Here is part of what I wrote then:
"Anyway I have tried to limit my blogroll to blogs/sites that I read consistently but maintaining that schedule is rather tough because even though I read quickly there is often a ton of material to review and some of those posts require/demand more time. You know the ones that I am speaking of, they fall into two categories.For a while I increased the number of blogs I was following dramatically, but have since shrunk it back down. Too much information leads to sensory overload.
The first are those posts that tug on my emotions and touch something inside me. I like to stop and read them slowly to make sure that I really am understanding what I am reading and sometimes I am just blown away by it all, so much that I have to stop and catch my breath.
Some of the posts written by parents who have lost children have rocked my world. I often finish them and head straight to hug and kiss my children, wherever they may be.
The second category are those posts that are chock full of information and require that I read, review and read again. Sometimes that is because the topic is something that I am not as familiar with and I need to proceed carefully so that I can be certain that I understand it all. Sometimes I am well versed in the topic but there is so much information there I get sidetracked."
How about you. How many blogs are you reading? Is the current situation causing you to read more or less? Are you saturated or is this increasing your thirst for more information?
The floor is open.
19 comments:
I think I might be reading about the same amount, but the sad thing is that now it's more targetted. I have less chance to just peruse my blogroll, reading for whatever comes up, which I enjoy. Writing and keeping up with event has so overwhelmed my time that I now mostly function via scanning JRants headlines for narrow subjects (obviously the war), and technorati or other searches. This also has the effect that I more frequently just read one post and move on, rather than following the flow of a blogger's postings.
I look forward to returning to a more leisurely pace.
My magic number? 10. That's all my tiime and brain will allow me to read on a regular basis.
aj
I read about 26 blogs on a relative regular basis, and about 5 more on an occasional basis. I'm interested in what I would describe as the global conversation, and yes it has gotten pretty hot of late.
I think Jack you are digging, as I have been, to find out blogger’s opinions on the war without engaging them in the right and wrong aspects of it, so here is mine......
Jack, I know we both read David Bogner's Treppenwitz and I find his interpretation of the conflict in Israel/Lebanon the most accurate albeit depressing. I am also reading a few so called Christian Blogs and with the exception of my B-I-L's Blog ( Q ) I have read very little reasonable interpretations it is disgusting how little the run-of-the-mill Christian actually understands of this conflict. Most don't know how deeply entrenched Hezbollah is in Lebanon in both the population and the government. Many fundamentalist favour Israel on weird dispensationalist basis (God has a purpose for Jews) but still see Israel as wrong in invading Lebanon. There are still some Anti-Zionist tendencies in the fundamentalist camp They compare Hezbollah with American militia groups, and not like a political part of the Country. The problem is that the state can shut down a militia in the US but if that was tried in Lebanon with Hezbollah there would be civil war. Bush’s dumbass comment that Lebanon need only get Hezbollah to stop this SHIT was naive.
The only way this is going to end is if Israel significantly weakens Hezbollah. As a pacifist I deplore this option, but the alternative is for Israel to be the martyr and take Hezbollah’s shit.. In good conscience I would never expect someone or a nation to act ideologically as I would because I can’t even keep to my chosen pacifistic ideology entirely. The choice is theirs, and it would be damn hard to put up with this never ending crap from Hezbollah. As a pacifist I would question the degree of reaction Israel is showing in this conflict ,but I can understand it. I think it would be wiser to keep up the small border battles until Hezbollah eventually caves in and accepts Israel, but hoping for this might be naive as well.
Consider how you feel when someone throws a punch at you in a night-club (like David Bogner's posting) You want to pound the living crap out of the guy right. Well even a pacifist like myself has the same feeling, any that deny this are naive, lying or haven’t had a punch directed at them. Anger is chemical as much as emotional. So how would you feel if some one bombed your brothers house and killed your family? It is going to take a lot of peacemaking effort to stop this fight. Why? Because as David points out by example in his article entitled “A Difficult Lesson” (July 16, 2006) neither side is going to give up because as Q says “its hard to make peace with someone that does not want it” and that is directed at Hezbollah not Israel.
The fault is entirely Hezbollah but I think they have decided to kick the Pit-bull in the nuts and if not getting what they deserved they are getting what can be expected. The duty of the pacifist is to calm the parties and lead them to peace. Is this likely to happen? Not any time soon because even a pacifist knows not to stick his hands between two Pit-bulls I have only used for the example of Pit-Bulls in relation to ability and tenaciousness not aggressiveness. When the fighting dies down then maybe we can build the fences needed to keep both parties apart until Hezbollah learns to accept the neighbour has moved in to stay, and there is not a damned thing they will ever be able to do about that.
No set number...It depends what is on my mind.
These days, I am more glued to CNN and the Jerusalem Post, and not blogging as much as I used to do.
I have over 100 feeds now (yikes), but it's set up so they're much faster to read. I no longer read every post, and I comment far less; also, many of them post very infrequently.
I'm also a bit of a speed-reader - I now get through all I read in less than 45 minutes I'd estimate. (That's not a lot, if you think about it.)
Probably a hundred, but I do it through Bloglines and skip posts that don't seem interesting.
Of late, I find I can read many more than previously, but, it's due more t'something that came t'mind about reading comments.
Always kind'a had a nagging feeling that reading everyone else's comments on a subject was sort'a like easedropping, y'know?
Oh, sure, I still read other's comments (on other blogs) sometimes, but, only after writting my own thoughts on what I've read from the blog's author, first.
