The Contra Costa Times (a newspaper in Northern California) looks at why there aren't many women bloggers on the A list.
They totally missed a major reason.
What's that? Attendance at the early Silicon Valley geek/blogger dinners. Mena Trott (co-founder of Six Apart) was there. But there weren't many women who attended those early dinners back in 2002/03 (which were open to the public and free to attend). It was those early dinners that caused a whole bunch of blog networks to be built.
I find I build mental brands of bloggers I meet face-to-face and probably do link to those bloggers more often than people I don't know at all.
I'm very fortunate cause Maryam has started blogging too. She has introduced many female bloggers to me (I think that's how I've met many of the bloggers quoted in this article) and reminds me of when someone in her circle of friends writes something that would be interesting to my readers.
Another problem, though, goes deeper than just face-to-face networks. It's that women aren't going into computer science and don't hang out wherever geeks congregate. The next time you go to a user group or a geek dinner or a computer conference or visit a computer science department at a major university, look around. You'll probably see mostly men. (The first industry conference I helped plan, back in the early 90s, had 425 male attendees and two female and the numbers haven't gotten much better since then).
Does this matter for our industry? Yes, it does.
How? Well, our industry is moving from a feature-oriented one to one where culture and aesthetics and ease of use wins. Why is Apple so successful? Cause it's products don't just have great features, they are fashionable and tie in well with cultural trends.
When I was in Paris I talked with Anina, the fashion model who blogs. She looked at our new cell phones and gave me about 20 suggestions on how to make them more appealing to people who care about fashion and culture. I videotaped her ideas and they stuck with me. Will those ideas get heard at Microsoft? It's difficult because our internal culture is so male dominated.
We're blowing a huge opportunity here by not listening to women and not hiring more of them to develop more of our products and services.
question in play ?? what exactly is an “a-lister”
There are wrong theory’s at play here. There are powerful voices out there – Tara Hunt, Rebecca Blood, Mena. Xeni the list goes on. The issue here that the main echo chamber in is a clusterF$%K of ego’s (male)
“The next time you go to a user group or a geek dinner or a computer conference or visit a computer science department at a major university, look around. You’ll probably see mostly men” !!
I disagree, we had a fair share of turnout for Mesh06.
question in play ?? what exactly is an “a-lister”
There are wrong theory’s at play here. There are powerful voices out there – Tara Hunt, Rebecca Blood, Mena. Xeni the list goes on. The issue here that the main echo chamber in is a clusterF$%K of ego’s (male)
“The next time you go to a user group or a geek dinner or a computer conference or visit a computer science department at a major university, look around. You’ll probably see mostly men” !!
I disagree, we had a fair share of turnout for Mesh06.
I am a non-geek blogger, and see discussions about this constantly — even though many — most? — of the blogs I read are by women, many of them geeks of one sort or another.
I might suggest that Microsoft and other companies solicit the assistance of women bloggers in assessing and designing their products; especially women bloggers who are not geeks. We are likely to be tech-friendly, but not so savvy that our input would be more of the same.
I am a non-geek blogger, and see discussions about this constantly — even though many — most? — of the blogs I read are by women, many of them geeks of one sort or another.
I might suggest that Microsoft and other companies solicit the assistance of women bloggers in assessing and designing their products; especially women bloggers who are not geeks. We are likely to be tech-friendly, but not so savvy that our input would be more of the same.
Robert, you’ve had “theme” weeks where you limit your blogging to certain patterns or topics. Why not do a week where you only link to great, non-A-list women? And, include non-geeks, too — women who blog on politics, life, entertainment, sports, whatever… Of course, this means you have to go out and actually find them … But it might be a worthy exercise. Put your links where your mouth is … or something like that.
Robert, you’ve had “theme” weeks where you limit your blogging to certain patterns or topics. Why not do a week where you only link to great, non-A-list women? And, include non-geeks, too — women who blog on politics, life, entertainment, sports, whatever… Of course, this means you have to go out and actually find them … But it might be a worthy exercise. Put your links where your mouth is … or something like that.
