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rfmcdonaldOver at Marginal Revolution, Tyler Cowen wonders if blogging can change you life, inspired by the recent post of blogger Ben Casnocha.
Something like this topic came up two years ago, in relation to speculation about whether or not blogging distracts people from real-life social activities. The consensus in the comments to that post of mine appeared to be that blogging played a powerful role in creating communities which could manifest themselves in real time. Certainly that's my experience of this enterprise: Talking about this very issue with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wintermuted two years ago, I missed a phone call from sandor_baci, both of them people I've gotten to know via the Internet. It stands to figure that these communities might in fact be capable of encouraging this sort of positive-feedback loop; it also stands to remember Richard Cory.
My theory is that when you know in advance you're going to blog something, it changes the actual experience, and you're inclined to try to make it a positive one so you can write about it positively. For example, I recently had a great solo dinner in Rome. I had a terrific companion (newspaper) and good food. About 1/4 of the way through this thought crossed my mind: "This is an awesome meal. I'm going to blog it." I did. I was committed in my mind to making it a positive night overall, and it did end up that way. In sum: when I know I'm going to blog an experience, I'm committed to making it a positive experience, and since intention and reaction mostly define the quality of an experience, it usually turns out positive. True, I could always commit to having positive days each day, but knowing I will blog something introduces a weird form of "public accountability."
Something like this topic came up two years ago, in relation to speculation about whether or not blogging distracts people from real-life social activities. The consensus in the comments to that post of mine appeared to be that blogging played a powerful role in creating communities which could manifest themselves in real time. Certainly that's my experience of this enterprise: Talking about this very issue with
wintermuted two years ago, I missed a phone call from sandor_baci, both of them people I've gotten to know via the Internet. It stands to figure that these communities might in fact be capable of encouraging this sort of positive-feedback loop; it also stands to remember Richard Cory.
