Monday, April 6, 2009
Thing #2
I was struck by a couple of thing when I looked at the blogs. First, they were all very casual. Even Anne Davis' blog http://anne.teachesme.com/2007/01/17/rationale-for-educational-blogging/which was the most "academic" of the blogs was very informal. It seemed more like a conversation between learned friends than an expert sharing her expertise. The responses to the blogs read the same way. This bothers me and it inspires me at the same time. It bothers me because I feel that it signifies the death of correct, formal English. Yes, I know it has been dying for a while now, but blogging takes it down a few pegs. At the same time, the knowledge base is so much more vast than any one person could ever possess. It is every bit as interesting to see the links that people will attach to thier comments as it is to read the original article. It is like sitting at a round table and having everyone contribute thier thoughts and ideas. It is the modern application of the Socratic method at its finest. So the real question is, which is more important: the preservation of our language or the development of intellectual inquiry?
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Keep in mind that blogging is an entirely different platform of communication. Blogging never started off as a means of more formal discourse. It was a platform for people to talk about themselves and what they were doing. That purpose has obviously evolved and has taken on many forms. Some blogs are more formal than others, but most of the blogs I read have a conversational flavor, which is much the purpose.
ReplyDeleteBlogs can inspire conversations, something that you found yourself when you commented, "It is every bit as interesting to see the links that people will attach to thier comments as it is to read the original article."
That right there is one of the best aspects of blogging - the conversations that can be born from them. I have read some amazing blog posts that have ended with over 100 comments. But the comments included the original blogger replying as well. I have found that the comments tend to enrich and extend the conversation, often taking them in directions that the original poster never intended, but that's the beauty of it, too.
I really enjoyed this particular comment of yours, "It is like sitting at a round table and having everyone contribute thier thoughts and ideas. It is the modern application of the Socratic method at its finest."
You've hit the proverbial nail on the head! I think the preservation of our language happens in formal discourse settings. Personally, I don't feel that blogging is such a setting, but in my own experience, I have learned volumes more from blogs in the past two years than I ever would have otherwise.