During my lunch with Boy in the Bands yesterday, he raised the question “Where is the UU blogosphere going?”
It’s a good question, and I don’t think I gave him a particularly good answer in that I responded by talking about how one of my favorite things about the blogosphere is that a 27-year old fundraising consultant finds the real live ministers actually talk to her like she’s a peer and take seriously what she has to say. This is a continuing source of amazement to me, I can assure you.
(I do not typically talk to people about politics like they know what they are talking about. My general impression is that most people in no way think through their political opinions or double check to make sure their facts are right.)
Anyway, getting the luxury of being taken seriously is part of what I’m doing here. And I really do feel like I have a lot to say about UUism and the world in general. And when I post about one of my problems, people advise me how to solve it. And when I read a good book or find a good sushi restaurant, it’s my impulse to let the world know.
It’s funny because linguist friend introduced me as a “UU blogger” to someone at his church one time and I about fell through the floor. I love the Chaliceblog, but I can’t escape the suspicion that religion blogging is still a little bit lame.
OK, so we’ve established that I blog for various self-serving reasons.
But what about the rest of us. And where are we going?
Well, all I can say is that we all influence one another and we all pull the blogosphere in our own directions. If I put up a pointless screed about my personal life, I have to assume I’m encouraging other people to do the same. So I at least try to make it entertaining and I hope they will too. I really do think that thoughtful, quality posts improve the blogosphere. I know that when I read one, it makes me want to write one.
So where are we going?
Probably about where we are.
All over the map.
CC
5 comments:
Are we supposed to be "going somewhere?" I ask this sincerely. If there's a larger goal, please tell me! I write just to burn off manic steam, and to muse aloud instead of walking around the house talking to myself.
I never thought it would be such a nice way to connect with other UUs. But it turned out that way, even though I knew most of them in the first place.
Uh-oh. The banana bread is burning...
nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnyttttttt
(Ermengarde just wrote that while I was off loading the laundry. She doesn't have a blog because she doesn't have opposable thumbs)
"...all over the map."
Yup. 'Bout sums it up for me.
I think that's the reason I like the Unitarian Universalist blogosphere enough to keep returning to it. Never dull.
--Dan Harper
That's a really good question, actually. When I first started blogging (more or less a year ago) I dumped every question and observation I had into my blog. That helped me define myself to myself as a person with a lot of questions and not very many answers :) But I guess that's what a UU is.
Now, more of my postings are related to liberal politics, because I sense I (or we?) have gone through a First Wave of UU Blogging). Quite a bit of what I read in other UU-oriented blogs these days is somewhat esoteric and academic, in ways I don't feel qualified to comment on. But other UU bloggers do, and that's a Good Thing.
Yeah, I'm with PB. I have a disturbing tendency to process externally, which can send the family screaming off to another room when I come home from work. Therefore, I get it out in the Blogosphere.
One thing I am finding hard to do these days, however, is find the time. I do not have the time to post that I would like (the wife, kids and work, don't ya know) and I Definitiely do not have the time to Comment that I would like...In fact, I should probably be doing something else right now...
Ok, this leads to one last question: Do the bloggers-in-ministry view this as part of their ministry? Is this just a hobby? I know that Br. Wells sees the internet as an excellent mission field and I tend to agree (I am a graduate of his "blog school" (though a horrible student, I might add))...
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