Robert, it’s not that Apple has a secret cabal of estrogen that no one knows about. Nor is Steve talking to Oprah to get in touch with his “feminine side”.
It’s that Apple doesn’t dismiss the concerns of non-geeks. They look at what works in the non-geek world, and use that. Look at car commercials. Some of the most effective car ads don’t tell you *anything* about specs. They just show the car being used. Apple knows that selling to geeks is ignoring a vast population, so they don’t. They sell to people who don’t care about specs. Who don’t care about features. They sell to people who just want it to work, and not require calling for help just to turn it on.
They also don’t do a lot of “Design by committee” because designing by committee always sucks. You get too many cooks, and what do you get with too many cooks? Microsoft Broth.
It’s easy to get better designs for things. Stop assuming that you can tweak your existing process. That only repeats every mistake you always make. Can you imagine if the X-Box team had done things “The Microsoft Way”? Ugh. You don’t need usability labs and committees and the rest. Just get the hell out of the geek bubble, sit quietly in a corner and listen to people. See what works in the non-computer world.
Stop assuming that it’s not you. Because, as the iPod ad spoof showed, it most certainly is you.
Robert, it’s not that Apple has a secret cabal of estrogen that no one knows about. Nor is Steve talking to Oprah to get in touch with his “feminine side”.
It’s that Apple doesn’t dismiss the concerns of non-geeks. They look at what works in the non-geek world, and use that. Look at car commercials. Some of the most effective car ads don’t tell you *anything* about specs. They just show the car being used. Apple knows that selling to geeks is ignoring a vast population, so they don’t. They sell to people who don’t care about specs. Who don’t care about features. They sell to people who just want it to work, and not require calling for help just to turn it on.
They also don’t do a lot of “Design by committee” because designing by committee always sucks. You get too many cooks, and what do you get with too many cooks? Microsoft Broth.
It’s easy to get better designs for things. Stop assuming that you can tweak your existing process. That only repeats every mistake you always make. Can you imagine if the X-Box team had done things “The Microsoft Way”? Ugh. You don’t need usability labs and committees and the rest. Just get the hell out of the geek bubble, sit quietly in a corner and listen to people. See what works in the non-computer world.
Stop assuming that it’s not you. Because, as the iPod ad spoof showed, it most certainly is you.
Let’s see if I have this straight … if you weren’t part of a teeny-tiny social clique, which heavily skews well-off white men, in a small part of California, more than a decade ago, that’s “a major reason” you won’t be on the A-list (“those early dinners back in 1992/93″).
You said it, not me!
.
[PS - I suspect you're about to get flamed for the aesthetics/fashion-model parts of the post. Just a heads-up. Too bad Shelley Powers shut-down her blog.]
Let’s see if I have this straight … if you weren’t part of a teeny-tiny social clique, which heavily skews well-off white men, in a small part of California, more than a decade ago, that’s “a major reason” you won’t be on the A-list (“those early dinners back in 1992/93″).
You said it, not me!
.
[PS - I suspect you're about to get flamed for the aesthetics/fashion-model parts of the post. Just a heads-up. Too bad Shelley Powers shut-down her blog.]
This makes me think of Kodak’s marketing to women a couple of years back, which we studied in one of my management classes this past spring. If you make it interesting and easy for the majority of women to blog, they will. Right now there are so many ways to get involved (Blogger, WordPress, TypePad, Xanga, et al.), it’s almost overwhelming for the non-geeks.
If anyone, Microsoft included, wants to see how vital it is to get women involved in your product or idea start by reading this article on Kodak.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05187/533671.stm
This makes me think of Kodak’s marketing to women a couple of years back, which we studied in one of my management classes this past spring. If you make it interesting and easy for the majority of women to blog, they will. Right now there are so many ways to get involved (Blogger, WordPress, TypePad, Xanga, et al.), it’s almost overwhelming for the non-geeks.
