CAP-centric blogs dying?

[RiverAux]

Apparently swivelchairpatrol is gone        

[Smithsonia]

MY COMMENT IS NOT SPECIFIC TO CAP BLOGS -- But blogs/discussion boards/websites in general.
Perhaps the novelty is wearing off. Perhaps we've decided that carrying on a conversation can better be done in person. I can think of a million reasons. BUT, let me suggest another one. Coming up with a smart topics and smarter answers, and in this I don't mean smart-aleck response, is a difficult thing to do -- day in and day out. Newspaper columnist use the analogy that anybody can be smart for an hour... writing a column everyday is the difference between a professional writer and a reader. I see lot's of people unplugging from their 24/7 let the world in on my consciousness all the time -- life.

Let me ask you this -- "Have you ever heard anyone on a cell phone have an intellectually engaged and deeply enlightened conversation?" I've had those on my land line phone. I've had those conversations in person. I can't think of a cell phone call that was any more than a convenience. I wonder if the same thing is true about the blogosphere. Is the common collective consciousness really that smart, not smart-aleck.

Maybe that has something to do with many blogs going to Dodo-Bird-Land. Dissatisfaction. The virtual world has got to grow up some time and become a tool and more than a distraction. I realize the irony of posing this argument in this setting. BUT, life is full of ironies and dissatisfying and unenlightened conversation.

Because of dissatisfaction in specific blogs... consolidation of blogs will continue, just like radio and TV. When was the last time they canceled your favorite TV show. Mine was West Wing -- and 2 years ago.   

With regards;
ED OBRIEN

[Eclipse]

Let me ask you this -- "Have you ever heard anyone on a cell phone have an intellectually engaged and deeply enlightened conversation?" I've had those on my land line phone. I've had those conversations in person. I can't think of a cell phone call that was any more than a convenience.

Since my cel phone is the only one I >EVER< use (with the exception of SKYPE), the answer is yes.

Let me check...yes...its 2008.  An ever increasing number of people >only< have a cel phone, with the percentage increasing as their mean age decreases.

Taking out the issue of discussion forums, the issue with websites in general is that content is king.

The wheel already exists, and while admittedly the "everything that can be invented already already has..."  mentality is somewhat self-fulfilling, its also basically true.

On a national scale, CAPTalk fills the need for discussion and gossip for adults, Cadetstuff does it for cadets.
Anything else will simply be duplication of effort, with the same people saying the same thing, in a lot of cases cutting and pasting text from one site to another, which is pretty pointless.

The place where blogs can have an impact is with localized information specific to a unit, etc., but that's not nearly as "cool" as something that gets a hundred hits a day (because of Google spiders).

[Smithsonia]

Eclipse;
Perhaps you should reread my question. Popular (your response), and convenience, and enlightenment are different values entirely. Thanks for your response though. Misreads are an addition to my point. No matter the fashion of the day, personal evaluation of things, trends, gadgets, ideas, concepts, etc... are best done on an individual basis. SO, like what you like. BUT your preference doesn't answer the question and popularity of your preference doesn't either. The question wasn't a survey.

Enlightenment has nothing to do with popularity. Well, I should say, "Popularity SHOULD have nothing to do with enlightenment."

By the by, content is NOT king any longer. In the new reality TV world and blogs/websites too... "performance" is. Meaning what price per blog, TV show, etc... provides what sized audience. That's not what this thread is about so I'll leave you to your own reading on the matter.
With regards;
ED OBRIEN

[Eclipse]

What I explained was that technology has more than moved forward, and the cel phone is no different than a landline in terms of how it is used, or the relative value of the conversations people have on them.

This notion that mobile phones somehow cheapen the conversation (vs., I suppose, making the effort to don a smoking jacket, pour a brandy, sit next to the fire and "CALL" someone, like this was 1962)

Content >is< king without it a site dies - no one will visit a site that does not contain relevant information.

This is the reason that so many CAP-centric sites die quickly.  Someone with an ax to grind or "new spin" decides to light up their AOL account and make the "most awesome CAP site ever", then realizes after the first week that they have nothing new/different to say, or that their spin on things is so far from the mainstream no one cares.

The web is democratic, but it is also brutally honest.

[Smithsonia]

Eclipse;
Well, I suppose my cell service is inferior. BUT, I don't hear the cues vocally that enhance conversation. Mostly, I'm asking, if someone "can hear me". Hold on. "Is that you?"I notice the same for others. Your mileage may vary.

After spending years providing content on a professional basis for networks (I'm a writer -and I still do the work, for a bit... any way) I'll stand by my content "performance" comment. For instance, you can't take an hour to research every post and two hours to write it. Neither can I. So we're making the same evaluation even here and today. Expediency and quality are difficult to reconcile. In TV today... they've ended attempting this reconciliation. They're just riding the tired and dying goodwill of the audience into the sunset. Too bad... it was a great gig.
All the best;
ED O'BRIEN

[Eclipse]

It might be time to trade in the bag phone for something made this century.  Cell service has its "issues", but the vast majority have the same or better quality than landlines. 

Most of my issues are caused by trying to have extended conversations while walking into the wind on a busy street - the same as standing on your deck in the wind on your land line.

I will grant you that the universe has been "TMZ'ed" to death, but you have to have "something", even if its rehashed, half-truths.

