Social business wins my first Bloggers’ Circle recommendation
Today is the first day of the Bloggers’ Circle. As a member I am required at least twice a month to write about a post from another circle member.
Just to show willing, I have chosen one from the interesting first set of eight links which members submitted for peer review.
I chose it because it is positive, short and clever with a good combination of a national issue and personal anecdote. As someone who writes posts that tend to be too long and too clunky, this, I know, is how blog posting should be.
Last call to be a ‘bloggers’ circle’ pioneer
Monday sees the launch of ‘bloggers’ circle’. This was an idea first developed by my old chum Matt Cain following up comments on this site. The RSA has given a small amount of money for the limited start up costs.
Bloggers’ circle is inspired by three reflections on the blogosphere:
• There are too many writers chasing too few readers. Most bloggers have only their own site as a platform. This means it is hard for them to compete with bloggers who have a mass media outlet, like a national newspaper or broadcaster. ‘Amateur’ bloggers need to collaborate to provide each other with a platform for their content.
• Bloggers are day to day scribblers but, like any writer, there are times when they feel they have hit the spot – a post that really deserves to be more widely read and discussed. But what can a blogger do to get these posts through to a wider audience than usual?
• Bloggers come in all shapes and sizes and with a million and one perspectives on the world. But blogging isn’t just self indulgent rambling. It is a particular form of expression with its own conventions and qualities. To promote their art, bloggers should be able to put aside differences of opinion and recognise what makes a great blog post. Bloggers’ circle is a way to develop and celebrate the art of the great post.
The collaborative rules of bloggers’ circle involve members submitting up to five posts a month which they think deserve wider consumption. In return members are required at least twice a month to mention and link to one of the posts recommended by their peers. To provide an extra incentive there will be a post of the month for the most cross referenced post, and there is even a cash prize for the first month.
Matt has an initial group of thirty or so bloggers signed up, including yours truly, but I know he would welcome other people. At this first stage, the task of the circle members is to make it work. Like most web-based innovations the idea is bound to metamorphose into something slightly, or even radically, different to the vision of its initial architects.
We are starting small and maybe we won’t succeed but it’s always worth having a dream. Imagine if there were hundreds or even thousands of amateur bloggers signed up so that the best content we produce gained the kind of impact and recognition that is now generally restricted to professional journalists. Also think about what impact this could have in promoting those parts of the blogosphere which are collaborative, respectful and creative.
Wish me luck
Apologies for no post today, and only cursory responses to the comments.
I have been working on the annual lecture of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, which I am due to deliver in 25 minutes. I am very nervous and genuinely fear it may be a lead balloon. It’s partly because I don’t really think anyone has the right to pontificate about schools who doesn’t actually spend time every day trying to teach real children.
The good news is that we have just had the most violent thunder storm I can ever remember, so maybe I’ll be speaking to an audience comprising the event organisers and my ever loyal PA Barbara.
Was it Wittgenstein who said ’we know the sound of two hands clapping, but what is the sound of one hand clapping’. I may be able to answer this question in an hour or so.
I will report back tomorrow along, I hope, with an update on the climate change cultural theory quiz (thanks for a great response) and some exciting news about the Bloggers’ Circle idea I floated a few weeks ago.
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