Bloggard to Floggard to Vloggard

Definition of a bloggard - a person who discovers the technology of blogging as the technology is about to become obsolete.

I have in the last three weeks traveilled the internet world and evolved from a bloggard to a blogger, flogger - confused about this one then read on , to a vloggard.

Last Friday I was told by a fellow student that in my previous blog, my prediction that blogs would never cross the chasm, was potentially right.

I sat back with a sense of self righteous smugness only to have this shattered when he informed me that this obsolescence would happen not because of humans resorting to use the communication aides they evolved with - i.e speech and facial expression, but because of flogging.

At this juncture I again became very smug, thinking that all my scare mongering about the internet being used by people who had 'different' emotional and sexual inclinations, was completely founded. I then started to visualise what a flog could possibly be, only to realise that I had completely misheard and in fact he was referring to a VLOG - a video log. I am gutted! Just as I am beginning to embrace the technology of blogs and advocate them to the world as the way forward, I find out that yes they are a beta max or BSB box (both of which my father in law was an innovator with) and about to be replaced by a technology where your thoughts are posted to vlog sites.

Whilst this vlog thingy goes someway towards addressing some of my concerns in my virgin blog about losing the power of speech - see subversive, laggard or luddite posting on this blog - it also starts to for me, raise a whole other set of issues.

For instance I typically blog late at night or early in the morning - at these times there is a common thread which is I am usually in my pyjamas and look an absolute mess. Imagine if I were vlogging at these times I would have to spend hours putting on makeup and getting my hair done etc therefore is the emergence of the vlog an attempt by the beauty and cosmetic industry to increase profits. Even more disconcertingfor me, is the loss of protection and security afforded to me by only those people I choose to inform, knowing I am JJB. Imagine walking down the street and some person who fundamentally disagrees with what you have said, accosting you on the street.

I realise by not 'digging' vlogging for these reasons I am completely contradicting my previous views about the anonymity of blogging being a major security concern and an opportunity for people to masquerade as A N Other - but there you go, the virtual world is a funny old place full of contradictions.

On that note and because I cannot think of anything else meaningful to say - I will leave you today with a quote from an esteemed management guru which you can apply to the take up of new technologies - 'eagles may soar but weasels do not get sucked into jet engines'. Am I an eagle or a weasel and which is better?

Speak soon - JJB.