I’ve done a bit more thinking and reading about the issue of current and future academics who blog. My conclusion is that, especially given the concern that what I write today may have an impact on my future job prospects, it’s necessary to periodically reevaluate and assert what this exercise is all about.
- Discourse of ideas: Daniel Drezner, for example, says “When I started blogging, I feared that it would prove a distraction from my scholarly research. What I did not anticipate was that it would actually trigger new research avenues.” I have found this to be true. Not being around the Journalism department very much means that there aren’t that many opportunities to talk about these issues, much less think/write them out and receive feedback from others. Since this blog is primarily academic, I hope that it serves this function and stays within the bounds of what would be an acceptable academic debate (theory, research, or otherwise).
- Technology and Mass Communication: The combination of my interest in Internet technology, and the fact that blogging is becoming a greater factor in the Journalism word leads me to think that working on this type of publication would be a bonus. Knowing how blogs work technically, as well as understanding the culture (something I’m only beginning to do), I believe, will make me a more well-rounded researcher and educator.
- Anonymous?: As the story of the L.A. Times blogger shows, blogging anonymously can come back to haunt you if you are outed. I would rather have everyone know about my (admittedly very open) intellectual style than risk problems down the road.
- Intellectual diary: There are honestly a lot of news stories which I find interesting in regards to my academic interests which I don’t want to loose track of (and being able to add my current thoughts and organize with tags is even better).
With all of that said, I realize that there needs to be some focus to my work here. Except when I’m simply posting to remember a story, or working on hashing out an idea, I’ll try to keep things either theoretically or empirically grounded (meaning, as little politics as possible). It simply is the intellectually honest thing to do, even if one is thinking out loud.