I’m writing this after a few beers mainly because I know I won’t write it when sober and that doesn’t mean it’s anything particularly soul exposing – I’ve been at this game long enough to know when not to blog when drunk. No, this is tedious meta stuff that my sober self would normally just let slide by like the easy going chap he is, but walking back from the taxi (always get out of the taxi with a fifteen minute walk ahead of you – it gives you a chance to think and not be quite so rowdy when you get in, plus you save a good 50p of so) it occurred to me that I need to address this. It also occurred to me that I wouldn’t address it tomorrow and that I’m not so drunk that my sober self will hate me in the morning. Although he’ll no doubt correct any obvious typos that occur.
Background first. A week or so ago the Blogebrity list appeared on the scene, attempting to give some substance to the “A-list” joke that has been going around blog-land since there were enough blogs to justify such a concept. I took a look and, after seeing I wasn’t on it (yes, of course I checked), gave it no more thought. Then the lovely Mike of Troubled Diva put together a list based on Technorati data detailing the most linked UK weblogs. Again, I wasn’t listed. About now you might be thinking I’m about to indulge in some sour grapes, given that I’ve been blogging now for five fucking years and have never even scraped one of these lists, but I’m not. Simply put I look at these lists and I don’t recognise a good half of the blogs on there, if that. And I’ve been paying attention. I’m interested in blogging and all that it can do, yet I’m not aware of a significant chunk of what are apparently the major forces in this scene.
And I’m putting my ego to one side here. Really. When I was walking back home tonight I looked at my silhouette on the pavement, a skinny bloke with his head misshaped by his hooded top, and was struck by my insignificance. And, since this might be taken out of context, I should add this wasn’t some major revelation that put me in my place. I’m just some guy, like every other blogger out there (guy in the non-gender-specific sense).
The fact is that these things are wonderfully relative. On the same day the Blogebrity list appeared Andy Luke posted this somewhat embarrassing endorsement of me. I was going to just let it go, but it illustrates a point really nicely. As far as Andy’s concerned I’m as A-list as it gets. While I might be looking to Andy Baio and Matt Haughey for inspiration, Andy’s looking to me. That doesn’t mean Andy is living in some closeted world where he doesn’t know what other great stuff is out there, no matter how much I might think so. As far as he’s concerned, I’m a major source for him online, and for him and, as far as I know a number of other folk, that’s a good thing.
So what’s my point? Ah, I dunno. Am I trying to strike some kind of balance on the whole blog popularity thing while also being a teeny bit pissed off that after five fucking years I still don’t get to play with the big boys, even though I’ve never bothered to even audition for that league? Yes, there is an element of that – I am human after all – but there’s something else, something that’s beyond the A-list bollocks and the linky-lurve stuff.
Remember that I look at these lists and don’t recognise most of the blogs on them. I’ve always been of the belief that there isn’t a single “blogosphere”. There are as many blogsopheres as there are bloggers, all overlapping and changing every time someone logs on and sticks a link on their site. You can aggregate them and come up with statistics and yes, some will be more influential than others, but for each individual those stats don’t mean shit. It’s not an isolationist thing, more an illustration of how wonderful this whole bloggernet environment is. A good blogger is someone who points you to things you hadn’t considered before, not just links but ideas, notions and experiences. And that blogger does not function alone. By the very nature of the medium they are getting links, idea, notions and experiences from others who in turn are doing the same thing, and those others can be on or off line.
Yes, I do get a lot of my stuff from the usual places, but I suspect what I consider “the usual places” might not apply to others who are looking in different directions. And that, as I start to sober up and think it might be a good idea to get to bed before I start to regret writing this and delete it before posting, is probably my point. Everyone I link to is, at that moment, “A-list” in my book. That individual link is, at that time, more important than anything else. It will fade, probably quite quickly, but when I saw it it was the most important thing, something that I felt the need to share with others.
And that’s possibly why I keep hacking away at this even though I know I’ll never reach the glory heights of blog stardom. If I can give one or five or ten or fifty or a hundred people something interesting to read or some neat link to follow then my job is done. The fact that I’m not alone in doing this makes it all worthwhile.
Right, time for bed. If this has turned out to be just a drunken rant of stupidity them my apologies.
(I couldn’t squeeze it in relevantly but Meg‘s recent post Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be is worth a read since she did used to be the Queen of the UK blog scene back in the day. Like I say, not strictly relevant but it did get me thinking…)
[Update: A sober reflection]
You know Pete, I was doing a bunch of CF digging into MetaFilter last week and found your blog in many google searches, and I’ve become a huge fan of this site, reading all the way back in your archives. I’m flattered you look up to my silly blog but I have to say I love what you’re doing in regards to CF tips and general technology posts, your blog is my new favorite read on my bloglines list.
