March 09, 2003
Barbie is Blogging...but not my Dad
Tim A. (amongst others) notes that Barbie is Blogging and that this is a sure sign that blogging has hit the mainstream. Blogging hasn't hit the mainstream - it has hit the hypestream.The hypestream is a place that artificially attracts attention, exaggerates the actual scope and scale of the subject and often prevents the subject from even getting close to the mainstream. Cellphones are a part of the mainstream. Handhelds, the hypestream. Email, web, DVD, mainstream. HDTV, videophones and Ginger - hype.
Blogging runs the risk of falling into the second category. There's a lot of smart people talking about a lot of smart solutions that deal with tough problems, but no one is focusing on usability, applicability or general utility. Face it - blogging is hard and none of the tool vendors is doing anything but a superficial job of addressing them. Impossible to install, impossible to operate and worse - the paradigm is impossible to understand - for the average user. The problem is, the average user sits right smack dab in the middle of the mainstream and there's nothing that Raging Cow or Barbie can do to change that. The Trotts, Winer and Evan can though. Will they?
Challenge: Help me help my Dad understand what the utility of this stuff is and why he should use it. Then make the tools that he will need easy enough for him to actually use them so that blogging can hit the mainstream.