Invisible effects of blogging

Though I am -a not very active- beginner, blogging does change my life (well, some aspects of it). I have this imaginary audience in the back of my mind since I started my blog. When I read a book or paper, I do this just a bit more reflective and I articulate my ideas a bit more elaborate than before. Nobody notices, as I do this while thinking for myself. These private reflections and articulations feel good and seem even useful to me. So far, in many instances I do not take the time to write down things in a post. Maybe some day, some of those ideas appear in my weblog, maybe not.

Experienced bloggers, do you recognize above? And do you know of other invisible effects of blogging?

Comments

[Dennis G. Jerz]

I know that feeling well, back from high school when I started keeping a journal. My freshman English teacher gave us a homework assignment writing a journal entry... I still remember the date, Feb 3, 1983. I would wait for two to six weeks to pass, and then write a short story based on some event. Nothing momentous really happened to me, but I did manage to write quite a lot about growing up. Whenever I felt teen angst affecting me too seriously -- like the time four or five jocks dared me to step outside for a fight -- I would tell myself, "This will make a good journal entry when you get through it." So I always had an analytical part of my brain watching, observing, and commenting. The only audience I thought of was my future self, and particularly my future self trying to deal with teenaged children. But I imagine the immediacy of the weblog audience might intensify that kind of feeling.

A thought-provoking question.

[Olaf Brugman]

Hi Janine, my experience is that the invisible effects of blogging become more and more visible as time and blogging activity goes by. Blogging helps to structure your thoughts, to stay in touch with KM conversations going on in the internet, and the blog will lead to many reactions from minds alike, giving you new ideas, criticism to chew on, and new contacts in the KM field. I have linked my KM blog to yours ;). Best regards, Olaf (KM professional working in the Netherlands)

[Oliver Wrede]

Hello Janine, I think you hit the spot on what weblogging can change: the role of authorship and the establishment of new relations ("which in return shape us"; McLuhan about media) is what weblogs fascinate many people. In philosophical perspective I think the principe of the "hermeneutic cycle" is a good concept to describe what is happening as "invisible effect". But to some degree this is true for any kind of communication which seeks insight. Weblogs are just a very exposed way of doing that.