Stardate 20040622.1905

(Captain's log): Why is it that I'm suddenly feeling insecure and frightened? I feel as if I'm being watched.

In the last two days I've received two different emails from academics which included questionaires about blogging they wanted me to answer. I don't know if this is good or bad; it depends on whether they're trying to "study" something they find threatening in hopes of finding a comforting reason to dismiss them, or whether they're really trying to find out what we're doing.

It strike me that if an academic wants to learn about blogs, then the best approach is field work: read a bunch of 'em. You can observe them in their native habitat without leaving the comfort of your desk, as long as you have a net connection.

But these people want me to tell them things about myself and my blog, and most of it seems strange.

One included 27 questions, most of which could have been answered by direct examination of my site. How frequently do you post to your weblog? Answer: Go look at my archives; every post has a date. Does your weblog contain a section for comments other than your e-mail address? Do you see anything like that on the site?

Other questions are silly or can't easily be answered: On average how many weblogs, apart from your own, do you read on a regular basis? There's nothing regular about how I read weblogs. There's no pattern at all.

To what degree do you feel your views are already represented by a major political party or interest group? Heh-heh-heh... They don't know me very well, do they?

Most of the questions have multiple-choice answers. At least they didn't do that for this one: Why did you develop a weblog? Sheesh...

At the beginning, it says, "This survey assesses political participation by individuals who write weblogs. Please place an X next to the choice(s) that best answer the question."

Based on the kind of questions they're asking, it seems to have a rather specific definition of "political participation". First, they ask about political orientation: Am I liberal? centrist? conservative? libertarian? socialist? other? Well, I'm five of those, but I missed a clean sweep because I'm not socialist.

Then they ask whether I've engaged in other kinds of activist activities, or urged my readers to do the same:

15. Have you used your weblog to do any of the following activities? (Please check all that apply.)

_____ to raise money
_____ to provide free advertising for a candidate
_____ to provide paid advertising for a candidate
_____ to announce an event (peace rally, public meeting, etc.)
_____ to encourage readers to send e-mail/letter to an elected official
_____ to encourage readers to vote or register to vote
_____ other ________________________________
_____ don't know
_____ not applicable

16. Prior to developing your weblog, please indicate whether you have undertaken any of the following activities? (Please check all that apply.)

_____ voted
_____ attended a rally, protest or march
_____ sent e-mail or letters to elected officials
_____ attended a political fund raiser
_____ worked on a campaign
_____ contributed to a campaign
_____ attended a party or local community meeting
_____ other________________________

17. Have you engaged in the following activities, after the development of your weblog? (Please check all that apply.)

_____ voted
_____ attended a rally, protest or march
_____ sent e-mail or letters to elected officials
_____ attended a political fund raiser
_____ worked on a campaign
_____ contributed to a campaign
_____ attended a party or local community meeting
_____ other _______________________

I have an uncomfortable feeling of being wedged into a box I don't fit. Seems as if someone has some preconceptions.

But nothing like the preconceptions apparent in the kinds of questions the other asked. There were only four, so I'll reproduce them and my answers for your amusement:

1. Would it be reasonable to think of a blog (whether your own or others') as a means of gaining a kind of immortality -- in the sense that testimony to the blogger's existence, along with a narrative of his life and a sense of his personality, will live forever on line? Why or why not?

Anyone who knows much about the web would snort contemptuously at the idea that anything could "live forever online". (We have to live with what's known as "link rot".)

The only reason my material is online is that I pay money each month. If I stop doing so, it will all vanish.

2. If a blog can be a means of keeping a blogger's name and narrative alive after the blogger is no longer w