(btw, if you’re ever looking for CF consulting work, I’d love to have you take a look at MetaFilter’s aging, hulking mess of spagetti code I wrote years ago)
Ah man, this is embarrasing — sorry, I got your name and Pete Freitag mixed up. Oops.
I’m just some guy, I’ve never posted comments to any blog before, just wanted to say that you’re on my A-list, Pete.
Thanks
Pete, you are Keeping It Real. I’m a bloglines subber to your site and have been reading it for ages online. I love reading about your crappy jobs. I love the lefty-leaning tendencies (which are probably borne out of the crappy jobs). I love that shit. I wonder what makes you tick. What makes me different from you. What holds you back from success. Keep on blogging fella… And keep on KEEPING IT REAL!
Your blog is John Peel, not Vernon Kay. It isn’t about popular appeal but about thoughtful, heartfelt interest in the alternative to the mainstream, because the alternative will become mainstream in a little while – once it’s had its interesting bits shorn off – and for now it’s a damn sight more interesting even though it’s in the margins. So it’s about second guessing the future, and working out where the past went right or wrong.
And I would suggest your interest in the world of the web is about piecing together the disparate strands of web development and comprehending its potential to make something marvellously creative, expressive, unique, remarkable, thought-provoking, rather than using it to build utility housing, which millions might live in but which no one could ever really love. It’s Grand Designs rather than House Doctor, it’s The Guardian rather than The Sun. It’s where we come to learn something, rather than where we go to have our prejudices confirmed.
On the subject of small personal revelations it just occured to me that ZEN and CAT both have three letters…and that this is not simple coincidence. They say that ‘when the student is ready the teacher appears’, well i’m going to start studying my CAT to learn about ZEN.
I have a very small personal blogosphere, mainly just due to time, but I come to your site, Pete, because I know I’ll always find something interesting – whether in your posts or your sidebar links. My own blog is just a ‘me news channel’ really, but you actually write .about. stuff. I don’t know much about the blogging world… it’s too big!
I only look at about half a dozen blogs and yours is own of them. I’m not sure being widely read is that important (I only told 3 people about my own year old blog), it’s about the quality of the writing and Smithy Lad put it very well, you are the john Peel of blogging.
Nah, I’m just a John Peel of blogging. There are countless numbers of us all plugging away in that spirit.
You’re on my A list too, Pete.
Oi! You could be keeping company with the likes of Steve Adrenaline or whatever his name is. Pavlina. You could be going on about ontologies and folksonomies and long tails with the Shirkeys of this world, having hundreds of people furl and spurl and tag your pages. For what? To get on the coat-tails of the latest concept? Is that what you want?
So how about this as a consolation: start making your own Blogebrity (Blogbriety?) machine. Something that will circulate names and links along a particular route. Kind of like this Musical Baton thing that’s going round. But better. With soul. Make it do something that means it has to come back here every once in a while. Haul in the catch.
It seems better to let the world come to you rather than chase after the world. What would happen if you did make the ‘A list’? I think that your blog would change because you would have a mind on what the audience wants, and you would be trying to deliver to maintain your position on the ‘A list’.
Be true to yourself Pete, write about what interests you and to hell with the ‘A list’! And maybe now is the time to put blogging aside and do something else. Has this blog become an way of doing something without doing something, if you know what I mean?
I’ll, soberly I might add, back you up on this.
I’ve been bloggin for about as long as you, and sometimes it does irk me that I’m not “better known”. Then other times I don’t care as that’s not why I do it.. but then I think “but THOSE guys and gals didn’t start it to be A-list… WTF?”
I’m not even sure what you DO to get on any sort of list, so I’m currently starting a campaign to win next year’s “best kept secret” bloggie – so if yer up for some competition? ;-)
Lists?! ho ho ho.
who compiles these things? we seem to be inundated with lists and league tables – half the time the subjects aren’t even in a competitive field, anyway! what a complete turn-off…
Hey, don’t dis the list makers! The internet would be a sorry place without them!
For what it’s worth, I like your site. I drop in occasionally from my Technorati referers and always find something interesting.
Oh, and pay no attention to Matt. He’s sleep-deprived from his new baby. :)
”The internet would be a sorry place without them.”
and I say, bollocks. (can I take it you’re a list compiler yourself? :D) maybe you could compile an essential list of internet lists and we’ll see who’s right.
all the world’s woes comes down to a human compulsion to classify, order and catalogue. it even gave us organised religion – it began with the 10 commandments and it all went downhill from there…