View From the Harbor

Well, here we go...

For several months now I have been reading blogs and commentary [much of it hyperbolic and hostile] about blogs. It seems that, "something's happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear." But, whatever it is, it is important. A large and expanding segment of the public has become involved in dialogues on just about every subject imaginable. Already this discourse has begun to influence the major institutions through which we organize our public lives. Bloggers arguably had an important effect on the outcome of recent elections. They may have altered the ways in which news media operate and are serving as a useful corrective to the MSM's herd mentality on a number of political issues. In the realm of criticism, bloggy word of mouth has become a shaper of opinion. It matters that Instapundit is reading Neal Stephenson or Susanne Clarke and mentions that he is doing so. Film studios are already exploring ways to use blogs and bulletin boards to generate "buzz" for their products. A disproportionate number of lawyers have entered the blogosphere and as a result important legal issues are being debated, not in the limited forum of academic journals, but in full view of the reading public. And so it goes in almost every area of information. For anyone who loves to dabble in the "world of ideas" these are exciting times.

My training as an academic historian inclines me to sit the whole thing out, view it from a distance, and some years from now make some considered, and highly qualified, judgment as to what it was all about; said judgment to be published in an obscure academic journal read by a few specialists. But, dammit, this is too much fun. I can no longer lurk on the sidelines, muttering opinions to myself or my long-suffering spouse, or annoying my friends and colleagues with e-mail rants. I have to join the fray.

I have no idea how this will eventually shake out. At first I will be posting as whimsy dictates, mixing the personal and trivial with more substantive observations. I have no audience and so cannot play to one. I am launching my words and images into a dark void. If you come across them I hope they amuse or inform you. Whatever your reaction write and let me know what you think.

Now... I'm going to try to figure out how to make this thing work.