As usual, top stuff Joanna.
I’d like to make three broad comments, but they have to be brief as I’m woozy from lack o’ sleep. 1 & 2: Perceptions of friendliness online and in person are unpredictable. 3: Blogs are for working out what one wants to say, regardless of audience.
A bit more detail: while writing does have an etiquette of its own, it shouldn’t be mistaken for other sorts of interaction, e.g. f2f, phone. Different expectations and different sensitivities apply in each.
Some people are great at coming across well online, and lousy in person. Vice versa too, as your remarks about Richard indicate. It’s the same when going from voice to print. If you consider what Richard says at about 6:30 about why bothering and dead wood, and how that would come across in print, it’s easy to see why readers might misinterpet his intent.
Similarly, I gather that my own style of writing is a turn off for some people, but the flip side of that is the difficulties I’ve seen in f2f conversations among people who obviously don’t understand each other and cannot communicate. On the whole, communication is best in established relationships where people have done a certain amount of exploring and negotiating. On line or off. Aside from that it’s unpredictable. So I reckon the three key points to web-based communication are: make a bit of effort to be polite; maintain an open mind about other people; speak your mind without fear of misinterpretation. Let the cards fall where they may.
At 3:40 you talk about two ways of blogging - as something of interest to others, or as a chat among interested friends. Both are obviously true, and I sometimes write on topics of public interest or for distant friends. But often my main motive is in developing an idea, regardless of the audience. I suspect that’s true of many writers. Publication is a means of sharing an idea, but is secondary to one’s own interest in working it through.
Other potential topics prompted by your interview: making the Post blogs more substantive, developing a regular clientele. Things that make me want to join in: whether it’s something I can say something about, and whether the writer’s calibre of thought makes me want to respond. That, plus, as Richard says, having a regular crew, keeping things churning over.
Again, top stuff. Thanks for keeping it interesting.
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