I have one goal that reflects the multiple things I want to achieve with this blog: it’s to establish a long term relationship with my readers. There are multiple reasons for this, but ultimately, I consider this blog to be a way for me to voice my thoughts and would like to be doing so in a (virtual) room with intelligent people that can question my arguments. The value I get from blogging, ultimately, is to learn.
The way I keep track of this, is based not on how many people visit my blog but how many people subscribe - a more consistent measure rather than the sporadic peaks and troughs of pageview traffic. If you are subscribing to my content by e-mail or through an RSS reader, that flags to me you believe the time spent consuming the content I generate is worthy of your attention over the long run. The more people that do that, the better validation I get that I am doing a good thing.
Which is why I am writing this, as it’s a way of setting your expectations of what I write about on this blog. For you to establish that relationship with me, you need to think I can give you value. So in the absence of reading my previous postings, here are a few points for you to consider if you think subscribing is worth your time.
- I call this a personal blog, but I talk about the world I see - not the events of my life . What I mean by that, is that I focus on discussing issues in the industry or even places I travel to - but I do it in a way that is more like a writer describing or analysing. Reading this blog may reveal things about my personality, but you will not know when I’ve bought a new shirt or upgraded to the latest blog software. I like to write about ideas; I seldom announce things about the activities in my life.
- I am passionate about the Internet . I’ve always loved writing, but as I experimented as a student at university, I realised the future was digital. My interest has always been about "information", but with the converging world of communications, information, and technology, it’s fair to say as I followed my interests in one area, I have now picked up interests in a lot of areas.
- My style is to make you - and me - think . I try to avoid writing about news, as there are plenty of other places you can get that from. Instead, what I focus on is analysis - a higher order type of thinking that requires the synthesis of other things. I would rather write less, but with higher quality.
- I am a co-founder of DataPortability. Apart from my travel writing and my industry analysis, I also write a lot about things regarding the DataPortability Project. Sometimes, I write the odd post to give recognition to people involved, but for the most part, I write about the broad-industry issues that face the Project. It’s important I state this, as I am conscious how annoying reading a blog is, when someone uses it as some type of soap box.
- I don’t know anything. If I ever write a post that sounds like I am an authority, don’t for a minute think I am trying to be an authority. I love being challenged, and the process of debating ideas is something I enjoy more than anything else. Socrates said that wisdom comes from the realisation you don’t know anything - why waste time trying to pretend you do, when that’s better spent learning and exploring more.
The blog in summary:
Focus: I write about other countries when I travel; I write about the Internet sector of the economy; and I write about issues surrounding DataPortability. With regards to the Internet sector, I have specific interests in online advertising, the implications of social computing services and the semantic web.
Frequency: I try at the minimum to write once a week, but this can fluctuate given my commitments. I rarely will write more than three posts a week; and I aim to not let a whole month pass by without posting something.
Style: I write in a conversational style, that is like me thinking out loud. The process of describing my arguments and analysis, is more important than the final outcome. I leave plenty of opportunities for people to question my views and I like to write my posts so that it gets you thinking and potentially, for you to engage with me so as to get me thinking even more.
As well as subscribing to this blog, you can also subscribe to my shared links. Effectively, these are things I randomly come across on the web that I bookmark. Usually I bookmark things for research purposes that are of general interest, so I’m not guaranteeing quality there! You can see the type of stuff I bookmark by looking at the far right column of this blog.
For those who use RSS, I can assume you don’t need any further help (people new to RSS: click on the orange icons on the far right). For others, here are forms you can use to subscribe.
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