[Smithsonia]

Eclipse;
I want the cell phone Jack Bauer uses on "24". The thing works in subbasements, planes, bank vaults, and shootouts.
The issue with cell phones isn't technological. It also isn't generational. It is expectational. I expect conversations to be of high quality. Therefore, my friends... or at least the friends I'm speaking in this case all hate cell phones. You can always tell a writer on deadline. He always puts-off the outgoing calls but takes incoming calls. A writer... who is actually writing, I mean in the writers heat of mania writing... turns his cell off. A writer on vacation, doesn't bring a cell. It's a business tool only. Writer's are a breed apart. We must be. It's our job.
Peace and quiet with fewer interruptions, does me fine. If we could plug our brains directly into each other, I'd say no thanks. You're not invited in there. It's mine and it's me. I imagine you'd feel similarly. Well that what 24/7 cell phones feels like to me. To much contact, call you back later.

Good luck always;
ED OBRIEN

[MIKE]

Drifting.

[shorning]

Eclipse;
I want the cell phone Jack Bauer uses on "24". The thing works in subbasements, planes, bank vaults, and shootouts.
The issue with cell phones isn't technological. It also isn't generational. It is expectational. I expect conversations to be of high quality. Therefore, my friends... or at least the friends I'm speaking in this case all hate cell phones. You can always tell a writer on deadline. He always puts-off the outgoing calls but takes incoming calls. A writer... who is actually writing, I mean in the writers heat of mania writing... turns his cell off. A writer on vacation, doesn't bring a cell. It's a business tool only. Writer's are a breed apart. We must be. It's our job.
Peace and quiet with fewer interruptions, does me fine. If we could plug our brains directly into each other, I'd say no thanks. You're not invited in there. It's mine and it's me. I imagine you'd feel similarly. Well that what 24/7 cell phones feels like to me. To much contact, call you back later.

I suspect your issue has nothing to do with cell phones...

[Smithsonia]

Shorning said- "I suspect your issue has nothing to do with cell phones..."
Ed O'Brien said:
Your point is completely lost on me. There was a point? Specificity and direction are better ways to ask a question or give an opinion. Insinuation means either a cowardly stance... or you can't think of a good way to say what you mean. Better luck next time. But, I'll stay away from arguing, drifting, and wish you all the best.
With regards;
ED OBRIEN

[isuhawkeye]

What does this have to to do with CAP based blogs losing content?

As a Blogger myself I do not know how you could keep a page up and running based solely on the subject of CAP. 

DATA, and his crew have done a phenomenal job keeping timely, material on their site.  Unfortunately when you are as narrowly focused as CAP blog are you end up being fed the dirt, and scandal of the organization, and you can only do that so many times before you get demoralized. 

As with any information outlet it is tough to keep a balance of material. 

Thanks for all of your hard work guys.  I know I enjoy your blogs.

[Smithsonia]

Question: CAP-centric Blogs dying? What does this have to do with this thread?
No personal disrespect intended in the following as I am a participant too.
Answer: We are experiencing death exampled inside this single thread:
1. A runaway discussion (drift)
2. Snide yet pointless insinuation and remarks
3. Confusion among readers
4. Lack of context (too short of answers) AND lack of gravity (long dissertations without point or purpose)
5. Bloggers hiding in anonymity.
6. Alternative or unexpressed yet obvious personal agendas.

There IS your answer. BUT, once again this has more to do with Blogs in general than CAP-centric blogs.
It is a maturation process. People have seen, written, and done enough blogging to want better than items 1-5. Social engagement on cell phones is imperfect due to poor quality and technical issues... the same is true in the blogosphere. We miss the social queueing system of life. We misread as much as we read. We infer what is never meant. We construe from our personal drama insults which do not exist or are intended. These are imperfections we tolerate when the experience blogging was novel but we grow tired of over time, when we expect more. That my take. Yours?
With regards;
ED OBRIEN

[isuhawkeye]

interesting perspective,

But how do you explain the continued de-evolution of culture and discussion.  With social networking as the bus of the latest media craze groups like Face book, Flicker, and myspace IM the communication that you love seems to be degrading more and more into short multi character tid bits.  If blogging as a phynominum is dying off it is certainly not a revolution back to a more literate, and structured culture. 

[Smithsonia]

Insert Quote
interesting perspective,

But how do you explain the continued de-evolution of culture and discussion.

texting is not a phone call. Blitzing off an email is not like writing a long well considered letter. Hi and bye, is not hi and how are you? Human communications has made us the most powerful animal on earth. After all, when the bears, lions, and humans all competed for the same food source -- it was communications and transmission of human intellect from generation to generation that eventually made us "superior." Communications made us what we are.

So, human discourse has made us what we are. Human discourse will make our future too. Separating the best from the glib. Supporting the smartest not the better marketed, most popular, richest, or charismatic  -- is important. The best and brightest among us are not necessarily the prettiest, tallest, or most fashionable, etc. Sturdy ideas that are tested and proven constantly contest the with distractions of the unusual and trendy.
Its a battle inside the brains we carry. It takes analytical time and quiet to sort it all out. I've got plenty of information. At a certain point -- I prefer knowledge and understanding. Someday, I'll even attempt wisdom. Choice is not the issue. Proper selection from the choices is. The same is true for eating healthy, spending money, who one marries, and which blog you attend.
With regards;
ED OBRIEN

PS -- I'm not sure we are devolving. Although it looks like it some days. But human existence is like the stock market. It goes up and down but the trend is generally up. At least, I hope so. 

[MIKE]

Smithsonia, check your PMs.  You has mail.

[dwb]

With social networking as the bus of the latest media craze groups like Face book, Flicker, and myspace IM the communication that you love seems to be degrading more and more into short multi character tid bits.

You said it yourself: it's a media craze.  A craze is not a trend.

What is Facebook being used for, really?  I would venture to say it's mostly superficial conversation.  I use Facebook to play Scrabble with my wife and track which books I want to read.

I'd like to think there is still a place for serious conversation and meaningful reading.  You won't find it on MySpace, but that shouldn't be the only place you're looking, either.