Danger's Blog, Cancun Casa,Living on Isla Time
In a Little Cafe on the Other Side of the Border, a Virtual Visitor's Blog on Cancun
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04/22/09
Blogging For Dollars…
Filed under: Cancun Casa Blog
Posted by: Dangers @ 7:46 pm

Now, when I got into this thing after about a five year writing layoff it had occurred to me that the rules of the road and terms had changed a bit. Back in the old days when Usenet was the vehicle of choice and the almost secret society of the modern world, we hacked out posts in our own terms and language, communicating with our in the know, behind the big screen brethren, solving the world’s ills by increasing the spread of knowledge to the minions. And, almost everybody was a minion at one point or another but we pushed on through flame wars, trolls and various mother ships jumping from one ISP to another and switching out dial-ups to cable to T-1’s, and back and forth. At the heart of it all was the writing, whether it was the well or ill defined logic of computer geekdom to the heartfelt rants of the human cause, it was the writing.


Even when we jumped to the wider spectrum (not all of us did) of message boards, instant messaging and more E-Mail than we ever imagined, it was about the writing, even if we attracted more crowds, turf wars and trolls than anyone had suspected.

We also had that new working dialog for a few bucks more, the personal web page, spare some dollars and you too could be a new Internet citizen, flashing your thoughts and agendas across the world, selling goods and services, while giving the world your two cents.

Somewhere along the way, we started to Blog, little personal shout outs across the cyber landscape that proclaimed this is me, my space, my life, hear my word. Of course, many of us thought, just let me get started, I’ll show them, millions will flock to my new Blog (just as soon as I tear down that old web page) to hear me scream. Some of us even schemed, I’ll attract millions, make millions and retire on the suckers’ money, and yet others plied their trade in the dark corners of the net, talking to themselves, cursing others and plotting anarchy.

Some of us were a little of all that and some of us were just sailing away on the clear sky of a new day. I’d like to think most Bloggers are the later, sailing away, care free, speaking their piece. Our own wooden ships on the water stewarded by hearty writing captains and their mates looking for their island in the sun, hailing other blogs like passing ships in the night. Individuals collectively impacting one social conscious to right the ills of the world while showing other folks it’s OK to speak out, be heard, and no, you’re not alone.

Then there’s this money thing in Blogging, not that bloggers started this or have any corner on the market, just little reminders that the capitalists are among us, hell I’m probably one to an extent, but do we really need Search Engine Optimization, Bloggeries, Flogs, Blegs, and massive advertising links and their ilk.

It’s one thing to earn a few bucks to support the Blog site and quite another to be a Blogwhore and tie the readers experience to subliminal and live action messaging to BUY, BUY, BUY.

Then there are those Blogs out there that are begging for dollars, and I’m not talking legitimate charitable causes though I’m sure there’s more than a few charlatans, and I’m not talking to heavily read blogs loaded with content providing state of the art  information for society, I’m talking about the blogs that basically just say, help me support this site, send me money because I’m ballsy enough to ask and you’re dumb enough to do so, plus you need information on selling coconuts in Tennessee.

Talk about a clusterfuck.

My Sweet Lord, I’ve seen personal blogs holding contests, giving out prizes, heard about people rewarding people whom make the most comments and have seen enough ghost written phony promo blogs to last a lifetime over the last few years.

It isn’t the way we intended, no one is begrudging anyone making a few dollars or running blogs that are obviously commercial, I’m referring to the sell outs and the thieves, sometimes they’re both.

From Usenet to personal Webpages and Blogs, it’s always been about the writing, sharing of ideas, education and a form of communication larger than the world of nation states, it’s about people. If you can have a little fun along the way, all the better but we need to write for ourselves first, the audience second and if they come together in that magical dynamic, you’ve done it.

Now, I’ll make this RSS..

If anyone would like to contribute to my airfare to Mexico, we take Visa, MC and AE via Paypal…

And when he bought the graveyard spot, It was a dollar down and a dollar a week...
Dangers…

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