An ongoing conversation
If this blog had a tagline it would be "an ongoing conversation with myself."
I wanted to talk about blogchains, or threads, and Elder-blogging in "Blogging for now" but couldn't remember where I'd read about it. Chris Aldrich's post "On blogging infrastructure" reminded me.
It was an idea formulated by Venkatesh Rao at Ribbon Farm.
An Elder blog is one which has been around for a while and has "significant history" (i.e. a decent amount of content) such that it can be viewed holistically rather than on a per post basis, teasing threads woven into its fabric.
I've described the blog as this ongoing conversation on numerous occasions over the years, often referring to earlier posts but think I fall down on turning those references into full threads, building on previous ideas. I tend to blog more in "batches" with a series of posts on the same topic in quick succession (I've mentioned this before but can't find it) but this isn't really the same as a blog chain.
The elder-blog is a direct contrast to the idea of truly blogging for now where posts are of the moment, disposable.
This blog is now around eleven and a half years old (the first five years of my blogging life have been lost except for scattered instances on the Internet Archive) but it's not quite prime elder-blog real estate yet due to my taking various, often protracted, breaks.
Still, as much as I'm curious about how a "blog for now" would really work (even to the point of removing old posts, just as with tweets) it is the potential for continuity, for themes, and for talking to myself - past and future - that makes the blog what it is.
It's just need to do more of it.
Comments
# The About page on the old randomelements blog said:
"This incarnation of the blog was started on 24th November 2003..."
This incarnation.
I first registered that domain in the June and remember reworking it a couple of times when changing between versions of SharePoint. Still, I haven't got a firm date of when I submitted my first post.
I suspect it was the same day.
Read a post by Colin Walker (colinwalker.blog)
Syndicated copies to:@colinwalker Yes! I love that idea of an ongoing conversation with self. I feel the same way, and shared that same sentiment last year:
It really does change the way you think and look about your blogging and your writing. I look forward to hearing how this conversation goes, for you.
@vasta Yep. Same. @colinwalker
Some recent blog posts on blogging that have been showing up in my feed reader: Om Malik on “how to blog to today”, which I’m not even sure what he and Dave Winer are getting at, exactly; Dino Bansigan on “figuring out” the self-versus-public audience; and Colin Walker on having “an ongoing converstion” with himself.