If anyone, Microsoft included, wants to see how vital it is to get women involved in your product or idea start by reading this article on Kodak.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05187/533671.stm
Scoble: Why there aren’t many women bloggers on the A list
Scobe considers an Contra Costa Times article on why there are so few A List bloggers
Robert, say what? 1992? 1993? How is it that what did did not happen 13 and 14 years ago (long before blogging) affects how things are now? Please clarify… do you mean 2002/2003?
Robert, say what? 1992? 1993? How is it that what did did not happen 13 and 14 years ago (long before blogging) affects how things are now? Please clarify… do you mean 2002/2003?
This female blogger remembers when the net was young and identifying oneself as female meant opening oneself up to the multitudes of propositions from lonely geek-boys on IRC, MUDs and the web. This isn’t such a problem, now, but old gender-obscuring habits die hard. Oh course, I’m no A-lister (or even P-lister), but I tell myself I could be, if I’d just apply myself.
This female blogger remembers when the net was young and identifying oneself as female meant opening oneself up to the multitudes of propositions from lonely geek-boys on IRC, MUDs and the web. This isn’t such a problem, now, but old gender-obscuring habits die hard. Oh course, I’m no A-lister (or even P-lister), but I tell myself I could be, if I’d just apply myself.
OK, there may be a dearth of A-list women bloggers, but there are women bloggers out there, tons of them. They’re all over LJ forming communities of mommies, making fansites, and blogging their thoughts dear-diary style. They’re forming micro-communities together with a handful of friends and they are very active in these communities. They’re not A-list rockstars…A-list? They would say “who cares?” They’re making friends and forming bonds in the online world.
[However, as a girl who *is* a geek, the full disclosure is that these blogs bore me to tears.]
I’m glancing through my tech blogroll, & I see male bloggers dominate my list. “Blog” is not yet a household name…believe me, I’ve had to define “blog” 1000 times to the non-techies in my life. And for the non-techies of GenY (who are actually pretty techie), a blog is just that thing they read on myspace. Good blogs, blogs worth reading, are still *somewhat* the kingdom of the geeks, though thanks to BlogHer and the like, this is starting to change. But for now, the kingdom is still a bunch of boys.
OK, there may be a dearth of A-list women bloggers, but there are women bloggers out there, tons of them. They’re all over LJ forming communities of mommies, making fansites, and blogging their thoughts dear-diary style. They’re forming micro-communities together with a handful of friends and they are very active in these communities. They’re not A-list rockstars…A-list? They would say “who cares?” They’re making friends and forming bonds in the online world.
[However, as a girl who *is* a geek, the full disclosure is that these blogs bore me to tears.]
I’m glancing through my tech blogroll, & I see male bloggers dominate my list. “Blog” is not yet a household name…believe me, I’ve had to define “blog” 1000 times to the non-techies in my life. And for the non-techies of GenY (who are actually pretty techie), a blog is just that thing they read on myspace. Good blogs, blogs worth reading, are still *somewhat* the kingdom of the geeks, though thanks to BlogHer and the like, this is starting to change. But for now, the kingdom is still a bunch of boys.
The reason for the dearth of “a-list” (whatever that means) women bloggers is because few women write on technology.
Observe: the most successful blogs are tech blogs because that’s what the majority of blog readers (“geeks”) are interested in.
Amanda Congdon is doing alright.
The reason for the dearth of “a-list” (whatever that means) women bloggers is because few women write on technology.
Observe: the most successful blogs are tech blogs because that’s what the majority of blog readers (“geeks”) are interested in.
Amanda Congdon is doing alright.
Why does this matter, really? Does the fashion industry ask why there are not more heterosexual males in their industry? Is the fashion industry suffering becauses of it? I would imagine the auto industry has a higher percentage of males. Do they wring their hands over it? Is the auto industry (GM and Ford aside) suffering because of a lack of women?
I somehow think women geeks would not really be in touch with the mainstream woman, just like the male geek is not in touch with the mainstream male. Applying the Title IX philosophy to the computer world won’t make technology more appealing to women. Do the data suggest that women are not consuming technology?
