The Middle

Well, the Greensboro blogging engine just won't stop. In this article, PressThink: Greensboro Newspaper Goes Open Source: A Follow Up, Jay Rosen completely missed the point of my comments to the original Greensboro Fiasco.

First he quotes me as saying:

To me, tech bloggers are vastly more important than locals to the foundation of any 'blogosphere'. That's just a matter of personal opinion and not going to change.

Then he quotes me as saying:

Do you need a PhD or an intricate understanding of computer networking to have a good blog? Absolutely not, as I think you've all pointed out. Does a local blogging community need tech blogs to be successful? No more than it needs piano-repair blogs or any other niche of human interest. What it needs are passionate people, and those seem to be available in abundance in Greensboro.

Finally, he asks, "What happened in between?". Not the vast sweeping change of heart he'd like to attribute to the blog comments. Here's what happened in between, the comment of mine that he chose not to include:

On the issue of 'blogospheres' (which just might be the most annoying term since 'information superhighway'), I'm of the opinion that everyone has his or her own personal version. That's the way things are supposed to work. Some get excited reading Doc Searls, while others hang on every word of scarfknitting.com, each party likely oblivious to the other. Personally, tech is what gets my blood pumping, and as such it composes the vast majority of what I consume from my blogosphere

When I said I thought tech-bloggers were more important, perhaps what I should have said was "I like reading tech blogs, I don't live in Greensboro, and consequently can't get too excited about the latest City Council Meeting. The fact that you do care about the local issues and opinions of your fellow Greensboro-ites (?) and not the latest google fanboy rants is your choice, and I'm glad you're being so responsible with your duties as a citizen."

On a similar note, rather than the original post, intended as a back-handed compliment, perhaps what I should have said was "Greensboro is a town with a great blogging scene, of which I was previously unaware. I wish RTP, which has the resources available, would do the same."

Sadly, my blogging tends to be more from-the-hip than that ("Rants & Raves", you know?), so I got jacked-up. It happens.