I never thought about the type of blogging I was doing. I merely used my blog to do functional, useful stuff. What I really wanted to do was to share technical tips, provide post-course support for my students and perhaps recommend some interesting software or sites. What I *did not* want to do was to narrate my life and recount what I had for dinner.
However, the other day as I was reading the NST, a writer (sorry, I forgot who) wrote about blogging in general. What was interesting was that he made a distinction between classical blogging and the more contemporary kind we see today. So what's the difference?
He noted that blogs were originally used by techie dudes to share tech tips with other techie dudes. The writer terms this as "classical blogging". Although I didn't know it, I had inadvertently slipped into this mode. The blog, like I said, was to offer post-course technical support. I wonder if I will stick to this mode. I am unsure. Even as I write, this space could be morphing into something I never imagined.
This is the marvellous thing about online mediums. Their forms are continually changing and configuring to match our needs and our imagination. We shape the medium, even as it is shaping us. It's hard to imagine that You Tube was originally designed as a platform for sharing holiday videos.
The creators of You Tube did say that they realised very quickly that people were innovating with their invention in ways that they did not envision. They learnt that they had absolutely no control over how people were using the wonder they had created, so they stopped dictating how people should use their innovation. Instead, they found it more fruitful to watch the fascinating way in which their platform was being transformed before their eyes by countless users.
Blogs have evolved rapidly likewise. So, how many blog sub-genres are there? Perhaps as many as the number of people blogging.
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