Future of Media Summit Coverage
Future Exploration Chairman Ross Dawson sums up the extensive media and blog coverage of the San Francisco + Sydney Future of Media Summit this month, which I wrote about here on July 16.
Of the various media and blog items linked from Ross’ post, one in particular caught my eye, an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, by communications researcher, analyst and regular opinion columnist Graeme Philipson. In The Lost Art of Blogging, published a day before the Summit, he makes it clear that he doesn’t have much or any time for blogging.
I don’t blog. Can’t see the point, when I write this column and others. I also rarely read them - the letters page of this newspaper and the many emails I receive is for me more than enough exposure to the unfiltered opinion of the common man.
Good attitude, Graeme. Let’s not waste our time listening to “the common man”. Who knows, we might learn something and have to change some of our entrenched positions. And of course the fact that the article in question is not in blog format means that the author doesn’t have to be troubled with anything so trivial as a response from any of us common folk.
The fact is, those of us who do read blogs know there is some very serious and educative content and commentary to be gleaned from - and often only from - blogs. To take an Australian example, you don’t have to agree with Professor John Quiggin to be able to recognise that his blog posts are non-trivial. Apart from his occasional extended essays - which I read avidly - in the Review section of Friday’s Australian Financial Review (not exactly a lightweight publication), I don’t know how else I would get the benefit of Professor Quiggin’s commentaries than via his blog.
And then there is the factor of participation in an informed global conversation.
In a post framed in terms of a lag in Australian blogging, but of relevance for any understanding of the cultural and economic significance of participation in blogging and other social media, Ross Dawson responds thoughtfully to Graeme Philipson’s piece. Ross sticks to his guns - and to my mind effectively. In Why less blogging is a matter for national concern, he points to a few considerations such as increasing global interconnectedness and Australia’s relative geographical isolation, declaring:
… the best way to engage in networks and to learn is to engage in discussions with the best people in the field globally. The best way to do that is by blogging, by actually engaging in conversations with others rather than just observing them.
I think that works for anyone wanting to be a player, in business, in culture, in life, in any country on this little planet. Whether it will be called “blogging” for much longer is another question and not fundamentally at issue. What is at issue is the importance of using and benefiting from these new social media tools, however named, however deployed, that help us to be more connected, more engaged.
Tags: Australia, Blogging, Future-of-Media-Summit, Graeme-Philipson, Ross-Dawson, San-Francisco, Sydney, Sydney-Morning-HeraldRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Blogging, Enterprise 2.0, Events, General, Social Media, Web 2.0, Writing
1 opinion for Future of Media Summit Coverage
Why Australian Bloggers are
Jul 29, 2007 at 8:37 pm
[…] As Des Walsh points out - be more connected and engaged […]
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: