So I’m at lunch at the BlogHer conference, sitting at a table with four jeunne filles from LA while we all nibbled on green beans and chicken with dried tomatoes. I asked them if they had blogs.
“We’re identity bloggers,” said a blonde in a black t-shirt that in bright letters said “DESTROY.”
“An important genre,” I said approvingly.
They wrinkled their foreheads. I had the itchy sense that in their eyes I had now donned a hoop skirt and a snood.
Then I thought of an analogy I had used in my talk Stanford two days ago that had hit a chord. If I could win over Stanford, surely I could win over LA.
“Samuel Johnson was an identity blogger,” I continued.
Four pairs of eyebrows went up. I had them hooked!
“He wrote the Rambler and the Idler right up to press time. He wrote about people and events of the day, and was free with his opinions. He wrote so up to the wire that he usually went to press unedited,” I concluded, proud that I had found a way to connect with the youth of the blogosphere.
The four ladies looked at one another, and the brunette asked, “Who’s Samuel Johnson?”
Posted on this day, other years:
- OCLC's Crisis Moment - 2010
- The travel marathon is over - 2009
- Hello, I Must be Linking - 2008
- Harry Potter and the Frog Strangler - 2007
- A Voice Crying in the Wilderness - 2004
Maybe another Samuel would work better:
http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/000504.html