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... What is RSS?Covering for Joe Haukes, this is Carolyn Manning:
Today it feels like I’m at an old-fashioned barn raising; as if I’m giving part of me to my neighbor.
When Joe asked me to do a guest post here, my first thought was “Wow!†Well, it was the first such request and it’s very special.
We talked about different topics, his favorite being our community. Why not? It’s as wonderful and as unique a community as we could ever hope to envelope us.
What we all have is an unusual bond; it’s more unusual because, contrary to traditional neighborhood or work alliances, we’ve managed to build something that revels in human feeling. It’s not superficial. Don’t tell me you don’t have that “wow!†feeling whenever a fellow blogger emails you or calls you or links to you. (Disclaimer: maybe my experience with offline communities hasn’t been good; maybe I’m prejudiced toward the blogging community, without giving full chance to others. No offence intended.)
Somewhere, in a comment, I wrote something to the effect that we, as bloggers, as the reporters of our time, are an historic group. We live together, no matter the miles apart Rosa Say, Talking Story (the distance between Pennsylvania and Hawaii); we understand each other, no matter the cultural or language barriers Klearchos Kapoutsis, Klearchos Guide to the Galaxy (the difference between Engish and Greek); we respect and love each other simply because we want to respect and love each other SOBCon07 (no difference at all).
Last week, Sharon Sarmiento Nomadic web workers follow in Hemingway’s footsteps at 901am, where she talked about the early 20th century days in Paris when Hemmingway, Fitzgerald, et al, were known as the ‘Lost Generation’. In reply, Robert Bruce, Knife Gun Pen, made mention that those of us working with words on blogs today are known as the ‘Mediocre Generation’.
Nothing against Robert Bruce (or the source of his comment), but the care and affection, the love and positive interaction we have with each other is anything but mediocre. We are the equivalent to the farmers helping to build the barns of their neighbors. The only difference is that our neighborhood has been expanded and we’re building internet careers.
My feeling about this community parallels that of most of you. And, you just wait. In a hundred years, they’ll call us historic.
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12 Comments
Hey Carolyn,
I appreciate you covering for me at a time like this. You show others how to be Good Friends just by your actions.
Thanks again,
Joe
You’re most welcome, Joe.
Hey Carolyn,
You may want to Sign Out. Your sig is coming up as Me…
Interesting point. I guess the world of blogs and online interactions appears to be “mediocre” because of being so young, and because of still evolving at a fast pace. Things are messy all over, and people are changing their views on a lot of things fast in order to stay up to date on the current online trends.
The internet has done something which had almost never been done before. It has allowed us to share information instantly, or almost instantly, with others. This has allowed different people to react to such information at a quicker pace also. The concept of a community has never had such a power before, to share information so quickly among its members. Now it all depends on the members to actually make a difference, as a “community” is simply a virtual idea, though the thoughts and actions of its members are the important things that matter, and the things that can make a difference.
The internet is a kind of revolution. And these years will probably be remembered as the years where most bloggers and people, along with many companies, started to take a hold of the internet. Also, the Web 2.0 hype will also be remembered for people who tried to focus on new trends and ideas, and for people who simply focused on the fact that Web 2.0 is the next big thing.
This was a well written piece Carolyn. I can see why Joe chose you as a guest blogger. It might also be because Joe can ask you to write a good piece and then have “Posted by Joe” attached to the end………just kidding about that last part.
Bes, I knew it was you before I got to the end of the comment. Thank you, dear.
The “posted by Joe” was inadvertent, but it speaks well to the community theme.
Joe, it’s ok with me that the sig comes up as you. It’s the community thing I just said to Bes.
Thought I was signed out. Yikes.
Ya know how it sometimes happens that you suddenly realize what you’ve been doing wrong? That’s what happened a few minutes ago. This input is by Carolyn. (chagrin face)
Carolyn,
“Mediocre” in my comment on 901am refers to the general quality of writing online (including mine), not the quality of any particular community online.
And I hope the next Hemingway pushes through the mass of digital pages out there. He or she certainly isn’t coming out of trad. publishing. Not that I can see anyway.
Thanks for including me in your thoughts.
Robert, we are the Youngblood Hawks of the digital age. We’re out there, putting our thoughts anywhere there’s a place to put them. However, unlike Clavel’s fictional figure, we writers can no longer walk into a publisher’s office, hand over a manuscript, and expect to get a bunch of money. We still, however, have that enthusiasm, that drive, that honest feeling that we have something to give to the world, that we have what it takes to make it. Many of us (including you and me) do have it and will make it.
The general quality of writing online is probably comparable to the general quality of writing at any time in history. There’s always been mediocrity. And there have always been those who possess the stellar talents.
The next major writer will come from these digital pages and all of us can be proud that we’re part of those pages. We don’t have the ambience of the Paris Cafes, but we have something a whole lot better.
Thanks for confirming your comment on mediocrity. It put things in better perspective.
Carolyn
Another thoughtful and affirming piece.
It’s the community as much as the opportunity to write that has kept me blogging!
Chris, your comment testifies to our commitment to making this a better community. Thank you. I’ll be in touch tomorrow; it’s scheduled to be a ‘tending to the email’ day.
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[...] article is This Community Is Our Community. Today it feels like I’m at an old-fashioned barn raising; as if I’m giving part of me to my [...]
[...] does a guest post for Joe on short notice entitled This Community Is Our Community. Epitomizing how readers quickly become friends in the [...]