unfortuante, but there it is. Blogs just are not for everyone and they are not a replacement for responsible and organized communication.

Also understood, Jim--now, in the relationship between "medium" and "message", another important thing that hasn't been realized enough yet (but will be) is how content from our blog is easily transposable. At the base level, it's a web page... that gets updated... with info.

Hence why, again, an email newsletter version. And it won't end there--being able to remix and present the same information on the blog in other forms more amenable to you, or other Resis who have discomfort with them, is certainly important. If you have suggestions for such "translations" that would be even easier for you, please don't hesitate to let me know as we expand.

In which case, think of of the blog as a transformational launching pad. I feel uncomfortable because I think too many fears are placed around the word "blog" itself, as opposed to what's being said and done. (And yes, I'm anticipating a joke about LL setting up a MySpace site.)

This doesn't replace many other avenues we have: I get emails, IMs, PMs, attend Town Halls and Community Roundtable meetings, check on the support and bug queues occasionally, read Resident-run blogs and forums, etc. I crave more inworld methods of communicating too. However, it's tough for me to keep up on one-on-one correspondence.

But all in all, many methods of communication for many people, and like you alluded to, people like their info in different ways. Some read newspapers. Others prefer TV. And there's this Internet thing--

In any case, like the High Contrast song, "Days Go By", more changes to roll on...