Angry Robot

Keepin' the Blog Hot

Here are two posts from old-school bloggers declaring their intent to resume old-school blogging operations: Andy Baio and Gina Trapani.

“Sorry for the lack of updates” blog posts are a classic of the genre, and these are exemplary examples – I’m not being sarcastic. I particularly like Trapani’s list of personal rules, which made me think what mine would be. Sometimes I wonder why I do this! It doesn’t really make much sense. But essentially this is how I roll:

• Blogging is therapy foremost. I write to organize thoughts. If they get organized, I post them. If they don’t, I often don’t post them. I have probably ten drafts to every post.
• Post interesting links. If there’s a lot more of this than there used to be, it’s because sometimes that’s all I have time for. That’s ok.
• It doesn’t matter who reads it. I don’t check anymore. I only know when someone tells me in person. That’s all good, I do this for me.
• No bitterness. There’s no shortage of snark on the internet, so try and post constructive, thoughtful, silly, or beautiful things instead.
• Keep it stripped down. No tags, no “read more”, no comments. Not adding enough to be worth the hassle.
• No guilt. It’s not work. No need to maintain a posting schedule or anything. Do it when you feel like it. If it stops being fun, stop doing it. Or try something new.

Some of these rules are harder to follow than others – it’s especially hard to value something posted publicly without thinking about its reception, audience, etc. And sometimes you have to. Here are my problem areas, things I want to get better at, or find better solutions for:

• Posting personal stuff. This is an age-old problem with writing. Sometimes I want to but don’t for fears that someone else might get hurt, I might look like an idiot, etc.
• Keeping the blog reflecting my life. It feels like it should, but it doesn’t really. I don’t post at all about my daughter, home renovations, work.
• I’d like to post pictures more but for mostly technical reasons I don’t.
• Get better at ending posts. Better to cut it short and take it up in a follow-up post than to not post at all. Drop the mic, walk away.

Bikergate?

Here’s Leigh Alexander’s vitriolic, already-seminal piece on Gamergate. She argues that Gamergate is the death spasm of “gamer”, the identity based around games, which is becoming obsolete in an era when everybody plays games.

“Gamer” isn’t just a dated demographic label that most people increasingly prefer not to use. Gamers are over. That’s why they’re so mad.

And here is an interview with Mikael Colville-Andersen, head of Copenhagenize, a bike-related urban design company and associated weblog. This passage is interesting:

The cycling sub-cultures are a hurdle to mainstreaming bicycle culture, even though that may sound counter-intuitive. The nature of sub-cultures is insular. They are not often keen to see their beloved hobby/activity become mainstream. Much bicycle advocacy in North America is done by the “avid” cyclists. They have a sense of ownership over all things bicycle. They don’t, however, realize that the 99% doesn’t want what they want. They don’t want over-complication with gear and fancy bicycles. People – Citizen Cyclists I call them – just want to be able to ride a bicycle safely and conveniently.

Having avid cyclists doing the talking about bicycles is like having race walkers doing the talking about pedestrian-friendly cities. It doesn’t work. It’s two different things.

The parallel is striking, and weird.

Ultimately, if you think about telling hobbyist cyclists that they “drank the kool aid” and are “angry young men” who should “grow up” because “traditional [biking] is sloughing off, culturally and economically, like the carapace of a bug,” it seems waaaay over-the-top. These are just a bunch of dudes who enjoy riding around with their friends, really fast! You would want to say something much less threatening, like “you guys are right, biking is awesome! While we value your advocacy, we also need to hear from other bikers, people who may not share your point of view exactly, and in fact those people already outnumber you. But this doesn’t mean you have to have to change anything – keep doing what you’re doing!”

It’s a shame that the Gamergate thing has already gotten so out of hand that such dialogue seems impossible. I guess that’s what happens when the death treats start.