Weblogs Will Save The World

“The fundamental principle behind the Web was that once someone somewhere made available a document, database, graphic, sound, video, or screen at some stage in an interactive dialogue, it should be accessible (subject to authorization, of course) by anyone, with any type of computer, in any country. And it should be possible to make a reference – a link – to that thing, so that others could find it.”
- Tim Berners-Lee: “Weaving the Web” - 1999

History
When Tim Berners-Lee (TBL) created the Web he wanted the content to be instantly and equally available to everyone and he also wanted everyone to be able to link to that content without restrictions. This vision of the Web is now a reality and it has manifested itself in ways that TBL never imagined.

The most important change caused by the realization of TBL’s vision was wresting monopoly control of content from the hands of the Gatekeepers*. For centuries (since the printing press at least) content and its distribution had been controlled by the rich and the powerful. Yet, in just a few short years, the Web had removed much of that control and put a lot of the responsibility for content into the hands of the masses. This was one of the sexiest features of the non-commerce* side of the Web and is, in part, what drove the wild success and expansion of the Web during those early years.

However, even though the Web provided content to “anyone, in any country,” it was still incomplete. Browsers, HTML and multimedia made it easy for the masses to receive compelling content from a variety of sources but it was not so easy for those same masses to produce content. While creating and publishing content to the Web had become infinitely simpler and cheaper than similar pre-Web methods, limitations remained that often prohibited those lacking the aptitude or skills from creating and distributing content.

A prime example is the “Home Page*” craze of the late 1990s. Millions of people created free home pages and had virtually no idea how to maintain, manage or present their content and the result was a giant graveyard of poorly designed Web sites with stale content. The problem was that the masses did not have the time, energy or desire to master the skills required to create and distribute content. While most did have the desire to share personal content, they did not have the motivation to invest the personal resources that a Web site demanded. The costs, while still lower than pre-Web costs, were still too high (or at least perceived to be too high) for the average Joe to realistically consider becoming an active content creator and publisher.

Think of the Telegraph. That technology revolutionized communication. It was fast, essentially free and easy to use – providing you learned Morse Code. Now imagine installing a Telegraph line in every home in America during the Nineteenth Century. In this scenario there would be many who would sit down and learn how to use those dots and dashes and subsequently utilize that knowledge to communicate with others. Yet, there would also be many, many more who didn’t want to spend the time learning Morse Code and would decide to wait a few years for the telephone. Those who opted for ignorance had just as much, if not more, to say as the masters of Morse Code, but for whatever reason, didn’t feel the same compulsion to master a new technology. This is an obviously flawed example but the point should remain clear, the Telephone was much easier to use than the Telegraph.

To put this in the context of blogs we can say that blogs are the modern day telephones. Or, to use a more appropriate comparison, blogs are the Browsers of Web publishing.

The Impact of Blogs
Blogs have made the creation and publication of content as simple as browsing the Web. Blogging tools have removed virtually all the technical barriers that previously prohibited publication by the masses. Now, everyone with something to say or share can do so without needing to learn new skills.

Giving the power of publication to the masses signals the end of the Gatekeepers. There are no more gates to keep when everyone on the planet can publish to everyone else. The paradigm has shifted. Now individuals can run their own mini-Publishing Empires and this has the former Gatekeepers wringing their hands and trying to figure out their role within this new paradigm.

Within this emerging landscape a debate is raging among bloggers, technologists, former Gatekeepers and self-proclaimed pundits about the true impact of blogs. Many argue that blogs are merely a passing fad while others believe that blogs will soon replace much of traditional media methods. The truth is probably somewhere in between the extremes but it is interesting that blogs share some characteristics with the Open Source and Peer-to-Peer movements.
Blogs are:

• Decentralized
• Driven by community rather than profit
• Often subversive to existing power structures
• Unmanaged and often unmanageable

It is those very characteristics that make the future of blogging so difficult to predict and the impact so hard to measure. Yet, while this debate rages on, a very significant aspect of blogging is being entirely overlooked. That aspect is not how blogs are affecting the Web or media as a whole but how blogs affect the individual.

Blogs And You
Prior to blogs, content basically flowed one way in relation to the individual. Content was created and distributed by the few and then funneled down to the individual for consumption. While methods existed for individuals to distribute content, those methods were primarily direct distribution through email, letters, telephone or group distribution with a newsgroup or bulletin board. Mass publication and distribution wasn’t possible for the masses and so individuals passively absorbed content. It flowed in one direction. (see Figure A).

