Why Blogs Are Special: The Participative Call

Fred Wilson was kind enough to note this blog today in his Why Blogs Are Special post (btw, I'm not exactly back to my normal beat, nothing will ever be normal again). I agree with Fred and I wanted to bring attention to one facet of why I myself think blogging is special and distinct from traditional media.

Here's an example. Below is a January 3rd post titled "Perspective" from a knitting blog - repeat a knitting blog - called Purls Beyond Price.

What can I do? How can I make a difference? We count ourselves too small in this life. We watch world events and doubt that anything we say or do has an effect on them. We're wrong.

This morning I went to visit my favorite Yarn Harlot's blog expecting the usual daily dose of humor that I've come to expect from Stephanie's posts. Instead I found this. Humbled. Instant perspective.

Around the world an outpouring of compassion and generosity is heading toward victims of the tsunami in a place that most of us will never see except on a television screen. Stephanie's post was a call to action. And I answered. Not much, but what I can spare today.

At that time the total on her sidebar was hovering in the hundreds. In the afternoon I checked back and it was over $3000. The last thing before I shut off the computer for the night was to check again. $6404. Stunned. Agape. Moved.

What seems like a drop in the bucket when multiplied becomes something extraordinary. If you haven't already, please make a donation to MSF. It'll make a difference.

I advise you to read Yarn Harlot's complete call-to-action post which profiles an individual Médecins Sans Frontières/ Doctors Without Borders volunteer that she knows. Blogger Stephanie Pearl-McPhee frames the rallying effort in a compelling story to circulate among her close-knit (pun intended) community of readers and cleverly titles it: Knitters Without Borders. As of this writing, she's raised $29,250 (Canadian, I presume).

Perhaps what often gets missed in the press "versus" bloggers debate (I view them more as complementary) is that many people truly want to take a participatory role. Rather than "citizen's media", in my mind the term "participatory media" stands out as the descriptor for blogs.

Only sometimes are you given the slightest glimpse of the ripples from your effort. - John O'Donohue

I've also given my press bashing a bit more thought and for me, honestly, I would never have been satisfied with frankly anything the press wrote because I needed to express myself in my own words.

With or without tragedy, we want to give a voice to the swirling feelings we have, what we witness in our daily life, the lessons we've learned and ultimately share that to make an positive impact to those around us and the world at large. We want to reach out and touch others. And that is never a passive act.

What drives us in the world is our attempt to move from our loneliness to a place of relationship, connection, and loving. Our soul prints seek to reach out to the prints of other souls - to touch them, and to be touched by them in turn. The more our soul prints connect, the sharper their signatures, and the more sustained and expansive our souls will be. - Soul Prints, Marc Gafni

The full ripple effects of our actions are often invisible to us - and for any one individual it may seem minute compared to what CNN or the BBC can do. But we ourselves know that we participated - rather than sit back and watch the news pour over us - and that makes all the difference in the world.

Comments

[Nathania]

Dear Evelyn,

Thank you for the mention of my blog in your post. It's gratifying to know that my efforts, which seem so paltry and insignificant, have an impact. It proves the point I was trying to make. We never truly know what effect our words and actions have. Our sphere of influence is so much greater than we can conceive of. Would that we all, for even a split second, could have universal perspective. What a challenge to our collective narcissism that would be.

I love that you're reading Ken Wilber. Have you read any A. H. Almaas? If you like Wilber I think you'd appreciate his work as well.

[Laurie]

I believe the Knitters Without Borders total reflects both Canadian and American dollars, so it's not, perhaps, exact--but it is inspiring.

The knit bloggers, as you may have noticed, are about a lot more than knitting more often than not.

[Stephanie]

Many thanks for the mention of Knitters Without Borders. I appreciate the careful thought and writing.
(For the record, the total is in CAD, but there may be some of it in USD, since not everyone thinks to tell me their currency.)

[Idetrorce]

very interesting, but I don't agree with you
Idetrorce