Blog as window
In my update course on social media marketing, we were talking about writing up a bunch of tweets for a client’s account, and helping them finesse the writing to make the tweets appropriate for the medium. Inevitably, social media and each of its channels has its own lingo or rhythm of speech and vernacular, which is a big part of its strength.
The respectful participant will observe and listen for a while before jumping in. They’ll ask the advice of experts. They’ll take steps towards learning the language.
While blogging is often promoted as central to online presence, many people still wonder what exactly blogging is supposed to be. It’s a web journal, okay. How intimate, how professional? Should it be personal, technical, or journalistic? It’s not easy to decipher blogging’s culture.
May I offer the thought that blogging is the articulation that comes when you’re looking out a window. Blogging is looking out through a window on your subject.
Unlike journalism, it’s a dance between your real self and the panorama.
Unlike a diary, it’s as factual as possible.
You are on one side of the window, your subject is on the other. And your reader is the glass.
