Blog Reflections

By Chris
I just started this family blog a few weeks ago. At the time, Teresa had to be pushed into her first entry. Now, she's become darn prolific in her bloggin', making me look bad. Did you notice she had a picture of a parking space at Wal-Mart, for crying out loud! The bloggers who convinced me to jump into the bolgosphere (bet some of you didn't realize that's where you are) said it would change how we communicate (communications is my expertise after all, and if this is the big new thing in communications I would be negligent in not being involved here!). They said give it a few months and you'll be thinking about starting sub-blogs off your main blog. On sports. On politics. On kids. All kinds of sub categories could shoot up, they said. Maybe so. Now, I've been asked to talk to some folks, as a communicator, about my thoughts on the blogosphere and public communications. So, a test run here should help. Thanks for enduring my philosophical walking through. I welcome comments that might help me look good.

It has changed us. I'm pretty sure that, with a little more commitment to this realm, we could get interpersonal communication down to a minimum. No need to repeat the stories and recap the day to each other. Just read the blog. Perhaps I could log my dinner suggestions by noon everyday and eliminate that awkward "what do you want for dinner" conversation. Kids being bad . . . no need for a dramatic yellin' match around 5:30. Just tell on 'em on the blog, and Dad will jump right on it. The latest in-laws drama usually takes at least 20 mins. a night to catch up on (I've been given the clearance by those involved to roll out the in-laws drama, particularly the interesting saga that is my sister-in-law's life). Well, let's just put it here and save the time! "Honey, how was your day," . . . . "Read the blog!" How efficient. Get the kids bloggin and we may not really need to speak to them too much either! "Hey . . . kill that chatter about your life. Can't you just stick it on the blog!"

Anyone who knows me well (and there aren't many who do) can surely picture me loving blog-a-fied world. I hate answering the phone, no matter who it is, and find conversation a tedious communication experience much of the time. I'm likely to slip out of a group dinner or gathering before anyone notices I'm there to avoid the tedious conversation of people who don't really care what the other is saying. And I would do just about anything to avoid masses of people hugging each other. Personal space is big with me. So, you'd think I would be for the blogosphere replacing lots of our interactions. I'm told there are millions of these blogs now. CEO's and high school kids have them. The big-time bloggers are gaining legendary status in some circles. They call themselves the "A-List" bloggers. But, I think some of them overstate the power of the blogosphere in society (while, in fairness, many of them do not, and have a healthy blog perspective). Even people like me will want to hear the voices of people, experience their expressions and take in body language as part of our communication experiences in life. The unique texture of a paper communication experience will remain important . . . even to the next generations. Sure, television news is down, but reality television and tv in general far exceed the impact of the blogosphere by millions, and millions. And, among the more popular bloggin' trends are those that lead to groups of bloggers meeting up with each other. So, alas, I think I'll still look forward to HEARING Teresa's recap of the day. I'll always crave chat with the kids, telling me what happened to them, over a blog experience of the same. Hours in the blogosphere every day will not break my considerable addiction to television, radio, magazine and newspaper news.

Yeah, I guess I will say something like this to the esteemed group. Hope I'm on target.