It's interesting to me to see how people approach blogging. The disjoint between the public and the private. The wondering about the audience. The exploration of a new space for writing. The acknowledgement of its social context.
My first post, just short of a year ago, was entitled "
...is this thing on?" In it, I wrote this:
I'm fascinated by the potential of this medium. Not so much the personal publishing per se, but the interconnections among blogs, and the nonlinear concept-based path you can take through content once those interconnections are well-established. And the reputation/value issue--as more people link to your thoughts and comments, the more people who want to read them, and in turn want to read the blogs of the people you link to. Distributed processing at its very best. The "TrackBack" concept of cross-linking sites is really intriguing.
My friend and colleague Elouise Oyzon had
this to say back in June when she began:
Like standing on the beach, I test the waters with a toe. How cold? How deep do I go?
[...]
How seductive to send words out on the tide like messages in a bottle. How cold? How deep? How far?
And her brother Beau, who began his blog only a few days ago,
writes:
it's private thoughts for public use.
What was _your_ first post about?
--
Side note: I've changed the style sheet for this site, which should result in the quoted sections above appearing in a bordered box; if that isn't happening on your browser, try
loading the style sheet directly first, then returning here.
1. Scott Palmer on October 10, 2003 3:26 PM writes...
I started this year, and my first post was about Oreos.
Permalink to Comment2. LauraJ on October 10, 2003 10:34 PM writes...
I started a "work" blog a few short weeks ago... my first post was titled "It's my blog" and talked about not knowing where to start. I ended with "So, this is it, my first entry. Now I can write the other stuff, and pretend that you know me. But that will take years, right?"
I like the image of messages in a bottle... that's a little what it feels like to me. A blog with my name, that was so much harder for me than other places I've written -- knowing that anything that I say or share can gain a life of it's own, always pointing back to me, was a little unnerving.
I've been amazed, though, at the connections I've made already though, and the conversations I've had, around my blog. I'm still feeling my way, daring more some days than others -- I notice though that when I risk more, I gain more -- just like "real life".
Permalink to Comment3. Tom Steinberg on October 12, 2003 6:47 AM writes...
Because I came to the scene quite late, I was more than used to the moral handwringing that goes with a first ever blog post. Which is why mine said:
"I'm doing this because I think it'll be good for me, and because I'm arrogant enough to think you'll be interested in what I have to say.
Enjoy!"
Permalink to Comment4. Julian on October 13, 2003 8:31 AM writes...
I think you may have broken the frontpage template - the links div seems to be displaying as part of the blog div, hence too far in from the left and obscuring the entries (this on IE6)
regards...
Permalink to Comment5. Julian on October 13, 2003 9:07 AM writes...
either you fixed it or my browser sorted itself out! :-)
Permalink to Comment6. Dinah on October 13, 2003 4:37 PM writes...
My blog just hit its 5th birthday last Friday and so I went back and re-read my first post: http://www.metagrrrl.com/metagrrrl/1998/10/the_first_metag.html
It's not actually that different from what I write now; part what I'm doing today, part information sharing (including with my future self).
Caveat:
Permalink to CommentYes, yes, some of the links are broken at the moment because I haven't moved a bunch of really old stuff to be archived in my new TypePad home. Just substitute my old Hurricane Electric account's IP, 216.218.166.103, for the www.metagrrrl.com when you get a Not Found message and it'll all be fine.
7. Sarah on October 16, 2003 9:39 PM writes...
This is an absolutely fascinating topic -- and the "culture clash" between Web norms and the juicy intimacy which makes the best blogs worth reading and "real" life and the roles we play in the social contexts of our lives, work etc. will result in clashes in people's lives with the same force as a car accident.
See:
Permalink to CommentSenate aide fired for offensive [blog] http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/10/03/missouri.website.ap/index.ht
ml
8. A Halifax Mooseheads Hockey Fan on February 4, 2004 6:08 PM writes...
I did a search for "talk about sports" as I am looking for information on where Halifax Mooseheads players lived and the history about them and their culture. We have and have had hockey players from all over the world play with the local hockey team here in halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. I am researching anyone who has played in the past and the present for the Halifax Mooseheads hockey team. As I was web surfing, going from one topic to the next I came upon your website as I was researching "my first blog", as I thought about creating a blog on the Halifax Mooseheads hockey team. Anyways I read about this being your "my first post" and read your whole blog to see if you had any information on how to operate a blog. I did find some of your information usefull and I thank you.
Permalink to CommentI will be back, as you seem to know what you are talking about, to see if you added anything new that might help me.
Anyways, good luck with your website.
Take care and God Bless
Steve A Halifax Mooseheads Hockey Fan