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Yesterday was the launch of Kinja, a weblog guide.
Nick Denton says:
"Some of the most prolific weblog writers, have been able to attract a following, but most weblogs remain undiscovered. Kinja will make it that little bit easier for interesting weblog writers, and their potential fans, to connect."
I absolutely applaud this idea. The whole point of my book/series (Never Threaten To Eat Your Co-Workers: Best of Blogs) was to address this. The issue isn't whether or not there is good writing in blogs, the issue is whether or not you can find it. As someone who personally has read over 15,000 blog entries in the past two years, I can attest to this. In fact, there were days researching my book that I would read 100-200 blog entries and not find a single good entry. It led me to do a guestimate that the web could see over 3,000,000,000 blog entries a year by 2005. And I'm sure I've low balled that number. The sheer volume of blogs and entries means the challenge Kinja faces is a tremendous one. As someone whose been thinking about this for two years, I really don't see how this will work over time, but I'm supportive of their cause.
"Kinja is a weblog portal, collecting news and commentary from some of the best sites on the web."
And there's the rub. Not every site is Hemingway, but every blog and blogger has a moment where one particular entry rises above the banality and shines as bright as the best published writer. I call this blisdom (blogger wisdom). I'll give you an example. Since starting my book project, I unfortunately see the world as a blog. Now my wife isn't a blogger, but she said something recently, and I immediately thought it would make a brilliant blog entry.
Wife: I just had the strangest dream. I was on a train...
Me: Coach or First Class?
Wife: Honey, I don't dream in coach.
While not every blog site may be "the best," each and every one of them has a moment where they crystalize life in a way that deeply affects you. That folks, is blisdom. A thesis in a fortune cookie.
Plus, what is banality to one is genius to another. When working on my book, we looked for ideas above all else. We paid no attention to site design, overall content, etc. We wanted to find blisdom. So I must say I'm curious as to how Kinja selects the "best sites."
Don't get me wrong, I am supportive of the idea of Kinja, because I've been struggling with the same issues for the past two years...but I certainly don't envy their monumental task. If you are intersted in how I handled some of these issues, look here.
Alan Graham
has a mission: enabling users to explore what's possible with straight talk and as little techno-babble as possible. When not working on his O'Reilly columns, you can find him doing R&D; for The Missing Manual: OS X, running errands for his wife, and working on the great American novel.
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