Comments on: Will My Mother-in-Law Blog? http://bracken.wordpress.com/2006/06/23/will-my-mother-in-law-blog/ John Bracken's thoughts on the media & technology Wed, 30 Dec 2009 02:37:24 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: eszter http://bracken.wordpress.com/2006/06/23/will-my-mother-in-law-blog/#comment-727 eszter Sat, 01 Jul 2006 17:11:14 +0000 https://bracken.wordpress.com/2006/06/23/will-my-mother-in-law-blog/#comment-727 Jeff, first you say we should measure the phenomenon by the number who write, not the number who listen. But then you say "They're just people talking. Let's listen." So which is more important, talking or listening? And which should we be measuring? The number of readers is likely going to be much larger than the number of writers. And the number of readers is already pretty small. So the number of writers is going to be even smaller. You say that earlier people didn't write. But didn't they? Didn't they keep journals? And if no one reads someone's blog then how is it different from simply writing a journal? People have not only kept journals, they have published hard copy family and organizational newsletters for quite a while. The different would be if they were getting many more readers this way. But there doesn't seem to be much evidence that they are. John, I hope you don't think of me as a pessimist. I'd prefer the term realist.:-) As you know, I love these various opportunities and possibilities and I would love to see more people embrace them. I also try to do my best to spread some of the goodness to others. But despite my own enthusiasm, I think it's important to stay realistic and be aware of actual trends. Jeff, first you say we should measure the phenomenon by the number who write, not the number who listen. But then you say “They’re just people talking. Let’s listen.” So which is more important, talking or listening? And which should we be measuring?

The number of readers is likely going to be much larger than the number of writers. And the number of readers is already pretty small. So the number of writers is going to be even smaller. You say that earlier people didn’t write. But didn’t they? Didn’t they keep journals? And if no one reads someone’s blog then how is it different from simply writing a journal? People have not only kept journals, they have published hard copy family and organizational newsletters for quite a while. The different would be if they were getting many more readers this way. But there doesn’t seem to be much evidence that they are.

John, I hope you don’t think of me as a pessimist. I’d prefer the term realist.:-) As you know, I love these various opportunities and possibilities and I would love to see more people embrace them. I also try to do my best to spread some of the goodness to others. But despite my own enthusiasm, I think it’s important to stay realistic and be aware of actual trends.

]]> By: Jeff Jarvis http://bracken.wordpress.com/2006/06/23/will-my-mother-in-law-blog/#comment-573 Jeff Jarvis Thu, 22 Jun 2006 18:57:17 +0000 https://bracken.wordpress.com/2006/06/23/will-my-mother-in-law-blog/#comment-573 Ah, John, but don't measure the success of the medium by the number who read. Measure it by those who write. And that measurement is, indeed, amazing (one new blog a second and half of them still kicking after three months; the whole doubling ever six months). We measured only readership before because that's what we could measure and because no one could write unless they knew the guy with the printing press. Now we can measure authorship. And I'm fond of saying that it's a mistake to measure this as a medium. Not everyone doing this wants to be media. They're just people talking. Let's listen. So I think it's a mistake to judge the importance of this by one gross number -- is it as big as Lost? Doesn't matter. That was the measurement of the old, monopolistic, one-size-fits-all, scarcity-driven media world. Now we are in the new, open, something-for-everyone, abundance-driven post-media world. jeff Ah, John, but don’t measure the success of the medium by the number who read. Measure it by those who write. And that measurement is, indeed, amazing (one new blog a second and half of them still kicking after three months; the whole doubling ever six months).

We measured only readership before because that’s what we could measure and because no one could write unless they knew the guy with the printing press. Now we can measure authorship.

And I’m fond of saying that it’s a mistake to measure this as a medium. Not everyone doing this wants to be media. They’re just people talking. Let’s listen.

So I think it’s a mistake to judge the importance of this by one gross number — is it as big as Lost? Doesn’t matter. That was the measurement of the old, monopolistic, one-size-fits-all, scarcity-driven media world. Now we are in the new, open, something-for-everyone, abundance-driven post-media world.

jeff

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