5/31/2005
Aggregation Aggravation
Jeneane has a post that’s really on point, as always about aggregator reading. I’ve struggled with this for quite a while and had a couple thoughts to add.
For me, the foray into aggregators led to Bloglines. In part because I really didn’t like any of the PC-based readers. I just don’t like the feel of any still today. But Bloglines allowed easy reading to keep up using WiFi on my Palm. That was the start. Then it became easier to subscribe, and my reading blended over to when I was at the computer too. It wasn’t just a PDA tool this aggregator reading.
Jeneane’s thoughts are italicized here, and mine follow underneath.
1) I don’t feel like I’m visiting someone’s virtual house anymore–instead, I feel like they’re writing a newspaper that some paper boy slaps on my doorstep.
I’ve noticed every blog site looks alike. They all carry the same look and feel. When Shelley changes her look, I have to consciously look at her web page to see the new face. Blogs have been all lowered to the aggregator common denominator look and feel. I don’t like that.
2) I’ve moved from community member to consumer. The difference? There is a wanting and an expectation now, not a simple gladness to see that somebody’s at home when I stop by.
I find much the same. I used to visit people to see what they had to say. Now voices fall silent and I don’t notice the absence as readily. Being one of the oft silent voices myself, it makes me feel less connected.
3) I am no longer surprised by surprises. Usually there are two or three people who toss the same “big story” at me in the space of three or four clicks.
I find I drop people from my aggregator because the “me too” repetitive nature of the same thing is irritating. But as a result, I often miss the nuance of the second, third or fourth commentary. It’s easier to skip someone’s thoughts on something you’ve already seen in the aggregator.
4) My reading has become more linear; there is top-to-bottom structure to my aggregator–not the in, among, and bewteen of hypertext connections among story pieces.
I find I’ve categorized my reads into sections. The ones I really read and those who take space and I read when I have time and feel like it, but it’s also very linear.
5) The childlike joy of following breadcrumbs is lost lost in favor of having the hubby pick up a loaf of bread from the store.
There are so few treasures. It’s more like having the newspaper delivered and glancing and headlines to see what’s worth reading.
6) I have to work harder to find new voices. I find myself reading voices that loop.
I find this to be thw hardest thing. New voices rarely show up in an aggregator. Occasionally someone’s mentioned in a post, but most blog links are circular in nature as bloggers pat oen another on the back. I used to consciously explore blogrolls looking for new voices. That’s more of an effort now.
7) I am never satisfied because I didn’t get to dig the ditch myself. There’s something about putting forth an effort before enjoying someone else’s work that is fulfilling.
I find that the people I read and feel a kindship with, those that we’d call close friends online, are the ones I zealously still go visit. Some folks I read I never see their web site at all. I don’t feel connected to them.
I want to stop, but I can’t. It’s too efficient. It saves me too much time.
Yes, in the interest of convenience, our lazy, greedy tendencies drive us, and we sacrifice quality for quantity. This hurts us all.
There’s another aspect that I find frustrating. Comments don’t exist in aggregators for the most part. Most bloggers comments aren’t included in the feed. And if I want to comment, I do so like this, but linking someone’s post and adding my two cents. That feels impersonal. When I comment on Jeneanse blog, I’m part of that little group of friends who laugh and share the inside joke. When I do it here, via a link, it’s more of a debate - point and counterpoint. It’s less personal. It’s less of community and more a community of interest. Just less personal.
I think these are some of the factors that have led me away from blogging as actively as I have in the past. It’s becoming less a close knit community of friends and more a group of people who share overlapping interest, whose paths cross on occasion.
We were family. Then we were friends. More and more we become colleagues who keep in touch. The gap widens and the whole mechanism of advancing technology lets us share and debate ideas while we become less and less personally vested in our relationships.
Filed by Ken at 5:25 pm under General
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