Ms. Maltoni recently posted an interesting observation about blogging and community. She referenced another blog, Jeremy Pepper's "Pop! PR Jots"; in which Mr. Pepper talks about the interactions, and the venues for Internet-based interactions. (He does this by describing his early-adoption of various "solutions", such as MySpace and Twitter.) And I got to thinking about the community of TG/CD bloggers.
There are a number of "prominent" TG bloggers out there. I'd have to say the "Queen" of them all (even if she doesn't like the term!) is Helen Boyd. Her influence with the community is extensive - and far-reaching. Indeed, if there were prizes to give out, I'd give first place to Helen. Other prominent TG-bloggers include Siobhan's "Tranniefesto". Siobhan doesn't run any sort of a blogroll; but the spare design and the content draw lots of hits. The popularity of "Tranniefesto" is demonstrated by how many blogrolls it appears on: plenty! Becky, who runs another extensively-listed blog. There is an intersecting community between Siobhan's blog and Becky's; Helen's blog manages to stay quite independent, despite its still extensive listing on blogrolls.
Now, the emphasis on blogroll listing is important: it can be thought of as a "poor man's Google"; the more blogrolls, the more popular. As such, the influence of a blog can be determined, in a rough and ready fashion, by this count. (In case you're wondering, this blog is not very popular at all!)
But, what of the community aspect? If individual blogs play central roles in the "community", is it really a community, or just a disconnected suburb of the blogosphere? Helen, through her forum, manages to create a community. It's a lively one (I'm guessing it's still lively!), and has demonstrated a certain resilience. But I do have to question the communities that have developed around Siobhan's and Becky's blogs. Are these communities, and if so, what type? They aren't the metaphorical "village" that Helen created; they are more akin to a drop-in center. Given the extensive cross-listings between readers of both blogs, it's fair to say that the community is not so dependent upon Siobhan or Becky individually. Becky uses the blogroll as a sort of privileged phone-book (I'm certain there's a better term for it, but I can't think of it right now); Siobhan actively discards the entire concept of "community" with the lack of blogroll. Before anyone thinks this "bad" in some way, it isn't. It's a perfectly reasonable response to the ever-changing and forever truculent TG blog "scene".
The atheist blogroll, of which I'm a member, is another expression of community. I like to think of it as a "directory" to the various blogging atheists out there. But, typically for atheists, there's no central place - unless you count Mojoey. (Mojoey is the organizer of the atheist blogroll.) On the other hand, Mojoey doesn't use the blogroll-like feature as anything but a listing. Acceptance to the listing is conditional; but the conditions are simple, available and understood. A religious Christian isn't going to make it onto the blogroll, for instance. (Not that they haven't tried!) There's no organization beyond the listing; I doubt any attempts at organizing would ever succeed, atheists being (almost by definition) an ornery and independent lot!
So we can discount much "community" there!
Overall, the TG community is small. Bloggers within it get noticed, once someone already "known" pops an entry to their blogroll. This encourages change, which is good, and it also encourages TGer's to write about their lives, experiences and so on. If nothing else, it proves that we're all more alike than we are dissimilar. One thing I have noticed is that most TG blogs aren't "themed"; they discuss the individual, and not much else. (I'm not saying they all do that, just the majority. This isn't "bad", again. It's just an observation.) And while some are eager to get readers, the majority don't seem to pay that much heed. The online journal, written for the writer, is as valid a personal statement as any other. Indeed, it can be a reasonable self-expression, or a flagrant celebration of the self.
Unlike a forum, which has a conversational aspect, the blog is more dictatorial; comments are generally encouraged, but the content is usually "I'm telling you 'this' ", with less metaphorical room for conversation. (Whew! That was a sentence and a (couple of) half!) By aggregating across a number of blogs, you can sort of pick up on the popular topics. Sometimes there's a commonality in topic; this is usually (in the TG community) when someone says something unpopular, or not-PC from their point of view. The recent comments by a Christian , Conservative Chicago-based online newsletter are a case in point. The refutations flowed freely; I'll admit to joining in. (As always, I was reminded that free speech is great, except when "you disagree with me"...)
