Posted by Smartarse
on Sun 24 Sep 06, 12:39 AM to Smartarse's blog.
I haven't felt much like blogging on IC lately. And so I haven't. In fact I've hardly looked at IC for months and months. At this point it's traditional to say things ain't what they used to be and it's not as good here as it was when I first joined. This is of course nonsense. Things are different. People who wrote blogs back then have moved on or stopped blogging. But there are still blogs; just as many as before. I don't enjoy reading them as much but is it IC that's changed, or me?
I stopped enjoying the things that make IC interesting: the conflict, the clash of views and personalities. Now I'm back and looking for that again but I don't see it. I'm trying to figure out if that's because those things are not here or I'm not looking hard enough.
Is it possible that there is less controversy, less debate? Are the currently active members quicker to express a putdown than ICer's used to be? I doubt it, but it feels different.
Is there a climate in which people are unable to express anything but bland reports of their day and bits of chitchat for their pals? Do people avoid blogging anything controversial for fear they will be criticised or get into an argument?
I'm a bit confused in my own mind about what I want to see. I like the conflict. It's the conflict that is exciting and stimulating. A really good conflict is a fragile thing and it needs to be nurtured in its early stages. I don't like it when people shoot down in flames anyone who goes out on a limb. (Don't worry, I'm licenced to mix metaphors).
Some will say, the blogs are not for debate anyway. That's what the boards are for. That's true enough but I always enjoyed the personal views expressed in blogs - especially the ones that wound me up enough to make my own point.
Coming back to IC feels different. Has it changed or is it just me?
| 24 Sep 06, 5:01 PM fitzcaraldo UK(BA), 6 yrs  |
I agree with you.
There is a bit of an air of 'supermarket-shopping' at the mo', and it is a bit thin on the contentious issues .
Perhaps it's seasonal this year. August & september turned out to be annoyingly tedious for me. Escaped from the parallel universe |
