An Education in Blogging

Yesterday afternoon, I posted a little critique of the differing approaches of CNN and Fox on the Katrina disaster coverage. And was suddenly called on to deal with a pressing project. Didn’t think much about it, worked all night returning home about seven this morning.

There were signs of blogger interest in the post, with a little burst in traffic, but I was beat and took a nap. The nap lasted until about 4 pm, when my blackberry started ringing with some urgency. My site notifies me when someone posts a comment. This blogging thing is new to me, and any comment is of special interest to me.

I checked the messages and there had been a burst of posts. Still a bit groggy, I went to the site, the counter was up by over 1,000 hits. Eighty-eight people were on-line at the same time! What was up? A refresh showed 188 on-line and in a matter of minutes, and another 400 hits on the site!

The blackberry sounds off again. More comments. A refresh and over 300 on-line on the site. My voice was being heard in an unexpected way at an unexpected time.

The rush continues, and I spend a little time tracking those who posted links, which brought the brief burst of blogging fame (small as it is). A little more than a week into it, and I know I have a lot to learn.

One thing I have learned is that there are a lot of very articulate people, who express their thoughts well in writing. I had planned to address some issues, but a quick perusal of the comments posted on the site, addressed each better than I probably would have.

I certainly have more to say. But I’m going to let the blogging world have their say for a bit. I’m not done with this analysis, even though I didn’t start The Rail as a media-critiquing, hurricane covering place. Sometimes the blogging world takes us where we don’t expect to go.

Isn’t that the beauty of it all?