Meta-blogging squared

Kudos to the people who kept up on their blogs over the holiday season. I needed the break.

Something's been on my mind about the whole academic technology blog thang. As a relative newcomer to the small community of educational technologists who blog, I have been discouraged by one recurring observation. It is this:

There's too much blogging about blogging.

I'm interested in social software, and I use it. I'm interested in others' use of these tools. If an instructor is interested in applications of wikis for teaching and learning, I'll be thrilled to have a cozy chat about the various models for doing so.

I've also been in this field for over a decade, and social software is still a tiny fraction of what educational technology is. It represents an overwhelmingly disproportionate share of the word count on the blogs that define themselves as being of the field. Some of that's to be expected. The surgeon suggests surgery, and the blogger qua blogger believes in the power of blogs. To a lesser extent, I think blogging is also a safe and easy topic to write about. ("You're reading my blog. Among other things, you may be interested in blogging.")

Bloggity bloggity blog blog blog.

Maybe this corner of the blogosphere is self-selecting for authors who are enthusiastic about the growth of the medium. Nevertheless, I've followed some of the blogs on the library side of the information services fence. Lo and behold, they're talking about the full range of professional topics. I have to imagine that there are some other pros out there who'd like to use the medium to discuss the vast sweep of technologies, applications, resources, and models in the field of academic computing.

As it is the new year, be it here resolved that this blog shall not be about blogging. Unless it's really important to the story. Even then, only in moderation.

And yes, I'm aware of the irony of the post. You don't need to point it out in the comments. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go work with Tim Burke on a faculty luncheon talk we're giving. You know...about blogging.