Acronym

"Some guy named Norman Borlaug?" Since ASAE and the Center are focusing on social responsibility in additon to all the craziness about Web 2.0 and vanity, er, I mean social networking (more about that in another post), as a biologist and a association type, it's important that we know just who Borlaug is and why whe should honor him.

Norman Borlaug is an American agronomist (agricultural plant scientist) who pretty much single-handedly started the Green Revolution in the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's in Mexico, Central America and Asia. His breeding and research programs more than doubled the production of wheat and other crops, making food much more readily available in poor, rural areas and saving probably millions of lives from starvation.

For his work, Borlaug won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize and almost every other high honor available to a scientist. But what recognition does he most revere? Cuidad Obregon in Mexico, where he began his work, named a street after him in 1968. He was also featured on an episode of Penn & Teller's Bullsh*t! as "the greatest man who ever lived" for saving over a billion people.

I met Borlaug when he was still a spry 91 (he's 94 and still going strong) when he gave a speech to the National Association of Biology Teachers. He was mobbed by adoring biologists and educators, and proved himself a most decent, kind, caring and enthusiastic human being.

Is he morally superior to Bill Gates and Mother Theresa? I really can't answer that. But he certainly is up there!

Thanks Wayne -- just want to be clear I in no way was disparaging Norman Borlaug -- I was trying to establish the same tone and point as the article, which is that very few people will recognize the name, though his actions saved millions from starvation.

I can hadly wait for the "web 2.0 and vanity" post. Wayne, you crack me up! I hope others will appreciate the humor, since there is an awful lot of what appears to be vanity involved in some of our contemporary blogging. Examples include a blogger describing their most recent personal accomplishments, how many posts they've made this year and six things about them that you'd rather not know.

Just kidding folks! It's just satire!

I know you're kidding a little, Virgil, but I do find it interesting to think about the line between making personal connections online and vanity. There are several blogs I read that include a lot of personal stuff about the blogger in question--but I love their writing style and I'm interested in their observations about life, so I read them even though it could be taken as a lot of "me, me, me." (And there are certainly other people who leave comments at these same blogs that accuse them of vanity.)

For blogs aimed at a more professional audience, I think it's a fine line to walk. I enjoy personal posts on association blogs, because I enjoy getting to know a little bit about each blogger as a person; but of course there are others who would read the same personal posts and stop reading the blog, either because they are only looking for professional information or because they're turned off somehow by the personal stuff the blogger has shared.

I think the line is different for everyone--and every blog--but it's something to keep in mind when blogging ...

Of course you are right, Lisa (as always!)--it's always been about "different strokes for different folks". That's the way it should be.

I am working on a draft article comparing my (naive) experience with list serves versus blogs. One of the things I've noticed is that the reponses and the attention to responses appears higher on the more well populated list serves (ASAE executive list serve, for example).

OTOH, many thought-provoking blog posts get no response. Curiously (to me)some bloggers seem little interested in responses. In fairness, some blog interfaces make it challenging to know of and access resonses. It can be a lot of work to continually search responses for something new. I wonder why?

Blog content does frequently appear to me to be more about "my message", which sometimes is a vanity-based, look-at-me posting, and less about new knowledge, community, advocacy or "their responses" or "a discussion".

OTOH, perhaps its just the simple fact that many bloggers are not interested in conversation?

My own working theory, as basis for the draft article is that list serves tend to be more transactional (and easier to dash off a quick experential response), while blogs are often transformational and harder for a response (much to the stated dismay of those favoring USA Today journalism).

Regardless, my comments are not meant as crticism, just an interested curosity wanting to learn more about electronic communities and ccommunication.

Just my milage; others will surely vary.

Virgil writes: "My own working theory, as basis for the draft article is that list serves tend to be more transactional (and easier to dash off a quick experential response), while blogs are often transformational and harder for a response (much to the stated dismay of those favoring USA Today journalism)."

Some of this comes down to the ever growing challenge of time management. There is an increasing amount of information on the web and we all need to develop ways to (2) find time to filter through it, (3) read what is of particular interest or professional applicability to us and (3) for interactive forums, respond if we are so inclined. Most of us are lucky if we get to the first two steps - the third takes a whole different level of time and commitment. That may be part of why it is easier to respond to a listserv - it comes to you, so it has already cut out steps 1 and 2 - if you choose to respond you only have one action to commit time to.

A bit off the original topic, and now I need to get back to my 'other work'! but it's an interesting and timely topic.

Virgil: My observations on your recent thoughts -

1. Because blogs offer engagement doesn't mean readers want to or will publicly comment.

2. Readers will send private email, and use blog info other ways. Blog still relevant in potential use to others.

3. Limited numbers respond on listserves too. There are 1,600 colleagues on one I read, and only handful publicly respond on any given topic. Doesn't mean the other 1,595 aren't enjoying reading or learning.

4. Listserves give perception of being "closed" group for distribution and comment. Blogs give (valid) perception that any one of millions could read posted comment, and could be accountable for public comments forever.

5. Credibility online doesn't always require real professional accomplishments. There are blogs that provide genuine info, with others entertaining but professionally irrelevant. Anyone can stick a shingle out (on a blog), claim to be an expert and report how great they are - and if others attracted to the glow they create for themselves, that too is a phenomenon not to be ignored. This new world allows for the self-created expert, and it’s a trend to watch. Not only in association management, but many industries.

I appreciate your columns and insights, so even if we’ve never engaged – we’re engaged.

Excellent comments and sharing of experiences by Lisa, Bonnie and Cindy--experts in their own right.

Does anyone know if there are ways to monitor postings and responses of interest without manually going back to the blog and scrolling through responses to see if there are any new comments since one's last "scroll through"?

Bonnie's comment about "finding time to filter through content" is on the mark, and manually checking interesting posts is a massive waste of time.

Blog postings "are what they are"(tip of the hat to Scott), and depending on one's view some postings are frivilous, or even uninteresting while other postings are very interesting. Same with list serves. Just seems like a good idea for one to be able to follow the postings that are personally interesting without having to manually go back to them every other day.

Just my milage.

Virgil, the easiest way is to subscribe to blogs through Bloglines (go to www.bloglines.com) and then you only have to go to Bloglines and it will update you with blogs you like to read. (There are certainly many other subscription methods such as Google, My Yahoo, tons of others.) Whatever subscription method you choose, you will at least get a regular feed of blog posts. The harder part is tracking comments - if a blog posts a comment feed then you can subscribe to that through Bloglines as well to read all comments, but unfortunately a lot of blogs still don't offer comments feeds (Acronym doesn't, as far as I can tell).

(For association-related blogs, you can also go to blogoclump.com which aggregates a lot of feeds from various association bloggers, and you can also sign up for a daily email digest from the blogoclump.)

Thanks, Kevin. I currently use Goggle Reader to accemble and access blogs of interest. I haven't found any way to automatically track and access comments. Apparently, few blogs provide feeds for comments. There's the rub!

I'll try Bloglines--thanks for the tip!