Acts of Blogress
There will be audio blogging and some video storage and perhaps streamage at BloggerCon [1] this weekend. Would a program about this meeting qualify as a Blogumentary? I thought Iíd coined that term, even listed it on the Blogicon. But the Blogicon site appears to be kaput [2], and the only way to view it is to click on the cached Google link [3]. And there now exists a blog [4] or two [5] named, yes, you guessed it, Blogumentary [6].
Feeling Chump over the Chimp
Could it be due to the fact that the item is in my ìstoriesî folder, and not the main blog page, that the funny piece [7] I cobbled putting a BloggerCon spin on the Ape Escape Caper got so few reads over the past couple of days? Could I write a longer sentence, and qualify for the 2003 Joseph Conrad Award? Maybe I should wear a gorilla suit when I get to BloggerCon this weekend. When people ask why, I could hand them a card with the exact URL [8] of the gorilla story. But it does drive me a little nuts that twice I post what seems like good stuff, and both times the hits are low!
Blogwash
This is the second time this sort of thing has occurred here on the blog. An entry [9] posted on June 29th, Link-aDink-aDoo just didnít get a lot of reads. I thought it was one of the better entries, funny, timely, topical, a little creative. It didnít get much in the links or mentions departments, and so it now just lingers in the ether. The referrer page never showed much play on that entry [10]. For a minute or two it gnawed at me. But life does have a way of going on.
Then on Monday I posted the Going Ape For BloggerCon! [10] entry. I cross-posted it to the BloggerCon Discussion Group [11] and the Yahoo BloggerCon List [12] , and even sent an e-mail about it to a bunch of people. A few of the people on the e-mail list sent return notes hoping to meet at BloggerCon. But the referrer logs show just one link (thanks, Elaine [13]!).
Why is it that when I post what I feel is a really good piece, it gets a mere modicum of hits? Yet sometimes, writing as much out of a sense needing to maintain a continuum, it turns out that the hits are huge, the referrals high, and the long-term after-the-fact reads remain in the higher end of the blog-reads in this space. Go figure.
Link-Deep Blogging
Dave Winer [14] has written an essay, The Rule of Links [15] as part of the agenda-setting, idea-generating process, to promote and provoke think-pieces, talking points, hot topics, etc., for BloggerCon. This is one of many essays, all of which can be found here [16].
Daveís Rules Essay is well written. Dave spends an enormous amount of time a the keyboard, and his writing skills are well-honed, crafted to a skillful style. He uses the medium (weblogs, the web itself, writing in the hyperlinked environment) as well as anyone, perhaps better than most. The opening paragraph is a splendid example of the very use of the craft to blend and achieve the desired communication, the catalyst to grasp and grok the gist:
One of the fundamental ideas of the Web [17] is the link. For example, in the previous sentence I linked to the page on the W3C web site that explains what a link is. I did it because I wanted to make it easier for you, a reader, to find out more about links. If you already know what a link is, fine. If you don't care to know more about links, that's fine too. But if you want to dive in deeper, I've made it easier. I've also influenced you, because I chose that page to link to, one of several pages that explains links. This is the one I thought you should read.
Good writing always gets me. How can one not want to read more after that opening? It teases without being cajoling; it starts a conceptual thought process, using example and doing so in such a way that the interaction is suggested ñnot forced nor requiredóyet remains the readersí choice.
The third paragraph is where the crux of the matter can be found. The heart and soul of the piece, the take-away piece of knowledge, is succinctly put:
The Rule of Links is that you link when it's appropriate to do so. Linking is an art. It's a choice. You don't link from every word or even every noun, or from the subject of every sentence. But when a reader reasonably would want to know more about the subject, the Rule of Links says you should link to it.
This is followed by notes. The notes, though, are actually where the essay morphs from a definitive statement into a discussion. A conversation can ensue, via Comments or subsequent entries. The essays, of course, reside in a blog. BloggerCon is designed as something of a human blogathon . . . elsewhere Dave describes his planned Opening Session hosting and introductory style. In it he describes how he may act as a human-clicking-hyperlinker, in order to move the discussions along.
I would link to it, but canít find it. Seems like a rim shot should follow that last sentence. Ahh! I found it. Scratch that rim shot. Here it is:
Think of it as a weblog
Think of the conference as if it were a weblog. On Day 1, we'll start early, between 7 and 8AM by wandering around among the blogs and seeing who's up, and what's new. Then shortly after 8AM I'll give a brief talk, kind of like my Morning Coffee Notes, nothing too heavy, or possibly too heavy, you never know.
Then I'll point to someone else, who will come up and talk for fifteen minutes. I may ask a couple of questions to get them going, whoever it may be. Then I'll point to Ed Cone's panel on Journalism. Ed has spent months thinking about this. I'm sure it'll be great.You will get to hear from many people, and one of the reasons there will be so much diversity is that I cut people off after they've made their point the first time. Sometimes this is unpopular with some people. So be it.
Note: Italics and bold are mine, not from Daveís originally posted entry.
LINK STYLE? LINK ETTIQUETTE?
In other locations, swirling around and about the BloggerCon discussions (off topic note: doesnít this hyperlinking sometimes seem like a manifestation of ADD?) the subject of writing style and ìhow to linkî was a conversation.
Blogger Bill Brandon posted a message [18] with regard to linking and îElements of Styleî for blogs. He starts off with the statement, ìPersonally, I see no reason to burden weblog writers at large with a style manual.î Then comes a bullet point: ìWe seem to be working out a commonly-accepted notion of etiquette for linking. I prefer to use the permalink at the top and the main index at the bottom when quoting, but I am by no means consistent.
I envy Bill this ability. Permalinks elude me as a application for use in this, my Manila-powered blog. If I can get some phone time or some face time (maybe in Boston this weekend!) with someone from Userland [19] who can provide a little tech support, I will re-up my Radio subscription and get those permalinks and trackbacks and all that sort of beyond HTML, and presently, beyond me, too ñ working on the blog!
Billís Radio Blog, Home Based Entrepreneur [20], makes use of these tools. My question is this: can I maintain the visual integrity and theme of DeanLand, while availing m yself of the Radio tools? Or will it have to morph into a Radio theme, and thus undergo a significant change of visual expression?
But back to the point: etiquette (netiquette?) for linking?
Blogs such as this one are a form of personal expression. Sometimes there are issues of politics, of pop culture, of Baseball (GO YANKS! GO CUBS!), of whatever. This is neither a for-profit blog, nor do I use it to further my professional endeavors. And so I feel no compulsion to conform to any manner or etiquette with regard to links.
Isnít the main focus, the criteria for analysis in this discussion, actually in the eyes and minds of the readers? If the reader can click on the link, then the link serves its purpose. Mission accomplished.
Another writer made the argument [21] that a style manual method of posting links had specific merit. Hereís an interesting line from that post:
ìAs for linking? Guidelines that make entries more search engine friendly make good sense. That means not linking words like "here" and "that", although I will admit to being guilty of this from time to time.î
While this may be a valid matter for consideration in a business or commercial weblog, it remains a bloggerís style decision. And again, the degree of success in the link lies in the mouse-clicking hand of the reader.
To click or not to click. That is the blog readerís question.
LinkíníLogs
Before the advent of blogrolls, when this blog first appeared, one of the first ìNavigation Side Barî entries [22] was a stab at creating what we now have come to know as a blogroll. I called it LinkíníLogs [22]. You can read it [22] by linking to LinkíníLogs [22], or by clicking here [22] to see that [22].
Heh heh.