The blogging community

If I had a category called “whining,” I think this would fit in nicely. It’ll have to go in “Technology” instead.

I think a lot about “the blogging community,” and how blogging is this great tool for interacting online and discussions are generated etc, etc.

But the fact of the matter is that it’s a poor community for the very reason that blogs are so cool: they’re too accessible. I read several good blogs so often that sometimes I trick myself into thinking I know those who write them.

Look at my blogroll. Guess how many of them I’ve met in person?

Ready: Three (if you don’t count PE, Rawformat, and Flicker, which are me).

The fact is that I spend a lot of time reading and writing about discussions that are happening on A VC, the Jason Calacanis Weblog, or Tom Evlsin’s blog…and I’m pretty sure they’ve never seen a word of my opinions.

It would be incredibly presumptuous of me to assume that they would read or consider my opinions on the matter. After all — this is what they do for a living. For me it’s a hobby. I doubt I could get a hello from busy NY VC’s, High-level AOL executives, or busy authors and consultants. Blogs offer that illusion.

Community was the beauty of Livejournal. That’s part of why I will probably never get rid of mine. Because livejournal is based around community. There are people I’ve met through livejournal who I would consider my friends simply becasue of the two-way conversation that livejournal’s design fosters. That’s community you don’t find in the greater blogosphere.