I sat down to write this blog post about another seminar that I attended at the Games in Education earlier this summer. The topic of that seminar shall be set aside for a moment, so that I can put down some thoughts about this tangled web of connectivity that we call the blogosphere.
It started innocently enough. I pulled out one of my sketchbooks and began reviewing my notes (loading them into my brain's RAM). Some of my insights from the original seminar piqued my interest once again. There was a name of an author -- and his book. I'm still very interested in checking out this book. So I do an internet search. Find his website. A very simple website. His book now has a second addition. The color graphic of the book cover fills my screen. A few links on places to buy this book. And two or three reminders to "click the box" at the bottom of the screen to Email the author regarding his Books, Seminars and Consulting Services.
He is just trying to make a buck, like the rest of us!
I'd been digging around online this evening, following threads from one game design theorist to another. The lawlessness of these blogs has left me physically dizzy and a bit put off. Any specialized field probably has everyone linking to everyone else's blog. It can feel intimidating. Like you've just entered a room where everyone knows everyone else.
I'm very interested in the connections that reading blogs and writing blogs can offer. Yet I can't help but wonder how these technological tools will best suit me. Will blogging support my existing correspondences with people... or will I begin to interact with people in a whole new way; perhaps building relationships that are predominantly based around computerized interaction?
Last week, I attended a story-based game night at a local book and game store. I played some Baron Munchausen game with 5 strangers. It was really fun. Everyone pretended to be an arrogant 17th century baron. You turned to the person on your left and made up some crazy statement about one their adventures... and they picked up the thread and tried to create the BEST story based on the starting point you gave them. Each player had a stack of coins equal to the number of players at the table. (Six in this case, since there were six of us). At any time, a player could pay the storyteller a coin... and interject an outlandish comment in an attempt to de-rail the storyteller's tale.
Such as, "But Baron! Isn't this the time that you slipped on a threadbare rug and impaled yourself on your dinner fork?
The storyteller could accept the coin... and weave the comment into their grand tale. Or give them back the offered coin PLUS a coin of his or her own. At the end of the game, after everyone had told a 4-5 minute story, each player votes with their remaining coins. You simply give your entire of stack of coins to the Baron who you thought gave the very best story.
Anyway, reading through some people's blogs reminded me a bit of this Baron Munchausen game. Just like real life, some people just go on and on and brag about their accomplishments.
It's tough because their is such a fine line between self promotion and vanity.
Blogging is such an *unnatural* way to talk about yourself. First off: it's written. Second: you often don't know who your reader is in the first place. How do you keep what you say appropriate and real?
Like anything, I am simply going to take this one step at a time. Limit my deep-sea diving of the blogosphere to a finite amount of time per sitting, focusing on a short list of characters who I've met or wish to meet. It is so easy to get overwhelmed. And / or distracted.
It all comes down to good people, really. And if my spider sense starts to tingle when a blog seems to have crossed the line into egotism, well then, I suppose I don't need to read any further. Unless I'm in the mood for another one of the Baron's outlandish tales!
