Saturday, 16 May 2009

Part of the Past - At Last!

Over at the Other Place, Bryan draws our attention to this report. So 'blogging might now be a part of the past'. At last! I've been waiting to hear those words; they are music to my ears. As a dedicated retroprogressive reactionary laudator temporis acti, I was always uneasy about blogging, an activity which seemed to me dangerously futuristic, or at least to smack of the dreaded Present Day - that's why I was so reluctant to start blogging in the first place. Now, of course, I'm loving it - and, reading this report, I'm hugely relieved to learn that blogging is sliding into the past, becoming vieux jeu, a quaint pursuit for the genially out of touch - that suits me just fine. Let them strip-mall the web to their heart's content, Twittering away like Touretters. No mall for me thank you - I prefer to think of my blog as one of those cluttered, old-fashioned shops you occasionally come across, where you can drop in, have a chat with the man behind the counter (he's in one of those pale brown ironmonger's coats of course), look around at leisure, and never know what you're going to find... No actually, the truth is that I prefer not to think about blogging at all - that way madness lies - but just get on and do it.
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13 comments:

  1. Brit16 May 2009 at 12:27

    I like to think of myself as an e-Luddite.

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  2. Gareth Williams16 May 2009 at 14:36

    I'm sure this has been pointed out before, but aren't we just returning to an epistolary form of communication? E-epistles. So it's all quite comfortingly reactionary really.

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  3. malty16 May 2009 at 15:22

    What you're saying then Nige is that your blog is in the mould of the afternoon tea dance.
    Splendid, two Earl Greys and a couple of Kunzle cakes please, here's two and sixpence, keep the change.

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  4. Nige16 May 2009 at 16:21

    Handsome of you Malty - and your Palais Glide is most impressive...

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  5. will16 May 2009 at 16:24

    I've only just upgraded to a brimstone powered computer made out of myrrh and obsidian.I'll have no truck with these modern twittery-fripperies

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  6. Susan B.16 May 2009 at 16:56

    If you've got something witty to say, I'll sit right here and listen. Nice chair. Chippendale?

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  7. dearieme16 May 2009 at 17:38

    Four candles, please.

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  8. malty16 May 2009 at 18:37

    Susan, there follows a health warning, the UK met office has predicted that this summer will be a scorcher.
    If your planned visit is going ahead I would suggest waterproofing the entire family prior to departure.

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  9. Susan B.16 May 2009 at 20:03

    Howdy, Malty-- It was a scorcher when A. & I were there in '07. Our arrival day was the hottest in recorded history in Scotland -- everyone crammed into some Rennie Macintosh tea room in Glasgow 'cause it was the only place with a.c.

    But i can't wait, no matter the weather. ADORE Scotland. We will have a blast no matter what. If you and the Mrs. get to E-burgh proper while we're there, pls. come have a pint with us.

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  10. Mark16 May 2009 at 22:20

    I suspect Twitter is so popular right now because the men of affairs reckon they can make big money off it. All those celebrity brands with a vast following (and the followers get no chance to answer back as the Twittering works only in a one direction). All those opportunities for paying cough persuading the "brand" to indulge in a bit of highly lucrative product placement, etc. Once the penny drops that the whole thing about to become a rip-off, the herd will thunder on elsewhere.

    It's harder for the men of affairs to do the same number with blogs, I think. Blogs can be as long as you like or as short as you like, on any topic you like and as difficult or demanding as you like. And the audience is probably a lot more demanding, too. It's not quite so easy to sell washing powder on this basis.

    I'm rather with the Google executive who called Twitter "the poor man's email".

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  11. malty16 May 2009 at 22:34

    Crivvens Susan, Miss Cranstons tearoom has aircon, you sure it wasn't backfiring bagpipes.
    PS, which month y'all here ?

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  12. madfolly17 May 2009 at 20:02

    I had a clue this might be happening in the form of my 18-year-old niece, who hasn't updated her blog since February. This has meant I've had to do something I said I'd never do: register at Facebook, so that I can keep track of what's going on in her life.

    While I haven't signed up for Twitter,and have no intention of doing so, I do like checking in on Stephen Fry's Twitter page every night before bed, just after checking Nigeness. Makes for a pleasant end to the evening.

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  13. Minnie19 May 2009 at 09:11

    A commonplace book online, full of interesting and thought-provoking comments: what a discovery! Thank you - esp. for the reminder to return to Geo. Meredith (if not to Surrey).
    Arrived here from BA's excellent blog, and ... I'll be back (make mine a pot of Lapsang Souchon + toasted teacakes sodden with butter).

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