Getting Personal

Jeneane wonders (as I did in the recent issue of my newsletter) why we bloggers are getting so personal and so attached: ” Why so passionate over some words in a template? Why do I feel like I’ve known these friends all my life?”

Her partial answer: “Since I’ve shared most of my life, even if compressed and scattered, here on allied, I feel that somehow you all have lived it with me.” Definitely. But why have been willing to share it? And why has it connected so deeply? It might be due — paradoxically — to the anonymity the Web affords, although it seems to me that since anonymity can be merely an excuse for irresponsibility, we’d be better off thinking of it as the opportunity to have a fresh start. The Web is our blank page.

And then there’s the fact that The Web that Matters — the network of people we care about — is self-organizing so we tend to hear from the people we touch and are ignored by the people we don’t. That’s why the blogging world isn’t aflame enough for the likes of John Dvorak, but it’s also one reason it’s become so important to us. We’re pulling one another into deeper and deeper water. “See, Halley just did a cannonball off the deep end and she’s fine! Why don’t you give it a try?”

The rush we’re feeling over being able to speak in public about matters we formerly kept private is temporary. It will become the new normal soon. At that point it will be integrated enough into our understanding of ourselves that we’ll carry it over into the real world. And although we will lose the rush of novelty, we will gain the steadier warmth of wider and deeper friendships.

Categories: Uncategorized dw