Why I Blog

I'm having a hilarious multimedia moment, where, for a small web-based miniseries I'm doing with Cisco Learning, I'm being asked to video blog about my blogging.   So you are reading type, but I've just photographed my study, my desk, my desktop screen, a blank blog entry, and now I'm typing away, writing a blog!

So now my husband Ken is standing behind me video'ing me as I type!   That's pretty silly, but the point of the video isn't silly.  It is the difference between blogging and vlogging, between text and human connection and interaction.   The creator of the series, Todd Krieger, has coined (I think) the word "Togetherism" for a differnt way that we all like to collaborate together and he believes video aids in bringing us together in new ways.   When I was in Australia, I visited a sensor space where you could take images culled from Australian public TV, over 10,0000 of them, and remix them into a new narrative, and then play back your mashup in 3D.   Like music sampling for movies.   Now that has exciting artistic and narrative possibilities---and even more cautionary tales for a remix future.

So why do I blog?   Because it's there.  That isn't a trivial answer, actually.   The "thereness" of open communication is what is so brilliant about the World Wide Web, it's what Tim Berners-Lee knew made it unlike other technologies.  Instant communication, instant connection.   We have not, as a society, taken in the wonder of that opportunity and, as individuals in society, we have not remotely mined the possibilities for collective action embodied within this media.

So, movie is ending, and so is this blog.  Cinema Verite!