The fragility of so many online communities; the very nature of the medium seems to demand the vaguer sense of community. There's no real investiture in an online community, unless you look at Helen's MHB forum. (I can't comment on any other TG forums.) I get that strong sense of "disposable people", because there's little to any conversation between individuals who only know each other through the computer screen. Yes, the topics can be important, but the essential element of personal contact is missing. People are a lot more polite and thoughtful in the real world than they are online.
The other factor, and this is an important one, is that in the TG community many of the "members" are not as secure in themselves as others. This, of course, is true anywhere in the world, and in any community or group. But what differentiates the TG community is the "dangerous" aspect of putting on a facade of the opposite sex. (I chose my words carefully...) some don't have that facade, others do. Overall, the freely flowing testosterone seems to prevent a community from properly cohering around any sort of nexus.
The other thing that seems to divide more than unite the TG "community" is the whole "label" thing: who's the 'better' TG? Again, testosterone speaks with a loud voice. While competition exists, cohesiveness won't. Enough about that bad penny of an endless debate, however.
Overall, I'm not sure that a "community" exists within the TG 'community'. With the possible exception of Helen's MHB, the community, such as it is, seems to be a collection of listings on blogrolls. While this fosters recognition, I'm not sure it creates a community, at least as I understand it. Again, this isn't a criticism, it's an observation. A community has a different "feel" to it; the Corn is a community, for example. Membership is not dependent upon entries on a webpage; the membership of the corn has a basic requirement, and a cost: this brilliantly ensures that the members have invested something, and implies a commitment to making the community "work". Free listings on a webpage aren't necessarily "free"; they require a certain commitment to adhering to a collective point of view. (After all, not even I run a blogroll of people we disagree with, or find disagreeable. While I've thought of it, I've never found it within me to build such a list.) So while gaining entry to a blogroll is a compliment, I can't say that not being on a blogroll is an insult: sometimes being denied entry to a club is a compliment. But, more importantly, there's no personal investment to membership of a blogroll.
And that, I think, is the difference between the transient pseudo-community, and the genuine article. Even, especially, online.
Carolyn Ann
CHANGED: Modified the links to Siobhan's and Becky's blogs; I got the format wrong, so had to change them.
I'm wondering
1 hour ago
4 comments:
> Siobhan actively discards the entire concept of "community" with the lack of blogroll.
Actually, I do have a blogroll. It's just not on the front page. I made a very conscious decision a while back to try and limit the amount of 'meta' information that appears in the main content of my blog, and having a series of links to (sometimes) unconnected others didn't make logical sense in my head.
What I chose to do instead, was 'hard-wire' my blogroll into the main content, with a little bit of regex that lets me quickly link to people. That's why (for example) there's a link to Becky on mine today, with her favicon next to it. The blogroll 'comes into play' (so to speak) when it's relevant. (Perhaps - it is, like many other things on mine, very experimental ;)
As to the sense of community though, I'm not sure I'd agree with you wholesale. The community emphasis (on mine, at least) lies within the readership, not the blogroll. It's the conversation that grows through the comments that defines what's developed, rather than the people I've chosen to link to.
The analogy I often cite, is that the community surrounding my blog is akin to a pub (and not just because of the booze ;). It has its chatty regulars, its solitary regulars, random passers by who pop in for a quick 'drink', and people who stumble in quite by accident and make a rather sharp exit. I'm not sure if others would apply the same analogy to their blogs, but for me it works. And I think that in the same way that a landlord/landlady doesn't necessarily define their drinkers, but does the atmosphere of their pub, I don't define my readership - just the tone of the conversation.
I think also (sorry, rambling a bit here) that there's a different 'agenda' (if you like) between the community-intentions of (say) Helen, and myself and Becky, in that I think for the two of us (I'm sure she'll correct me if I'm wrong ;) we aren't ncecessarily trying to foster a specifically TG community. In fact, in my case especially, I'm trying (to an extent) to do the very opposite - throw differing communities against each other, and seeing what develops as a result. The intention, I guess, is to not 'fence-off' and seperately package my transvestism into its own little neat ball, but to mush it all together with a lot of other things, and try to draw as many communities/audiences into it as possible, in the hope that more people come into contact with it, and leave with a (maybe) challenged idea of what being a tranny can involve.
