A Blog Falling In The Woods
Alright, let’s start with the obvious. I’m not expecting a lot of readers. I’m sure I’d love to be the next Matthew Yglesias, but not enough to work on cultivating an audience. I’m thinking a dozen, tops.
So then, what is the point? I mean, why not keep a private journal or spend my time fighting crime or something useful? Is a blog a blog if it doesn’t have any readers?
I think so, because the potential of interaction exists. Unlike a personal log, I’m displaying this content for anyone to read. And even if very few people actually discover it, that potentiality carries the same risk/reward of public exposure.
True, I may reasonably expect that content posted in a more public forum will attract more scrutiny, but even there it is logically possible, however improbable, that my writing will never be discovered. Likewise, even if I expect that no one will read this, it is logically possible that someone beyond the standard porn-spammer will encounter this and meet it with a profound “meh.” This forum is public in principle, so it is a blog in practice.
Bored yet?
