Thursday, June 12, 2003

A Web of Web Selves What he said: what to me is the most important aspect of blogging: the creation of a web of Web selves |  Read the article about AlwaysOn (this line is just above the paragraph that contains the bulleted points almost at the end of the post) When Weinberger of JOHO (same article as The Web Self article below - or earlier) puts it this way,  I REALLY think Church Web/Church Weblog.  A "Web of WebSelves";  that image carries with it so much of what I thik Church websites need to be.  Church Websites use brochure language to try to describe it to us.  What they're trying to do is give us enough of a "feel" to get us to come and meet them,  or "experience" the worship,  or "try it" or all the above.  Weblogs can go a much further distance toward letting the potential visitor know what the people are interested in,  what issues concern them; what things are important to them.  Maybe Churches are afraid of letting that be seen.  I would find it a powerful draw on people who want to find Churches thatcare about things they think are important.  This will work very ecumenically.  Any type of Church woudl find this a valuable way to "show their stuff".  Their "stuff" IS their people.  Some may say the "pastor" represents a bigger piece of this "stuff".  Maybe that is tru in some churches.  Maybe the Pastor needs to blog (or are they afraid they'll run out of things to say or "use up" some good sermon material? . If I found some stuff on Churches and weblogs and the potential for a great online community in that setting,  and the theological concerns were of the same ilk as mine,  I'd travel a great distance to go visit that person's Church,  just because I would see the potential for a good mission group for a Web Ministry right there.  I would suspect,  that with many other "budding missions" and "germinating calls" ,  it is the same deal.  People would go to great lengths to find a place where they see the possibility for collaborating with like-minded and like-concerned individuals on work that excites them,  and gives them a sense of significant contribution.  comment [] 5:22:01 PM

The Web Self David Weinberger of JOHO writes about the claim by AlwaysOn that they are a "SuperBlog", and David points out that there's not really a way for members to "write" in area that is "them" (that's how I understand what Weinberger is saying, and that's what blogging is for me as well:  a place that's "Me" on the Web.) The part of AO that might be considered bloggy is pretty clearly a commenting or letters-to-the-editor capability. That's good to see, and people are writing trenchant commentary. But it's missing some core stuff that's central to understanding why bloggery is important: Members don't get a home page where I can go to read what they've written today. The "members profile" page doesn't count even though it has a linked list of previous posts. This matters (to me, anyway) since I think the most important effect of weblogging is that it creates a persistent place on the Web that comes to stand for the person; a blog site is as close as we've come to having a Web self. Tony is obviously a great marketer. Every time he proclaims AlwaysOn as a "super-blog," he's having an actual effect on the world. People who go to AlwaysOn thinking that it's a prime example of a weblog are going to hear interesting voices — good — but are going to miss what to me is the most important aspect of blogging: the creation of a web of Web selves. That objection is political, not semantics. | see the whole article, AlwaysOnDebate This is also where I think Church organizations are missing the point.  (Read on in Churches missing the point)   comment [] 11:09:43 AM

Bruce and God My reflections on Bruce Almighty are in (saw it last night with Janet on our 20th Anniversary date) comment [] 10:22:25 AM

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