My experience (which my trawl through the last fifteen years of my life via my blog this past week has put into further focus): I receive, almost daily now, comments, compliments, considerations via social networks, private boards and public, ye olde e-mail, the lot, from people who think, discuss, perform, receive. I don’t have time to engage with it all and combine that with the fact that I’m doing my usual social life-random joke-’what to cook tonight?’-HI DERE living of life as well ultimately means a scattering of thoughts and drive.

I think a lot of the perceived relocation of discussion energy is merely that the central identity of one’s location on the net is almost inevitably nonexistent now — it’s *everywhere*, as much as you would want it to be. My blog I set up not so much as a key locale as it is a clearinghouse and connecting point for each of the identities, at least those I wish to share (I don’t want to share them all, and don’t).

That ‘87 Company was remarkable; the CD is well worth getting. After the first performance (which is also track one on the CD: slow, string-dominant, very mournful but with Konitz’s alto spurting acetic acid over the proceedings), Konitz asked DB whether he thought the music was too Jewish for him. DB replied no, but said it did remind him of Focus by Stan Getz. “THAT Jewish?” Konitz exclaimed.

DB was famously stop-and-start with Company (cf. me and CoM), going without it for years before starting it up again.

(my favourite OMG moment in ref.this last was probably lee konitz)

“all in one place” can create a crackle which pushes somewhere new — niche-located allows response to be elective and selective, when (sometimes) it didn’t ought to be, and i think the push somewhere new is actually reduced (what we’ve somewhat seen is the establishment of multiple zones-in-exile pushing old lines, letting themeslves be unbothered by dissent because it’s easily screened out

the problem is that there’s no way to allow space for “serious” dissent (obv inc jokes) without also enabling “timewaster” dissent (obv inc utterly po-faced counter-args)

Though to be fair, I found my current friends through the conversations that they were having, and I still don’t dismiss any site in terms of finding new friends. But perhaps after a while your “new friends” become old friends (say, after 3 or 4 years?) and your need to go out and actively seek new people diminishes, even if the “new people” are out there in full force. (And not all of them should be expected to start a blog of their own or attempt private communication as an initial shout-out — this is another reason comments are so important!)

The ideal interpersonal relationships between bloggers and commenters goes somewhat unmentioned in all of this. I believe in trying to engage with all commenters who bring new ideas to the table, though my pool of commenters is limited enough to make this manageable (I see it work here in greater numbers, though, even if it’s usually a regular dozen+ or so). I think I’ve actually developed pretty solid friendships with people I’ve never met, er, offline; sometimes I think my optimism in this regard is a little naive, but I’d rather err on the side of naive than cut someone out of the loop.

I imagine that this aspect of online chat gets harder as you go along; people start coming to you, because you’re no longer looking just about anywhere for conversations. But this is only a problem when it impedes a given site/community’s ability to sustain a good conversation, which isn’t inevitable, just common from what I’ve seen. (I think, e.g., SR/K-punk’s blogs would be much livelier if they allowed commenting, even if they were moderated comments. I think they’d find — esp. re: K-punk’s “war” piece — that the ensuing conversation with implicated writers would be much more amicable than the terms he’s setting, and I’d be interested to hear him defend his rhetoric conversationally. Even when I have overwrought or overheated or cryptic posts, the conversations tend to maintain a certain level of congeniality — I don’t necessarily have to disown a post if there’s a more reasonable conversation within it somewhere.)

ILM nowadays is a very different kettle of soup from ILM in its prime. (Though I guess I would say that)

My view on music blogs, however, is that they had an initial exciting run of 3-4 years when they were new, everyone’s minds were mildly boggled at their newness and everyone was keen to interact with everyone else. But as preferences and prejudices begin to become reinforced then eventually hands get thrown up in surrender and everyone settles into their own niche. The great period (2000-4) was when nobody knew where the fuck anyone was going with this and everyone was jumping off their own cliff in a way, hoping for a cushioned landing. But now if you look at, say, Woebot or K-Punk or LJ Poptimists or me or whoever then everyone knows what they’re going to get. That isn’t a negative but it’s the way these things go. The beauty was at the beginning they didn’t have a clue what they were going to get, least of all the bloggers themselves.

The reason I like FT now is because it reminds me of what ILM was like in the beginning - a relatively small circle of people (largely the same relatively small circle of people, admittedly) exchanging ideas, opinions and notions. There is a “Hide Polls” option on ILx if you log in but even without the poll factor the boards are a pretty listless and depressing read now and even as a lurker I visit there less and less often.

I don’t see why this golden age couldn’t be returned to. The critical conversation shouldn’t have to happen on sites like facebook. Blogs are unique because they are (ideally) embued with personality - something that is disappearing, for no good reason at all.

SR just sounds so webfogey, how do you know other people are replying to your post without checking a billion blogs on the off chance? unless you are, eg him or similar, with previous as a journo/critic i don’t think you have any defence in not having a comments box, you mayaswell just photocopy your writing ten times and give it to your “friends” or write it on yr bedsit wall. and i *do* wish he’d stop banging on about “poptimism” like it existed…