Sure, there is a chance of being redundant on simple matters, but fer the most part, I think being redundant is not really in the ballpark.
I sort'a come out'a way far left field, anyway, y'know?
And, well, I do go on, sometimes.
But, there are so many great blogs out there! Like you. Dang, I came by here about a blue moon ago (no, really, I think it was at the blue moon) and y'all had three or four videos here and I liked t'laugh m'butt off!
The german version of candid camera? With the waterbed that turned out t'really be a waterbed?!?
I'm still howling at that one.
But, we're human beings, and we can set our own limits, eh? Our minds will permit us to percieve as many, or as few, readings we wish to believe we can read.
Me?
I have about thirty minutes at the least to near four hours at the most, and I can't get t'enough blog sites!
I have been very lucky in that I've only actually been to three that wre objectional to me.
Them? I don't go back.
I check two for my news on Israel and then I just check J-rants or Jblogging to see which posts might interest me. Looking at everyones blog would just take too much time.
My blogroll has increased dramatically, but I think I'm following different blogs than before the war. So I think, right now I'm not reading more blogs than I used. I've found that I'm increasingly spending time reading and responding to comments, because the discussion of what is going on is as important if not more than many of the posts themselves.
I also fluctuate with how many and who I read.
I read a lot of new ones every day from Blog Explosion, and I hate to admit it, but I have quite a list of 'do not view again', there seem to be a lot of far right thigns out there that make my stomach churn.
But I also have my regulars, and people I've 'known' for a while.
;-)
How are you Jack? I'll stop a while longer and read some more and find out..
Coincidentally stopping by today for this post! lol
I do still drop by once in a while, and am trying to be less ADD, and more relational with friends I already have.
Regularly? I probably have about 10 or so also, but that shifts as people come and go, and stop blogging, like Mirty! That was sad. We've lost some good bloggers this year.
There are maybe half a dozen on my blogroll that I visit every time I see they're updated.
Others are on my blogroll because I like their blogs and I don't want to forget that they're there but I don't always have time to read them frequently.
And there are still others that I check out when I read comments they've left on my or others' blogs but I haven't (yet?) blogrolled them.
Hi Jack: I have pretty much stuck to the few I've always read...adding a few new one's over the 8 months I've actually been blogging. It's very hard right now...I do not blog politically, so I feel guilty posting other things (which is ridiculous, I know), but I don't want to just read political posts either. The thing I first loved about blogging was the diversity of posts, so this just seems to be a tough time in the blogosphere for non-political bloggers. (sorry for rambling)
I check out quite a few blogs on a daily basis, but I don't feel any obligation to linger too long on any particular one. I remove links when I'm no longer interested in the blogger's point of view. I don't visit blogs in order to get into an argument, so if someone says something real stupid, I drop them and move on. I've dropped a few this week.
Is is clear that the vast majority of my time online is being spent on the war, be it on blogs covering it or following heavilly a myriad of press for posts and knowledge.
I have started casting a much wider net away from Jewish blogs regarding the war, but have not yet had opportunity to organize them or get an in depth feel yet.
I'm also struggling with suddenly getting a lot of traffic which has doubled the time I spend on my own blog keeping up, I'm not used to getting 2-4k a day frankly which is now happening a few times a week for me as my blog gets more exposure, which I guess is a double-edged sword.
I need to clean my blog roll. There are many I no longer read because they're just to far out there.
Hi Gav,
I can appreciate that. It will be nice when things hit a point where normalcy returns.
Nutrilite,
Ten is a decent number.
Rebecca,
You should be able to write about whatever you want. Your blog is your corner.
Bill,
I enjoyed your comment, not just because I agree with a lot of what you said but because it was thoughtful. That doesn't always happen, sometimes we are in such a rush that people get a couple of words and that is it.
Barbara,
Fair enough.
Ezzie,
100 feeds and you get through in 45 minutes. Do you really get a chance to read them all?
JA,
That's why headlines are important. I really suspect that many good posts are missed because of weak headlines.
Elster,
Ten is a decent number, especially if the posts have any length to them.
Boneman,
Hello. I liked that waterbed bit. It was fun, wasn't it.
FWQ,
Time is a precious resource, makes sense to me.
Irina,
I agree, the discussion is important.
Hi Chandira,
It has been a while. How are you?
Some blogs are tough to take, I know what you mean.
Sheyna,
I hear you. The blogroll helps me keep pace with some that I don't hit often but don't want to miss.
Hi Lynne,
Welcome. I agree that far too many people are incredibly misinformed and ignorant about history. It is frightening.
Randi,
Like I said to Rebecca, it is your blog, post what YOU want.
Houston,
That is smart. I am not always good about avoiding arguments, maybe it is because I enjoy them. Ok, not maybe, I like a good debate.
Saus,
I have been trying to get outside the JBlogosphere too. My time is so limited it is hard, but it is worthwhile.
Hi Sea,
Some blogs start out one way and end up so very different.
too many... depends on the day and which bloggers have new posts and whether or not i'm interested in the topic. i tend to read things quite quickly, skim over over it (in RSS feed) and if it looks interesting i'll read it properly.
My blogroll is not an indication of how many blogs I read, and I feel the sensory overload at times when I'm unable to comment. I should cut down; my numbers are way too high. Plus I have a photoblog with a different audience!
Sarah,
I should probably start using an RSS feed to save time.
CB,
Makes sense to me.
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