Mutability, Linkage. Why Weblogging is here to stay.

It will cover the world within ten years. Why? It is, as they say, the killer ap. Why?

Discourse and logic is not ever proof, only a audio-visual aid so you can see it for yourself, as we do. So I’m skipping the logic, for now, to appeal to your own experience.

Remember when surfing the internet was new? When was that?

Such a very short time ago! And you remember how interesting it was to go from link to link? Just looking for stuff to see?

And yet we don’t do that these days with the same sense of wonder. And when we do go searching, it’s focussed on a subject. Some of the findings are blah, some ugly, some commercial, some artsy, some off the subject, some incomprehensible. We find a few leads, and then we’re done.

And a site searched for, once found, how often do you return? And do you return every day?

Not usually. Which are the exceptions, the one you return daily or frequently? Mine are Slashdot, Tappistry.Org (daily), and BBC Science (now and then). What’s common to these? Mutability. They’re different each time visited. Wouldn’t go back if they were always the same. That’s why I never visit Microsoft; always piracy, never anything different.

But the experience of reading a weblog — no, make that the experience of reading some weblogs is different. Because of the eternal mutability, and because of the linkset commonly found. Because you discover one guy’s weblog (gal’s weblog) where you like the style or the content, and you click their links, and you find new sites, often interesting ones. Not always, but often enough to keep you clicking.

Because we’re not following a path by subject; we’re following a path of simpatico people and common interests. Today I found myself reading bio-engineering of viruses and aromatherapy. Not my thing. But it was made interesting by the interest of the human who was writing it. Transformation occurs.

Not a chain of subject, but a chain of people.

Suddenly, we are describing human nature, and we are describing the idea of what interests us interests our friends. And what interests your friends often interests you.

Mutability, and the linkage. That’s why weblogs are here to stay. And I haven’t got into writing a weblog yet.