Are there actual barriers to women entering the technology field? Do universities keep them from majoring in technology? Does Microsoft and other tech companies deliberately not hire women? Or could it be it’s simply not a field that appeals the the gender as much as it does a male? Should more men be going into fashion design? Nursing? Child care? Selling Mary Kay?
Regardless of your gender, figure out how to give consumers what they will want.
What problem would having more “A-list” (whatever the hell that means) women bloggers solve? Should gender matter more than what it is you have to say or offer? If someone makes something I want to buy or has something interesting to say, I really don’t care if they are male or female.
When you say “our industry is moving from a feature one…” shows how out of touch MS has been all along. All people want is something that works; something they can use to solve their problems or make their lives easer. Easy of use has ALWAYS won! If MS didn’t have that approach from the beginning then they’ve succeeded in spite of themselves.
Why does this matter, really? Does the fashion industry ask why there are not more heterosexual males in their industry? Is the fashion industry suffering becauses of it? I would imagine the auto industry has a higher percentage of males. Do they wring their hands over it? Is the auto industry (GM and Ford aside) suffering because of a lack of women?
I somehow think women geeks would not really be in touch with the mainstream woman, just like the male geek is not in touch with the mainstream male. Applying the Title IX philosophy to the computer world won’t make technology more appealing to women. Do the data suggest that women are not consuming technology?
Are there actual barriers to women entering the technology field? Do universities keep them from majoring in technology? Does Microsoft and other tech companies deliberately not hire women? Or could it be it’s simply not a field that appeals the the gender as much as it does a male? Should more men be going into fashion design? Nursing? Child care? Selling Mary Kay?
Regardless of your gender, figure out how to give consumers what they will want.
What problem would having more “A-list” (whatever the hell that means) women bloggers solve? Should gender matter more than what it is you have to say or offer? If someone makes something I want to buy or has something interesting to say, I really don’t care if they are male or female.
When you say “our industry is moving from a feature one…” shows how out of touch MS has been all along. All people want is something that works; something they can use to solve their problems or make their lives easer. Easy of use has ALWAYS won! If MS didn’t have that approach from the beginning then they’ve succeeded in spite of themselves.
Well, I don’t think it’s about MS vs Apple, though the design philosophy thing probably plays a huge part.
I’m with dmad, I don’t think of a lack of A-list women bloggers as a problem to be solved.
I’m thinking the comment is driven by some perception of imbalance. Maybe the problem is that too many male bloggers write about techy things and aren’t in touch with their feelings.
Or maybe, just maybe, men and women, IN GENERAL, are made up differently, and normative behavior for one sex is slightly different than for the other?! Oh the heresy.
Personally though, I could stand to see more quality bloggers (note that I wish I was one.) and less worry about race/sex/color/creed balance.
Well, I don’t think it’s about MS vs Apple, though the design philosophy thing probably plays a huge part.
I’m with dmad, I don’t think of a lack of A-list women bloggers as a problem to be solved.
I’m thinking the comment is driven by some perception of imbalance. Maybe the problem is that too many male bloggers write about techy things and aren’t in touch with their feelings.
Or maybe, just maybe, men and women, IN GENERAL, are made up differently, and normative behavior for one sex is slightly different than for the other?! Oh the heresy.
Personally though, I could stand to see more quality bloggers (note that I wish I was one.) and less worry about race/sex/color/creed balance.
Geeeee so if you weren’t aparta smugy elite-insider Sillycon Valleyish geeky-mashup in the early 90s, you don’t count?
And I call out on “blogs”, heck the term wasn’t even invented until Mr. Robot Wisdom ran his great web page thru it (December 1997). Easy to look back, trying to fit the narrative, but that’s revisionist history. Heck, Mosaic for Windows didn’t hit until September 1993, for goodness sake. And in 1992 was anyone even TALKING about the web as we know it, much less blogs? That was still the BBS and Mondo 2000 era (and hypertext jabba jabba), maybe some Well’isms. But blogs? Not on your life. And dot.com mania and Geocities and Wired overhype didn’t even start a play until mid 90s. And Cameron Barrett, one of the oldest “blogs” but fired up in 1997. Well maybe “God”, err rather, ‘Dave Winer’ inventor of the earth and everything in it, has some “history”.
