AN ACTIVE BLOG LIST ON SALON
In a November 6 post Mark Hoback took a pop at one of our fellow Salon bloggers for massaging his blog header a little too frequently &, as a result, climbing his opus steadily up the Hot 100. He proposed the setting up of a separate list, regularly maintained, for all active Salon weblogs. This would provide both a forum for blogs that, for whatever reason, might have slipped through the net & a disincentive to those so anxious for the adulation of their peers that they are tempted to apply a little artificial pressure.
It seems an excellent notion. I supported it in a comment thus: ëThere have been several blogs that Iíve dialled up out of curiosity from Updates, enjoyed greatly & then never seen again. Sometimes Iíll simply have missed them because they ratcheted through Updates as I slept or worked. Other blogs will have been initiated in a flurry of optimism by writers manquÈ, delighted to have found a platform for their dreams & nightmares, only subsequently to dwindle into silence after receiving no hits at all.
I can well understand the frustration that such apparent inaudibility within the crowded & noisy arena that is the Salon community might engender in any writer with a fair sense of his/her own worth. Iíve been fortunate in receiving attention & support from a small number of regular bloggers whose work I respect greatly. But Iíve often wished for a wider readership than my average 10/20-ish because blogging for me is about communication, engagement, debate &, above all, interaction. However, rather than indulge in the blogging equivalent of self-abuse Iíll settle for fewer hits & the congenial company of a few pals on the edge of the arena!
So ñ who do we have to slug into submission to get an active blog list set up?í
Stimulated by the above, Iíve been wondering recently what it is that motivates the more serious, reflective & committed bloggers. Iíve only been at it since February, but already my weblog has adopted a sort of juggernaut momentum so that compiling material & posting regularly is simply part of the regular business of the day. Whilst I consider carefully what to submit in respect of length, theme, variety & the like, I no longer give thought to what it is that actually inspires the choice of item on a deeper level or what, in fact, drives me to lay it before my (small but perfectly formed) readership in the first place.
Itís late ñ 11.45 PM - & even the most compulsive blogger must sleep. But more on this tomorrow during the blogging hours of 10.00 & midnight.
Gínight, Jim-BobÖ
11:55:10 PM 
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