Want to hear the conversation at our Bible Study today? (with 3 out 4 women who are bloggers) I wish I could have taped it. So rich in so many ways!

"We really should be focusing on Bible study here but isn't it fun to talk about blogging? I mean, I can say it so much better there."

"I would tell you about my day, but first, well, did you read it on my blog?"

"No, not yet."

"Okay, well, here are the cliff notes but it really does sound better the way I wrote it but this way you get the facial expressions so let me tell you now."

"Wait, do you think Peter meant we shouldn't want to be Super Bloggers when he talks about humility and seeking God's glory instead things that feed our ambition and pride? I mean, where are we going with all this?"

'Well, we know we want to live in God's will and blogging helps us get out the stories in our heads and we aren't doing anything against God's will. In fact, we are connecting with other women who are Christians around the world. It's a good thing."

"Okay, but did you see my new shoes on my blog? Well, let me show you in person. They look much better in person."

"Hmm. . . I don't have deep discussions or shoes on my blog. Maybe I should do something more interesting. Do you want to see the products I got in the mail to review? I need a quote."

"Are we ever going to get back to Bible Study? Maybe we should have a group blog about it? It is about grace after all, no not about Grace sitting here at the table but standing firm in the Grace of God."

"Speaking of standing firm, how do these new jeans look? Should I wear them to Blissdom 09?"

And, so the day of spiritual nourishment, fashion tips and kitchen product reviews ended with all the bloggers satisfied with the real-life connection of offline meetings. Prayer was said to cover all the ills of bunny trails and to take us back into our own publically private worlds where we will write cathartically and get out the quips and quirks of our families, our faith and our fortitude (okay I don't know what that means but it rhymed. Can you tell I'm Presbyterian?).

Tonight I will be teaching a class at a local college, called Writing for the Media. I will be introducing the concept of Convergent Journalism in which many journalist and media outlets are feeling the pressure to be savvy across multiple media, with a specific focus on digital platforms, to exist successfully in today's world.

I do feel that many points introduced in the book can be applied to blogging, since so many media outlets are blogging and so many bloggers are getting involved in media.

In the first chapter of the text, "Convergent Journalism An Introduction: Writing and Producing Across the Media" by Quinn and Filak, we learn that there are five types of convergence that can be identified today:

Ownership Convergence — media outlets owning TV, radio, websites, etc.

Tactical Convergence — content sharing among reporters, journalists, etc.

Structural Convergence – teams creating all written content for repackaging for each media

Information-Gathering Convergence – multimedia reporters

Storytelling or Presentation Convergence – at level of working journalist (Mobile)

In the blogging world, there is definitely all of the above. There are blogging sites that incorporate video, podcasting, reporting, storytelling, photography, etc. Those sites are often seen bringing in specialists (or focus-driven bloggers) in each field to help cover certain tasks or topics.

Tactical convergence in blogging is seen through sites linking to other sites that share the same information. Often whole posts are committed to sharing links that relate to specific topics being discussed through the blogosphere. Bloggers are known for designating days where others bloggers with similiar information can link to the host so that anyone and everyone can see who is participating.

Because blogging can be so personal, much of the convergence I am seeing seems to happen on the level of the single blogger because it is the individual who must know a little of everything, from good information gathering to good storytelling to well placed photography to creating video clips to how to edit with a qualified eye at the end.

The idea of structural convergence, information gathering, and storytelling meld into the individual blogger's mind. He or she must decide how far they want to go to promote a site which may or may not pay anything, except perhaps in promoting another commodity or employer where they already work or in traffic-based paid ads which pay fairly minimal fees. Are they pulling all this information together for their own creative outlet or for pay in some form? Monetizing a blog is an entirely new post that we will discuss another day.

As with journalism, the blogger must be able to discern good information from bad, a good editing tool over a bad one (i.e. photography or video editing) and a good story line versus one that readers could care less about. Bloggers who know how to do this, especially with good writing and editing skills, become the super bloggers.

The disadvantage an individual blogger faces is that there is no outside editor (unless you write for a site converging bloggers from various backgrounds and then the creator of the site may edit or have editors in place, often for no pay). Having no editor means no one outside oneself with a trained eye to sift the common hurried mistakes, know the AP Style Guidelines, and no one looking over the shoulder of the blogger just to make sure false information is not being disseminated.

But therein lies the freedom and joy of blogging. No one is paying you so no one can complain. They just might not come back to read more. It is one of the more obvious examples of blogging supply and demand. Give readers what they want, they come back. They are not paying anything either. Give them what they don't want, they go away.

There are so many more bloggers out there now then used to be, but we'll leave competition, marketing, social media and PR for another day also. There will be plenty more blog fodder on this topic in the weeks to come!

Thank you for stopping by!