But in addition to exploring this for my own fun, my job as a technology coordinator for a school has given me the chance to create a couple of blogs for our staff. Those blogs have different areas of focus, providing opportunities to share and collaborate on research and other information. This seemed like a perfect solution for staff members who don't always have time to get together for professional development. But then I read this article with this comment:
Our bias toward groups is counterproductive. And the technology of ubiquitous connectedness is making the problem worse.Hmmm...technology is making us more reliant on group collaboration...and this is a bad thing? He continues with this comment:
As for the Internet and our newfound ability to tap into the masses, a more subtle form of havoc arises. Simply put, when you make it easy for everyone to put in his two cents, with little filtering or accountability, the scum tends to rise to the top.Scum? Improved communication leads to scum? Blogging won't save the world. It may not solve many problems at work. But can better connection really be a bad thing? I have to disagree with the article. There are a few jobs where you want someone to make a decision without stopping to chat. If I'm on the surgical table, I want a doctor with enough skill and confidence to do the right thing without having to call a meeting. But in many situations, I still believe that collaboration is a good thing. And as our jobs and our lives push us in directions that make face-to-face meetings more difficult, I have to appreciate a technology that makes it this easy to share.
And on a personal level, I really do like this. It may not make me a better person, but I am having fun. And that's a good thing!
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11 comments:
I think he's right, we should all stop blogging, all stop using technolgy and just sit in our little corners alone.
Life would be MUCH better then, wouldn't it??
Idjit
I find that by blogging, I pay more attention to what is going on in my real life. I'm mostly paying attention to find something interesting to blog about, but it does seem to be connecting me more to my real life, which is a good thing. I don't understand the people who blog and complain it is so much work. If it ever became something I felt I had to do, I would probably stop!
Yeah, Jazz, total isolation is so cool. LOL
And I'm with you RG, if it was work, I would stop. I find it fun and stimulating and just geeky enough to make me happy!
Sounds as if the dude has a problem. My experience after a year and a half plus of blogging is that this is not havoc, this is not ubiquitous connectedness. This is more like partitioned contolled chaos. We each migrate to those with similar interests as us, some who we can learn from, some who might learn from us, and together we all get a little bit stronger.
And we tend to partition off our little cliques, not in a closed way because the door is always open through which we welcome others. But there are many pockets of partitions, some overlapping, some totally divorced. And there are some places that rank with stepping in a cow pile accidentally. I've wandered into those, like we all probably have.
I have grown more aware and have broadened my horizons through the activity called blog. Can't be bad, except for those who use it to bad purpose.
A tech coordinator and a teacher?
Wow, looks like another blog to read.
Its hard to be a technology savy teacher sometimes.
Glad Meander led me this way
TV
I have to agreed with you, em. In gneral, I think collaboration is more often a plus than a minus. Technology and organizations are getting so complicated that it's really hard for one person to have all the information needed to make an informed decision. Speaking from experience, there's nothing worse than having a boss who doesn't fully understand the situation, but insists on making all the decisions.
Interesting post!
Blogging has changed my perspective on day-to-day life, in a good way. I'm more aware of the things going on around me and of how I want to write about them.
Blogging is definitely a good thing, and I think it can be a good thing in work environments as well.
I think blogs are great and finding blogs that are fun to read is a real thrill. I don't post that often, not every day, and I am not able to read daily, but I have my faves to stop in at and you are in that group!
Thank you cyndy! And sara. And the rest of you. I think the very dialogue we had here is exactly what makes this a unique and interesting forum!
I love blogging and the wonderful people I meet.
Truly, this is a good thing for folks...
I think he's just a little ticked that he writes for a magazine that routinely waters down issues of business and social importance so much that they read like slightly reformed comic strips.
Either that or he wishes he had a popular blog. And he doesn't. And he resent those of us who enjoy this nascent medium.
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