Joel Postman has written a insightful piece, which takes the blogging community to task for being ‘elitist’ (a virtual restricted membership club, with its own qualifications, rules and jargon) while purporting to be inclusive (hey come on, everybody join in the conversation and while we’re at it let’s all sing, ‘I think it’s so groovy now that people are finally gettin’ together’).
And it’s true, the PR/tech communications blog scene is a bit like an open-code-closed-culture with an underlying snob factor, where you’re either in or, as Joel says, too far out ‘in the hinterlands’ to get it. I remember when I first got started I felt overwhelmed by all the references till I learned the vocabulary and realized how small this world actually is.
I think that along with these in-crowd sentiments comes a mentality that combines equal doses of self-pity with self-aggrandizement. And this, in turn leads to in-fighting, petty feuds and hurt feelings.
Sometimes the blogosphere reminds me of country music…without the tune. It’s not a lot a lot of fun to listen to.
I say open the windows. Unlock the doors. Let some fresh air in. This is an amazing place to be. But we should try harder to speak in a language that anyone can understand.
Just imagine where (or how far) the conversation will take us.
Totally agree with you! I blog regularly and I still feel like an outsider! I go to many social media conferences and those open forum internet discussions and it feels like David Koresh or Jim Jones should be leading the sessions. The sessions are not built around business practices, but rather geek speak and “look how cool I am asking a provocative social media question.” Ugh. Too cult like for me. I am not going to any of them this year until they get regular business folks talking about what this social media wave means for our business. Good post!