Too bad Shelley Powers shut-down her blog
I know, I know. The good ones tumble out, and the A List Class of 1993 “visionary” Toads rumble on forever.
Geeeee so if you weren’t aparta smugy elite-insider Sillycon Valleyish geeky-mashup in the early 90s, you don’t count?
And I call out on “blogs”, heck the term wasn’t even invented until Mr. Robot Wisdom ran his great web page thru it (December 1997). Easy to look back, trying to fit the narrative, but that’s revisionist history. Heck, Mosaic for Windows didn’t hit until September 1993, for goodness sake. And in 1992 was anyone even TALKING about the web as we know it, much less blogs? That was still the BBS and Mondo 2000 era (and hypertext jabba jabba), maybe some Well’isms. But blogs? Not on your life. And dot.com mania and Geocities and Wired overhype didn’t even start a play until mid 90s. And Cameron Barrett, one of the oldest “blogs” but fired up in 1997. Well maybe “God”, err rather, ‘Dave Winer’ inventor of the earth and everything in it, has some “history”.
Too bad Shelley Powers shut-down her blog
I know, I know. The good ones tumble out, and the A List Class of 1993 “visionary” Toads rumble on forever.
It’s that women aren’t going into computer science and don’t hang out wherever geeks congregate. The next time you go to a user group or a geek dinner or a computer conference or visit a computer science department at a major university, look around. You’ll probably see mostly men.
All true, all sad.
Robert, here’s something you can do to help, if you’d like: the next time you’re talking to a woman about tech, ask her when the last time was that she wrote code. If she says she doesn’t, or that it was a long time ago, ask her why.
It’s not that writing code is all-important; it’s that we need to bring attention to the fact that, well, unless you’re creating new stuff, you’re not truly participating. Why women aren’t contributing at the same rate is an interesting question, but (imo) there needs to be less focus on the women part and more on the code part. I’ll bet you get some fascinating responses.
All in all, this is the same discussion that we’ve been having for years (although I think that when you wrote 1992/93 you meant 2002/3). Obviously, if we keep getting the same disappointing answers, then we’ve been asking the wrong questions. It’s time to come up with new questions if we want to move forward.
Dori
(Currently in NZ at a conference where I’ll be talking about code…)
It’s that women aren’t going into computer science and don’t hang out wherever geeks congregate. The next time you go to a user group or a geek dinner or a computer conference or visit a computer science department at a major university, look around. You’ll probably see mostly men.
All true, all sad.
Robert, here’s something you can do to help, if you’d like: the next time you’re talking to a woman about tech, ask her when the last time was that she wrote code. If she says she doesn’t, or that it was a long time ago, ask her why.
It’s not that writing code is all-important; it’s that we need to bring attention to the fact that, well, unless you’re creating new stuff, you’re not truly participating. Why women aren’t contributing at the same rate is an interesting question, but (imo) there needs to be less focus on the women part and more on the code part. I’ll bet you get some fascinating responses.
All in all, this is the same discussion that we’ve been having for years (although I think that when you wrote 1992/93 you meant 2002/3). Obviously, if we keep getting the same disappointing answers, then we’ve been asking the wrong questions. It’s time to come up with new questions if we want to move forward.
Dori
(Currently in NZ at a conference where I’ll be talking about code…)
[...] Robert Scoble schreibt darüber, dass es kaum Frauen auf der A-List der Blogger gibt. Und er bekommt wie zu erwarten eine Vielzahl von Kommentaren. Die reichen von "Frauen bloggen ja, aber halt über die Themen, die sie interessieren: Windeln, Spielplätze …" bis zu "Es ist doch ganz gleich, wer ein Blogg schreibt, ob Frau oder Mann, farbig oder weiß, Hauptsache der Inhalt stimmt." [...]