Figure A

The funnel effect is basically how humankind has received content throughout history. The Web, while vastly increasing the amount of information available (and making it affordable), did little to modify the funnel. The result is that the individual remained a consumer of content without acquiring any real method to become a content producer. Blogs have changed that model.

Now the funnel flows in both directions. A funnel and an inverted funnel. The consumer is now a distributor (see Figure B). Blogs enable individuals to compete and participate in content creation and distribution and that participation is having a profound effect.

Figure B

There are four specific ways that blogs are causing change among the masses.

1. Activism
Media consumption has traditionally been a passive event. While each medium requires varying degrees of attention and concentration, very few require active participation. Reading a book demands thinking and concentration but the act of reading very rarely motivates the reader to write his own book. And, for the few who do receive that authorial inspiration, many obstacles stand between a finished book and publication. The passive nature of traditional media consumption may be by design or it may be due to circumstances but the reality is that blogs DO NOT ENCOURAGE passive behavior. In fact, blogs are the polar opposite of passive media consumption. Blogs encourage people to publish their content for the world. By definition this is an activity and blogging encourages this activity.

Contrast a habitual television viewer, aka couch potato, with a blogger. The couch potato watches programming and maybe talks about what he saw at the office water cooler. The blogger may watch a similar show or possibly read something interesting on the Web and blogs about it for the entire world to read. Additionally, the content that the blogger published could quite possibly be someone's media consumption tomorrow and maybe inspire posts by other bloggers.

The point isn't that bloggers will change the world but that blogging is an activity and getting involved affects people in many positive ways. Additionally, by blogging, the participants internalize the idea, inspiration or issue that was published. The result of this internalization a sense of "ownership" because personal time and energy was invested in the blog post.

2. Audience
Knowing that people (many or few) consume your content (read your blog) causes a sense of responsibility (to varying degrees). It is similar to an actor or a journalist discovering that people admire or enjoy their work and instantly receive an additional motivation to do their very best. Not everyone in life knows what it's like to have an audience but blogs are changing that and soon, everyone who chooses to will have an audience. It will be a decision of choice instead of circumstance.

3. Votes
Links are votes. Commenting about a topic is a vote. Bloggers are trading in votes. With search engines like Google and services like Technorati, Daypop and Blogdex, every blogger who adds a link or bitches about a movie, enters a vote for that particular topic or Web site. The more bloggers that link or comment, the more important that topic becomes and the more visible it is to the rest of the world. The more visible the topic becomes, the more it will be talked about and the cycle will continue.

That is only one example of how linking and commenting on a topic can register a vote of support or condemnation. Without a blog (or a Web site) it is impossible for an individual to have anything close to that type of impact on a particular topic. Empowering individuals with the ability to actually make a difference with something he or she cares about is a powerful thing. Be careful with those links.

4. Lens
Because bloggers have a means to publish anything to a global audience they begin to view the world around them through a blogging lens. Everyday events suddenly become potential blog posts. An awareness develops that didn't previously exist. An otherwise ordinary individual is now seeing things in her personal experiences as possible content for a global publication.

Journalists learn to view life through the lens of “the story.” Artists learn to perceive the world as inspiration for their next masterpiece. Musicians learn to gobble up sounds and experiences as fuel for their next platinum record. Mathematicians learn to see numerical patterns in nature and are motivated to develop Nobel-winning equations. And now bloggers are learning to view everything around them as inspiration for their blog.

Optimism
Maybe all of this optimism about blogs is unwarranted. I've often doubted my personal feelings about the role blogs will play in the future of the Web and modern society. Maybe they will fade into oblivion to be shelved next to the Cue Cat and the <blink> tag. I really don't know. I'm not a futurist. I just know what I see and what I observe is a continued lowering of technological barriers that previously prevented the masses from participating in media creation.

I have a friend who mixes his own audio on his computer. I have another friend who is making an "indie" film on a DigiCam. I know someone else who makes beautiful art with an old digital camera and some editing software. There is a long list of people doing things that weren't possible a couple of decades ago. The Gatekeepers really are dead and what is rising up out of that vacuum may be blogs or something like them.

As those obstacles disappear people will begin to change. How will they change? I don't know. But I think that history shows us that the change is probably a continuation of empowering the people with the skills and tools that were once held by only a few. We, the masses, are keeping our own gates and I'd like to think blogs are helping us do that, even a little.

- By Eric Janssen

///