Friday, June 30, 2006
Blog Post #2 (The Perfectionist vs. Web 2.0)
The Perfectionist vs. Web 2.0
I arrived in 753 with a love of THE BLOG, an adoration of Flickr, and a huge appreciation for the librarians who assist libraries in adapting these technologies. To be honest, I had easily embraced anything that masked itself in the guise of "Web 2.0."; therefore I assumed that I would feel comfortable blogging. But that's when THE PERFECTIONIST kicked in.
THE PERFECTIONIST:
To know that my blog is public, and accessible by anyone, has caused me to take myself way too seriously when posting. If I were representing an organization through my blog, this process might not be as difficult. I would be responsible for posting specific information for the public. But, instead, I am posting as myself. Because of this, I am having a hard time making peace with the fact that my online personal represents a snapshot of who I would like to be, not necessarily who I am*.
and yet....
WEB 2.0
The "old" internet didn't allow us to feel this sort of discomfort. At that time (many years ago, in the dark ages), the web maintenance gurus were deemed "the experts," while the rest of us sat back and watched our world defined for us.
Now, social software has allowed us to acknowledge that new ideas seem to go hand-in-hand with imperfection, clichés, and a state of perpetual change. Not only are we imperfect, but we are also strangely accountable for being that way.
I realized this as I thought about what I have learned by reading other people's blogs. (Some of my favorites: The Librarian in Black or The Shifted Librarian) Instead of viewing their writing with disdain and judgment, I am grateful for them for sharing their knowledge, and I am thankful that they have gotten past the initial discomfort of being imperfect. In fact, I love reading everyone else's posts. I learn so much, and there is an element of communication and human perspective that is deeply engaging. Blogging, for a purpose, seems to push an idea and cause it to be collectively refined. And that’s what I will be exploring in the months to come…
Thanks for reading.
Juliette
*I have to give credit where credit is due--this idea was suggested to me by my friend...but I just realized that I don't know if he would like to have his name posted on my oh-so-public-blog... hmm. Another dilemma.
I arrived in 753 with a love of THE BLOG, an adoration of Flickr, and a huge appreciation for the librarians who assist libraries in adapting these technologies. To be honest, I had easily embraced anything that masked itself in the guise of "Web 2.0."; therefore I assumed that I would feel comfortable blogging. But that's when THE PERFECTIONIST kicked in.
THE PERFECTIONIST:
To know that my blog is public, and accessible by anyone, has caused me to take myself way too seriously when posting. If I were representing an organization through my blog, this process might not be as difficult. I would be responsible for posting specific information for the public. But, instead, I am posting as myself. Because of this, I am having a hard time making peace with the fact that my online personal represents a snapshot of who I would like to be, not necessarily who I am*.
and yet....
WEB 2.0
The "old" internet didn't allow us to feel this sort of discomfort. At that time (many years ago, in the dark ages), the web maintenance gurus were deemed "the experts," while the rest of us sat back and watched our world defined for us.
Now, social software has allowed us to acknowledge that new ideas seem to go hand-in-hand with imperfection, clichés, and a state of perpetual change. Not only are we imperfect, but we are also strangely accountable for being that way.
I realized this as I thought about what I have learned by reading other people's blogs. (Some of my favorites: The Librarian in Black or The Shifted Librarian) Instead of viewing their writing with disdain and judgment, I am grateful for them for sharing their knowledge, and I am thankful that they have gotten past the initial discomfort of being imperfect. In fact, I love reading everyone else's posts. I learn so much, and there is an element of communication and human perspective that is deeply engaging. Blogging, for a purpose, seems to push an idea and cause it to be collectively refined. And that’s what I will be exploring in the months to come…
Thanks for reading.
Juliette
*I have to give credit where credit is due--this idea was suggested to me by my friend...but I just realized that I don't know if he would like to have his name posted on my oh-so-public-blog... hmm. Another dilemma.
# posted by Ask Me a Question @ 10:13 AM 
Comments:
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Juliette,
How I can relate to this post!
Why are we so hard on ourselves?
I typed out and edited my first post like I was turning in my senior thesis. I need to lighten up a bit :-)
It takes a certain amount of courage to broadcast yourself to the world at large. I appreciate your candor.
How I can relate to this post!
Why are we so hard on ourselves?
I typed out and edited my first post like I was turning in my senior thesis. I need to lighten up a bit :-)
It takes a certain amount of courage to broadcast yourself to the world at large. I appreciate your candor.
Thanks for expressing this. I've been blogging for a long time, but I've struggled with this problem off and on throughout the process. Accepting one's imperfections is probably the healthiest way to combat it. But for what it's worth, I've also found it helpful to write with the knowledge that while anyone COULD read what I'm writing, no-one necessarily IS.
So true! That's the most amusing part about this whole process...Speaking of that, I need to check out yours.
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