…I understand the premise of the article and your response, but I’d like to point out that there are definitely some a-list bloggers *within certain sub-communities* in the blogosphere (Gretchen Ledgard at jobsblog before she left this April; Heather Solomon, who blogs about SharePoint/MCMS IU customization among other things; Betsy Aoki, who was until recently — when she moved over to Windows Live — the blogging queen of a matriarchy of her own creation. I suppose it depends, to a degree, where you look.
Additionally, it’s worth considering that the lack of women a-list bloggers is a reflection of the relative under-representation of women in corporate America overall, regardless of blogging’s impact as a business/cultural phenomenon. I.e., which came first: the chicken (women are under-represented in the blogging a-list) or the egg (women are under-represented in corporate America)?
…I understand the premise of the article and your response, but I’d like to point out that there are definitely some a-list bloggers *within certain sub-communities* in the blogosphere (Gretchen Ledgard at jobsblog before she left this April; Heather Solomon, who blogs about SharePoint/MCMS IU customization among other things; Betsy Aoki, who was until recently — when she moved over to Windows Live — the blogging queen of a matriarchy of her own creation. I suppose it depends, to a degree, where you look.
Additionally, it’s worth considering that the lack of women a-list bloggers is a reflection of the relative under-representation of women in corporate America overall, regardless of blogging’s impact as a business/cultural phenomenon. I.e., which came first: the chicken (women are under-represented in the blogging a-list) or the egg (women are under-represented in corporate America)?
Hi there.
I run a non-profit organization and a related blog called The Remembering Site (.org and .blogspot.com). We make it easy for me to blog and for anyone, anywhere to write, archive, share and publish their life story.
We have life stories from people around the US and the world – a 21 year-old blind woman, a 28 year-old man who wrote his story so his fiance would know more about him and say yes to marrying him; a 38 year-old woman serving in Iraq who was left at the step of a Mexican church at birth; a 38 year-old man in Cuba who has never driven a car; a 38 year-old woman who was raised in poverty but is now the author of 7 books; a 56 year-old British cancer survivor; an 86 year-old who grew up on the plains in Nebraska; and an 80 year-old woman in Uganda who witnessed the genocide are just a few of the biographies featured on
our site.
We’re a non-profit organization and would be so appreciative if all of you could link to our site and also mention it in one of your columns.
Warmly,
Dr. Sarah McCue
Co-Founder
The Remembering Site
Hi there.
I run a non-profit organization and a related blog called The Remembering Site (.org and .blogspot.com). We make it easy for me to blog and for anyone, anywhere to write, archive, share and publish their life story.
We have life stories from people around the US and the world – a 21 year-old blind woman, a 28 year-old man who wrote his story so his fiance would know more about him and say yes to marrying him; a 38 year-old woman serving in Iraq who was left at the step of a Mexican church at birth; a 38 year-old man in Cuba who has never driven a car; a 38 year-old woman who was raised in poverty but is now the author of 7 books; a 56 year-old British cancer survivor; an 86 year-old who grew up on the plains in Nebraska; and an 80 year-old woman in Uganda who witnessed the genocide are just a few of the biographies featured on
our site.
We’re a non-profit organization and would be so appreciative if all of you could link to our site and also mention it in one of your columns.
Warmly,
Dr. Sarah McCue
Co-Founder
The Remembering Site
Hi! I’m a female blogger and I love it, even though the technology is so far beyond me that I can’t even post pictures to my site. It always strikes me as odd that there are no instructions for simple procedures attached as a matter of course to blogs. No basic training, or clear, jargon-free explanations. I would welcome those so much. Also, I notice that the traffic on my site tends to be mostly from women although I think my material (I’m a university lecturer writing a book and commenting generally about the interplay between life and literature) is non-gender specific. Perhaps there’s a real niche research project here to study gender in discourse.
