Knowledge exchanges in the blogosphere

Do blogs really provide an easy, effective medium for deep dialog, creative abrasion and sincere knowledge exchanges?

IMO voicing, personal publishing (= push?), journalling, ephemeral commentary and cross-linking to like-minded blogs, is but a small facet of effective exchange.

At times I think k-logs are hyped by a few evangelists. If you look closely at the record, things are not all that rosy

* reciprocity is very poor - bloggers tend to say this does not matter, it is more important to be heard, to 'voice' or 'push' and publish your view - but reciprocity and a compact record help preserve the memory and emergent meaning

* 'community' happens from individual enclaves - bloggers retreat to their personal spaces to reply, the common 'space' is then fractal, distributed and walled - it lacks cohesion and persistence

* the 'record' is fragmented even categories and RSS feeds do not produce a coherent easily readable discourse that flows

* empathy is low - most times it is about branding and spreading memes and personal opinion rtaher than engaging in dialog.

Feel you need a more neutral container, a safe 'knowledge' space to commune, a 'Ba' to build trust and sustain dialog, equal edit access to encourage true collaborative writing (annealing / refactoring / facile annotation), an easier turn-taking flow to practice persistent conversation before you can have full sharing, develop the cohesion & trust to enable creative abrasion, supply sufficient context for sharing meaning and a pull space for deep listening / reflection.

K-logs are great for gathering news, RSS certainly helps with being informed, blog tools assist with finding memes - somehow I still feel blogging lacks the structures to engage in deep dialog. A cursory look shows little sustained turntaking, blog writers seldom reply directly to comments in their own blogs and themes 'die' quickly as individual writers move on to the next big item. Bloggers offer opinions rather than ask questions - inquiry and exploration are essential ingredients in knowledge formation.

What is your experience?

Comments

[Cindy]

Hello George,

I agreed blogs play SOME roles, but I have the problem to accept IMPORTANT role.

Take for example during a meeting. Everyone talks. Everyone contribute towards the meeting either by writing or talking. Can we assume those 'who writes' their opinions are more important than others who contributes by talking? How do we judge what is more important? Content.

There are stuff written by bloggers are nothing but filth. Same as some people who is no able to have some decent conversations.

Can one imagine people who 'talks' rather than 'blog' is doing what the bloggers are doing now? Forming something that perhaps called, TalkWalk?

The important issue is how to capture 'VALUABLE CONTENT'. How not to be biased and only 'concentrate and value' a choosen few. How to include the opinions of everyone in the community. Therefore we are still talking about human behaviour.

Unless bloggers can guarantee that ALL bloggers write quality works. I do not see any different between a blogger that writes and a person that talks.

In any organization, some people talks better and some would prefer to write. This is what we have to pay attention to. Not just bloggers. If we are going to spend time only on bloggers, we are going to create segregation within an organization.

Cindy

[George Siemens]

Hi Denham...I completely agree with your comments. Blogs are only a part of an entire dialogue process. In a recent presentation on blogging (http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/blogging/artofblogging1.htm), I made the point that blogs are tethered, but not direct conversations. Just as in a physical sense, we all have private, public, and group places for thinking and idea exchange, we also have the same in our use of technology to facilitate idea/knowledge exchange. Blogs are not the entire answer. They seem more effective for personal expression. As part of an overall social toolset, they can play an important role.

[Cindy]

Hello Mark,

When I say 'Exhibitionist', perhaps is a wrong word, what I mean is blogger has a special mentality (not in a mean way), that is different from others. Such as myself. I enjoye writing, I enjoy my independence, I do not like to be managed...AND YET, I tried blogging (for fun to see why bloggers blog), I just do not feel comfortable holding a conversation all by myself.

No flashing, PLEASE :)) !

Cindy

[mark oehlert]

First,

Blogs are not means of creating and sustaining meaningful deep conversations. That doesn't mean they can't, it just means that they were not created to do that. Holding them to their ability to hold deep dialogs then is a bit of an artifice.

Second (to Cindy's comment) when did a perfectly reasonable conversation on the limitations of blogging turn into a chance to lower the boom on bloggers in general? We are self-centered? Every surviving organism in the world is self-centered. We "know" we are right? I have seen nothing like that kind of arrogance in the folks and attitudes I have encountered. Just the opposite in fact. All it takes is a very little time surfing around the blogosphere and you can not help but realize how impossible it is for one person to sustain that kind of arrogant position.
I would also disagree that bloggers are inherently exhibitionist in nature. An exhibitionist will seek out a crowded street corner to flash, bloggers often expose their ideas to a lonely few that happen by their site - no crowds are assured. I'd argue that as opposed to exhibitionists, bloggers evince a certain bravery - placing their thoughts on display and inviting comment - either positive or negative.

Just my $1.21 US

Mark

[Cindy]

I am sure my comments would bring bloggers hound me down like a rabbit (I was born in the year of Rabbit :-)) ).

Bloggers thrive being individuals. They do not survive well in the traditional CoP environment. There they cannot shine and flourish and be noticed. Bloggers also dislike being managed top-down.

If we observe Bloggers, we would see some very PROMINENT 'individual' characteristics. Self-centered in other words. Therefore I am not really surprise that they do not really NEED the approval of responses from their readers. In their OPINION they know they are RIGHT. Bloggers are also exhibitionists. They want people to know what they think.

Therefore I have been wondering how organizations are going to tap on the knowledge of bloggers? Perhaps the article about 3,000 communities and PKM is especially written for bloggers.

Just my 2 euro cents.

Cindy