Some time ago, I wrote a paper on the use of aphorisms as information carriers. The central argument of the paper was that aphorisms fare better as repositories of wisdom as compared to traditional information systems, particularly intranets.
A related project that has interested me since then, is collecting epigrammatic wisdom about blogging - a recent field of activity with a fair bit of widely known and shared information, very little of which is in aphoristic form.
The aphorisms that follow are meant to kickstart that process - with a little help from wise men through the generations. I would love to hear from all of you about which ones hit the mark, and which ones don't. And if you have aphoristic advice to bloggers, do pass it on and I'll be glad to add it to the body of aphoristic wisdom on blogging.
Aphorisms on blogging:
* Fortune favours the blogger.
* A wise blogger knows everything; a shrewd blogger knows everyone.
* The secret to a good blog is to have more beginnings than ends.
* Blogging is a device for combining solitude with good company.
* If you want to work on your blog, work on your life.
* No blogger is ever too small, no blog ever too big.
* A blogger cannot fail; it is a success to be one.
* No two persons ever read the same blog.
* Hyperlinks are wonderful things; they make what is excellent in others belong to us as well.
* Don't judge a man until you have followed his blog for two moons.
* Everything in the world exists in order to end up on a blog.
* A blog is a thread on which we string our experiences.
v interesting. I think there's truth is something Seth Godin said - the best bloggers write for their readers..
And here's one of mine - To Blog, is to Be =)
Posted by: FiNK | November 30, 2006 at 11:37 AM
sweet!
Posted by: Tartrazina | November 30, 2006 at 07:03 PM
"If you want to work on your blog, work on your life." - Agree.
"A blogger cannot fail; it is a success to be one." - Disagree.
Posted by: simon | December 14, 2006 at 08:03 PM
I think i've screwed up on most of those - particularly having a life.
Posted by: richard | December 14, 2006 at 11:41 PM
guess for most bloggers its (with apologies to descartes) 'i think therefore, i blog'
Posted by: meraj | December 15, 2006 at 11:21 AM
Blogging is a device for combining solitude with good company.- Nice!
Posted by: Katie Chatfield | December 15, 2006 at 12:07 PM
@Simon : I love the 'work on your life' one too. The second one is, I guess, true in a certain sense - meaning there's no objective view of what success is when you are a blogger. Of course, there are Technorati rankings but some believe in not chasing them. It certainly doesn't mean 'if have a blog, you are a success in life.'
@Richard : I certainly don't agree with you. And I am sure everyone who has read your blog will agree with me.
@Meraj : Can we just modify that one to 'I am, therefore I blog.'? What do you say? It reflects the same sentiment that Fink had commented on before.
@Katie : Like all the other aphorisms here, that one too is a corruption of an existing quote. The original refers to books being that device, but I think (and I'm sure you'll agree) it works better with blogs.
Posted by: blaiq | December 15, 2006 at 03:22 PM