Hi! I’m a female blogger and I love it, even though the technology is so far beyond me that I can’t even post pictures to my site. It always strikes me as odd that there are no instructions for simple procedures attached as a matter of course to blogs. No basic training, or clear, jargon-free explanations. I would welcome those so much. Also, I notice that the traffic on my site tends to be mostly from women although I think my material (I’m a university lecturer writing a book and commenting generally about the interplay between life and literature) is non-gender specific. Perhaps there’s a real niche research project here to study gender in discourse.
Susan, sorry, yeah, I meant dinners and events in 2002/2003.
Susan, sorry, yeah, I meant dinners and events in 2002/2003.
Christopher: it’s ironic that you are sad about “good bloggers” dropping out of the game when I’ve been begging you to start a blog ever since I’ve known you (since 2003, if I remember right) and you refuse. So, you don’t get to throw rocks since you refused to even join the game.
Christopher: it’s ironic that you are sad about “good bloggers” dropping out of the game when I’ve been begging you to start a blog ever since I’ve known you (since 2003, if I remember right) and you refuse. So, you don’t get to throw rocks since you refused to even join the game.
Anon: it’s not just tech blogs, either. Look at the best political blogs. The men outnumber the women there, too, even if you include wonkette.
Anon: it’s not just tech blogs, either. Look at the best political blogs. The men outnumber the women there, too, even if you include wonkette.
Robert, by your logic, then Ballmer should STFU about Linux, since he refuses to join the game
Dude, blog software sucks ass. Hard. All of it. you want to know why LiveJournal and MySpace are so big? Because they’re easier to deal with. No comment spam, no trackback spam, etc. Just set up your account and go.
with VERY little exception, Blogging software STILL isn’t something you just use. You have to maintain it and massage it, etc. You want more not-geeks? Get blog software out of the Model T design model and into the the Honda model.
As far as women in blogging, the ones i know that blog do it because they like it as a thing, and they like the interaction. The ones that don’t? It’s because they just don’t care. They see no personal value in that kind of interaction with the random world. One woman I know is a really geeky IT manager, but she blogs about dogs and drumming, because that’s what she cares about, and likes to talk about. But she doesn’t use a “blogging” service, that’s too much like work.
I’ve also found that most women I know just have better things to do than blog. They don’t see a point in the effort.
Robert, by your logic, then Ballmer should STFU about Linux, since he refuses to join the game
Dude, blog software sucks ass. Hard. All of it. you want to know why LiveJournal and MySpace are so big? Because they’re easier to deal with. No comment spam, no trackback spam, etc. Just set up your account and go.
with VERY little exception, Blogging software STILL isn’t something you just use. You have to maintain it and massage it, etc. You want more not-geeks? Get blog software out of the Model T design model and into the the Honda model.
As far as women in blogging, the ones i know that blog do it because they like it as a thing, and they like the interaction. The ones that don’t? It’s because they just don’t care. They see no personal value in that kind of interaction with the random world. One woman I know is a really geeky IT manager, but she blogs about dogs and drumming, because that’s what she cares about, and likes to talk about. But she doesn’t use a “blogging” service, that’s too much like work.
I’ve also found that most women I know just have better things to do than blog. They don’t see a point in the effort.
I meant dinners and events in 2002/2003
Oh, I coulda spared you a whole paragraph of history remakes. But gee, “1992/1993″ I saw as literal. I don’t always read double-meaing backtracking ‘extend and revise’ bloggerese that well.
I meant dinners and events in 2002/2003
Oh, I coulda spared you a whole paragraph of history remakes. But gee, “1992/1993″ I saw as literal. I don’t always read double-meaing backtracking ‘extend and revise’ bloggerese that well.
wonkette — no longer a woman. AMC has moved on, and the editors are now david lat and alex pareene.
http://www.wonkette.com/politics/wonkette/letter-from-the-editors-politics-makes-strange-blogfellows-151416.php
wonkette — no longer a woman. AMC has moved on, and the editors are now david lat and alex pareene.
http://www.wonkette.com/politics/wonkette/letter-from-the-editors-politics-makes-strange-blogfellows-151416.php
Scoble, why do you continue to believe that geeks are all that matter?
Scoble, why do you continue to believe that geeks are all that matter?