Bloggish Transcendence

Stop talking more about the definition and start talking more about the practice--Marnie Webb

Never one to let go of something very easily, I'm still chewing on the Blog v. Web conversations of several weeks back. James Farmer at Blogsavvy is fueling my fire by asking "Why on earth would you want a website?"  His argument gives a more tech-side perspective of the benefits of using blogging applications vs. conventional web development.

However, it is in a previous post, that James elegantly captures my sentiments and gets my gears-a-turning:

...the future of blogs may have very little to do with the use of blogs as we know them now. The future of blogs may well be as the core, centred elements that make up our infospheres, the fact that they are tools for interaction, private reflection, identity, and collaboration [are] purely incidental to the integral part they will play in our everyday online existence.

Absent (or perhaps not explicit) from the concept of infoshperes is that blogs (or behaving bloggishly) allows the web to transcend the practice of Storytelling into Networked/Viral Conversations.

From this point of view, the practice of blogging has tremendous value for nonprofits. Blogs provide the opportunity to create a seamless loop of engagement and feedback between an organization and its constituents:  Constituents are connected with the mission of the organization through its storytelling (hopefully by those served by the mission) while it creates a virtual feedback (and yes...criticism) hotline for the organization.

As most people become more savvy at filtering and focusing the information coming into their infosphere, it becomes more important for nonprofits to behave bloggishly; for the implications extend far beyond online interactions.  The competition  between nonprofits for the wallet-share of donors will continue to intensify and both online and systemic organizational bloggish behavior --Transparency, Inclusion, Engagement, Networking --will give those nonprofits an edge to be in their constituents infosphere...as well as their givingsphere.

Comments

[James Farmer]

Hi Sonny,

Thanks for the link and nice words. I think you're exactly right, there is a move - which is absolutely critical to community / non-profits - towards genuine and engaging conversations.

Cluetrain actually happening... the semantic web actually happening, less gumph and real stuff, here, now!

To come back to the infosphere thing, my argument is starting to become that if you can't have real people engaging as real people with other real people online (Centred communication dynamics as I am trying to call it) then you can't have conversations. Well, good ones.

And blogs make us real people, and real organisations.

[James Farmer]

BTW, the bloglines auto subscriber you use wasn't working so well... might just be me though.

[Jane King]

You have an awesome Blog here. You also have a really cute kid. When you get a chance, check out my Blog, "The Giving Blog," at http://easyphilanthropy.blogspot.com/

Thanks Jane