I've discovered that there is tremendous value to my having (at least) two spaces in which to blog. I use a weblog at work as an avatar for conversation within my small community of team members. On it I am constantly making posts that fall (roughly) into the following categories:
- reference posts
- FYI posts
- HELP! posts
- conversation posts
reference posts
This is sort of a souped-up favorites/bookmarks list. I use Moveable Type, so the archives are readily searchable. I often make a mental note that there is a post regarding a certain topic on a weblog (either mine or someone else's). Because I'm not in the habit of using keywords extensively, there are times that I can't find the post easily because I can't remember what it was called, but most of the time it works wonderfully. In our team meetings I am finding that we increasingly refer one another to an old post on someone's weblog for more information. Analogy: Searchable and annotated Favorites/Bookmarks list
FYI posts
These are sort of like an email distribution list. I have a rough idea of who is subscribed to my RSS feed, so I can post a notice in my weblog when I come across something I think everyone should be aware of. This ranges from project-oriented communication or information to silly Friday-afternoon links to a Dilbert cartoon. Analogy: Email distribution list, discussion board, news group
HELP! posts
This is one of the most valuable forms of communication that the weblog has enabled. When I have an idea that I don't know how to proceed with because I'm not sure - who else is/has been working on similar projects
- who is the right person to talk to
- what potential obstacles to the project might be
- etc.
For the most part, these questions are those that would not traditionally merit a phone call or an email. As silly as it sounds, I feel more comfortable posting these 'low end' questions so that someone can choose to reply if they desire than I am initiating a two-way conversation for the sole purpose of gaining this small bit of information. Further, when these questions are asked openly, all benefit from the exchange--the answer to the question moves into the FYI category mentioned above. You can remember that someone else asked the question before and you search for it on their weblog.Analogy: Phone call or email message that becomes archived and visible to all those who might need it
conversation posts
These are some of the most interesting. The weblog is a somewhat awkward conversation medium at first glance. Because our team uses Moveable Type, we have ready access to the TrackBack feature, which makes conversational dialogue MUCH simpler. In the past, a user would make a comment on an individual post. Often, because there wasn't any flag that indicated the comment had been made, it would go unnoticed. An unanswered comment has a chilling effect on the motivation of the commenter to participate in the future. With TrackBack, I can select the portion of your post that I wish to comment on and use my bookmarklet to post the excerpt on my weblog, along with any comments I wish to make. Because we have autodiscovery of TrackBack pings turned on, referencing the original post is as easy as checking a box or selecting the name of the post from a popup list. The new post is then referenced on the original site without any effort on the part of the original author. I am quite surprised at how readily conversations of this sort have been taken place. Once you get over the initial mental shift required to participate in this sort of conversation, it can become a powerful tool (especially when combined with the HELP posts mentioned above). Analogy: Discussion group, email (individual or list), "slow" IM
8:11:46 AM 
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