So LinkedIn sent me an email suggesting I tell it about more of my past jobs so I could connect with more of my ex-colleagues. I started fairly honestly, but only two other University employees are members of LinkedIn, and none of those nursing homes and museums I worked summers in seem to have gotten into the online social networking thing, so it became obvious I would have to be more original. I tried Google. Sure, plenty of “colleagues”, but noone I knew. I tried various newspapers (my job title? easy: “reader”) but had more fun once I declared myself as a “devotee” at a company named “The Internet”. I have lots of colleagues. Several owners, a few founders, and then the bores, the “managing directors” and “consultants”. Unfortunately, just as I was about to mass-invite them all to be my “friends”, LinkedIn churlishly told me it wouldn’t send out the invitations to my colleagues in “The Internet” without my telling it their email addresses. And of course I don’t have them.
Maybe it’s just as well. There are other things I could be doing with my time.
Salik Games
I like it. Keep on writing. Do you live in Bergen? I
still remember it from my stay in Norway a long time
ago, especially the ride above the cemetery.
“The empty half of the glass is always at the top”
Joshua Salik
Salik Games
http://salikgames.home.att.net
Mathieu O'Neil
Hi
My name is Mathieu O’Neil, I‚Äôm currently a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University‚Äôs Center of New Media Arts. I also contribute to a collective blog on New Media Arts called underthesun (http://underthesun.anu.edu.au/weblogs/underthesun/).
I’m presently conducting a sociological survey of blogs, focusing on the social dynamics which lead people to blog and on how bloggers determine the value of their and other bloggers’ work on the blogging market. My research findings will be presented at a conference at Macquarie University (Sydney), “Mobile Boundaries / Rigid Worlds: The Contemporary Paradox” in late September.
I conducted a similar survey with zine publishers in the mid-nineties, obtained 120 responses, and wrote up the results in an article entitled “The Lay of the Land. Portrait of the Zinester as a Social Statistic” which was published in the “zine of zines”, Factsheet 5 (no. 62, 1997). I’m also interested in the possible continuities / discontinuities between blogs and zines.
So, I would really appreciate it if you could take the time to answer the following questions, as well as pass them on to anyone else who might be interested in taking part. Any information collected is for social science research purposes only, and will be be treated with the utmost confidentiality (hey, if you think collecting bloggers’ personal details is some kind of fiendish conspiracy, be my guest).
A few pointers:
-Please try to keep your answers short.
-Please do not modify the order of the questions.
-Please do not send in surveys after 5 SEPTEMBER, 2004. This is the official cut-off date.
Thanks!
Best,
Mathieu O’Neil
Please direct all queries and completed surveys to:
oneil@homemail.com.au
THE GREAT BLOGGER SURVEY
A-Your blog
How much time do you devote to your blog:
Name of your blog:
Started:
Genre (if applicable):
Subject:
Appearance:
Cost:
Updates:
Why did you start blogging:
What are you most proud of in your blog:
What does your offline entourage think of it:
B-Personal
Age:
Gender:
Residence (big-small town/where):
Profession:
Salary:
Did you go to university (if so, where):
Highest education degree(s) (in what):
Father’s profession:
Mother’s profession:
Paternal grandfather’s profession:
Maternal grandfather’s profession:
Religion (if any):
Political affiliation (if any):
C-Taste
Favorite food:
Favorite book:
Favorite music:
Favorite film:
Favorite computer game:
Where do you buy your clothes:
D-Technology
Your computer:
Your blogging software:
Internet connection:
Most common technical glitch:
E-The Blogosphere
How much time do you spend reading other blogs:
What is your favorite blog and why:
What is the best / worst thing about blogs:
Who do you link with:
Do you see yourself as belonging to a blog tribe:
Have any problems arisen because you blog:
What blogging practice annoys you the most:
Do you post comment in other blogs:
Do you subscribe to email lists / discussions (which ones):
What is your take on the blogosphere:
F-Blogs and zines
Did you read zines?
How are zines and blogs similar:
How are zines and blogs different:
——————–
Jill
Good luck with your survey Mathieu – do you think self-selecting respondees might skew your data sample, though? I know it’s not easy finding a good way of surveying blogs..