2007-11-13T09:11:00.000-08:00

I’ve shunned the idea of creating a blog for quite some time, but then again, I did the same with Facebook almost three years ago. I now have nearly 600 friends on the infamous social network and check my profile almost daily (I sit at the cool lunch table too). It’s almost scary how these online “hobbies” can pull you in.

Look at my dad, Bill Sledzik. His blog, Tough Sledding, started out as an innocent “experiment” by an academic searching to find value in the new phenomena for the Public Relations field. Now with over a year of published blog posts, like so many others around the globe, he’s been consumed by the blogo-sphere.

Though I’m sure my dad would shudder to see that my first blog post is a hypocritical conglomeration of rants, I have to give him credit for keeping me informed on this evolving information resource. But I’m still skeptical about finding any real value in blog-based information. As with most things in the Web 2.0 world, application is relatively useless but awareness of what’s happening is crucial.

So what really is happening out here in blog-land? And do I really have to join in to find out? My old man even admits that the blogo-sphere is an “echo-chamber” and the majority of people paying attention are other bloggers. Some of his recent posts mimic a school-yard argument and are a perfect example of how no one’s paying attention to us … except us. (And I don’t even like the idea of being included in “us”).

Anyway, I have no real conviction to start or continue blogging — but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. Maybe as my continued education fuels a slow maturity I’ll quit “Facebook-creeping” and start yelling into the echo chamber. Remember, It’s all relative … ly useless.

Steele Works