:)
I'm not sure that even real world communities have truly cohesive emphasis. Maybe superficially on the surface. But to stay vital and dynamic, the have to be evolving. I guess I'd consider mysrlf a TG blogger because it was to a great degree the motivation which started me blogging. But I don't feel complelled to stay within any particular category in terms of subject matter for posting. I can't comment on Helen's forum or the sense of community it creates. But I have been active in other forums, and I felt very strongly they were more like membership themed "clubs" than communities mostly because of the narrowness of focus. TGs come in all shapes, sizes and colors, just like the rest of humanity. Isn't it a bit of an irony to want acceptance in the world at large, and then set up our own specialized list of labels, terminology etc, to seperate ourselves from the world at large?
I'm not sure the pub analogy works, Siobhan. As a business - the days of the owner/publican being pretty much over - I'll guarantee that someone sat in an office and did a demographic study of the potential audience for this or that pub. And then tailored the interior and ambiance to match that demographic.
Even in the roadside bars (I hesitate to call them pubs) in America, the majority cater to their audience: guys who want a beer, and don't much care what the place looks like. (In the city, the demographic angle is essential!)
The idea of a community, though, must retain some personal investment; otherwise it would be like the Dover/Calais ferry: people passing each other. The Staten Island Ferry, on the other hand, could qualify as a ferry: many of the people who use it, do so everyday, at the same time, etc.
I've got an inclination that Emma's right when she says that communities have to evolve; this isn't always the case with online communities. The membership changes, but that's not the same as evolving. Quite different, in fact!
The TG community is very macho with its competitive labeling, and the various "I'm more feminine than you" sort of stuff. This isn't to imply that women don't indulge in their own competitions; it's just that those competitions don't usually include being more feminine, etc. (Dykes and other counter-feminine statements notwithstanding, of course!)
An online community generally has so little invested that the members are treated as the transients they actually are. No matter how much the desire is for permanence. I'm starting to think that a personal blog is not going to foster any community, per se. It might create a "club" of readers, but that's different to a community: and therein lies the problem. The club of readers is not a community, it's a club!
(I literally just thought of that; I wonder if it holds up?)
Carolyn Ann
In at least one way I think this post actually proves a bit of your point. Communities foster vital connections through varios devices: shared agendas, divisions of labor (like carpooling kids to school or group after school care.), mutual co-operation. Siobahn's analogy about the pub is still valid in many real life communities, but it repreent a very small aspect, a sub community within a larger community. of any community's life. Without the frame of reference of the larger community, what reference does it hold? The university "pub" is meaningless without a university community.
We participate in each other's blogging efforts through comments. But these interactions are not nearly on the level of a community's interactions. They aren't "necesary" to continue blogging, though I think they are necessary if there is to be a sense of connection. Which is they essential point of a community if my opinion. It takes an investment of thought, and time to have dialogue to make a connection. The benefits of this investment within a real life community are readily apparent, as benefits to the "ease" of daily life through shared commitments, obligations, accomplishments. Those benefits tend to remain much less tangible within online connections. Though they are not impossible. (I'm in Australia, in a commited relationship, with someone I met online. That became possible only because of the investments we both made to it.)
I think individual blogger's invest varying levels of energy into their own blogs. I don't completely buy the concept of an online diary solely for the author's benefit. The act of publishing anything includes a need/desire for an audience at some level, just as an exhibition of any endeavor does.Such an exhibition is "safer" online certainly since the investment mt least feels less significant. Siobahn wrote a few weeks ago about Tranny Flickr promoting a false sense of appropriate passability because of the overly polite commentary to picture posted. I think that can lead to a delusional kind of thinking that may allow a sense of acceptance that does not extend in any way into the meaningful aspects of an individuals day to day life. But for some people, an online life may be a valid option, especially in a situation where no other option exists.
A community is always dependent on how it's residents feel about their level of connection through investment. Not all real world gatherings of people function as communities either. Sometimes they are just places that exist just so people in them can exist.
Sorry to ramble a bit. It's only my way of saying I enjoyed this post and the comments.
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