Blogs

I have a question blog

By Keith McGavern posted 10-20-2011 17:48

  
To any and all,

Thus far, I have seen little response to the blogs that have been initiated on my.ptg.org . Is there anyone that can offer the advantage of posting a blog versus the discussion groups or other venues? [edited 10/21/11][edited 10/25/11]

Sincerely, Keith McGavern
19 comments
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https://my.ptg.org/blogs/keith-mcgavern/2011/10/20/i-have-a-question-blog

Comments

Keith McGavern
10-29-2011 13:58

I have since decided leaving the original blog creation post as it was originally created as is, and later, do all modifications of that original entry as further thoughts/consideration in the Add a Comment arena. This allows the truth of the original blog to remain as is, and at the same time, allows further considerations/expansions to be dealt with as it becomes relevant. My take, of course.

Keith McGavern
10-29-2011 13:38

I found one very definite thing that I find the blog area on the my.ptg.org disconcerting, and this includes the blog I started as well. It reminds me of what I recall as "double-speak" from the book by George Orwell, 1984. Dialog here is completely transmutable at any given time. I quote the Ministry of Truth from that very publication:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four#Censorship
This is just an observation today by me, and does not endorse anyone's position. I find the ultimate route is to own up to one's misleadings. It goes so much easier on the soul. Best to all in sorting it out.

Keith McGavern
10-25-2011 10:13

fwiw dept: I decided to do a tad more editing on the original blog question, then later decided it was fine the way it was. So a recommendation for future blog entries, copy and paste the original text somewhere else in case you want to restore it to its originality. Otherwise, it is lost.

Fred Sturm
10-24-2011 18:02

One other feature of the blog function compared to a post to a discussion: not only can the blogger edit or remove the blog, each person commenting can remove his comment(s), should he care to, by clicking on the red X. I guess that is an edit box next to the X, so the comment can also be edited. So it isn't just automatically archived as it came in, it is more fluid, malleable.

Fred Sturm
10-24-2011 17:54

The preference for receiving comments by email is a blanket setting, not just for blogs. There is a place for comments on library items, so I guess it would apply to those, too. It is under Privacy Settings, MyProfile. I haven't checked that box, and don't know how or if it works, just assume that is what it does. Similar to FaceBook, choosing to get an email notification of various things, or not.

Keith McGavern
10-22-2011 17:27

Larry, I see where there is a rating of four stars, most likely yours, but it really doesn't indicate who gave it or what the rating necessarily means at my end. Also, it seems a person can unrate their own blog as well as rate it, and in doing so, it averages with any other rating previously given.

Larry Messerly
10-22-2011 17:05

I've just given you a rating, aren't you happy! Can you give yourself a rating?

Keith McGavern
10-21-2011 20:15

Great information, Fred, Jim. On the "preference to get an email", I don't see anywhere that offers that feature here in the blog zone. Do you know of a place? I just edited the original blog entry, and it showed some options, but none indicated an email preference. [edited 10/22/11]

Jim Moy
10-21-2011 19:46

Keith, I can't tell whether something has been thumb-upped or not. It tells me whether *I* have clicked one, but not whether someone else has. Hmm...

Fred Sturm
10-21-2011 17:17

I'll note that, in privacy settings, you can set a preference to get an email when someone comments (I guess that applies to blogs and library entries). So then you don't have to keep going back to the blog to see whether someone has commented.

Fred Sturm
10-21-2011 17:14

Just from the point of view of usefulness, I can see the possibility of doing a blog to present a particular, fairly detailed and well composed account of some topic, not for discussion so much as for publication. This distinguishes it from posting to a discussion list. I have considered, for instance, creating a blog dealing with the Bradley Lehman "Bach" temperament in some detail, a little more than I did in a post a while back. It becomes a searchable item, and thus becomes part of the public discourse/record, but as a stand alone statement rather than part of a conversation. Most blogs, though, are like tweets and facebook entries, clutter and noise in a cluttered and noisy world.

Keith McGavern
10-21-2011 13:53

Question, Jim or Phil: When I click the "like" link, do you all see it at your end that I liked what you said? Just realized, neither one of you may ever check back to respond to my question ... what a hoot ...

Jim Moy
10-21-2011 10:54

If you thought blogging was mostly banal tripe, wait until they add a Tweet feature!

Keith McGavern
10-21-2011 09:13

omg ... I am having a "blogging" conversation with myself ...

Keith McGavern
10-21-2011 09:05

Another apparent feature of a blog is the ability to delete one's Add a comment, or even delete an entire blog, like I just did with the duplication of "I have a question blog". Very interesting. What power ... what control ... ha

Keith McGavern
10-21-2011 08:28

This came to me when using a blog on my.ptg.org. In order to see if anyone responds, or more correctly, adds a comment, a person has to go into the blog itself, as opposed to watching responses show up in a Discussion group. Even as I am entering this message, it seems this is more of a think tank or a diary where I am actually receiving feedback from others while I am airing this with myself. Kind of a weird moment.

Jim Moy
10-21-2011 02:16

If you push the Public button when you publish your blog entry, then your stuff is out on the Internet. Type "question blog mcgavern site:ptg.org" into Google. Ten years ago you would've said holy-crap! Blogs seem to adhere to the 90%-is-junk rule pretty well. But it's turning journalism and media upside-down the same way mp3's and iPods did the recording industry, and iPhone did the cell phone industry. Talking Points Memo took down Alberto Gonzales, and the Drudge Report outed Lewinsky, both bloggers. Of course, my Dad blogs and I think I'm his only reader.

Keith McGavern
10-21-2011 00:05

I have discovered one very useful feature of this blog concept though, thanks to some earlier blogs that have been created. You can correct spelling errors in and/or reword what you originally say. With posts to the Discussion groups, there is no editing feature that I have yet to discover.

Phil Bondi
10-20-2011 23:03

I'm with you. I never understood blogs.
Seems to be a nice tool for narcissists.