What We Can Learn From Scoble's Lament

I think of Robert Scoble as a friend, and I appreciate the way he has come to the defense of Dave Winer -- if that is the right word -- in the newest twist of Dave's recent travails.

I don't want to dig into the pros and cons of Dave's situation -- aside to say that I hope he continues to blog despite his blog suicide comments -- but instead to reflect on the forces at work on prominent bloggers, and how we need to rethink the issues of persona, personality, and the personal and private.

• Personality -- Good bloggers' personalities come through, so they become public property, not the possession of the bloggers. Robert has the optimism, excitely, naivete, and infectious charm of a teenager, as well as some of the negatives you might associate with a teenager, like the ability to get angry when people aren't "fair." The point is that the writer's personality comes through, and the community knows all about us, and like residents of a small village they think of us as "theirs" including our foibles. Dave Winer's readers know him: he is standing in plain sight. You have to take the crankiness, misanthropy, and worldweariness along with his evident genius, and his wonder and delight he has in the world (I thank Doc Searls for that insight). But when the negative sides of our public personalities are made evident, we shouldn't be surprised when community jumps in and talks about it, even if it rankles: again, just like hateful rumors in a small village. (The other day someone posted that he was dropping me from his blogroll even though he thought what I write is 'original' because I am too much of a hippy, free spirit type. Ouch! Dead on, man!) We need thick skins, as I pointed out in this recent list of blogger talents, or else we have to give it up and become hermits.
• Persona -- By becoming bloggers and writing from such a vantage point as Robert's, our self can become larger than life. Some magic that is buried in the human psyche makes the figures leaping about on the stage a representative of something larger than that single person. The actor, writer, poet, or artist is a sort of shaman, responding to a higher calling. And, as such, I believe we lose something of ourselves in exchange for the experience. Our personas are not our own, truly; we are part of something larger. And that larger thing includes both dark and light sides. People know us through our personas, and they expect us to stay in our roles, and to play our parts. If we have done a good job of portraying ourselves, up here in the limelight, then they will be surprised -- maybe angry -- when we step out of character: and I mean character in both the theatrical sense and the sense of 'person of good character'. And sometimes they will be angry when we do things in character, because the role we are playing is not always the hero in the story. But it's not us that defines the character we are playing: it's the larger group, the world beyond the footlights.
• The Personal and Private -- Whatever we bring into the role, into the role, becomes a prop. Even it is 'ours' in some sense -- like a personal relationship, or a project, or some idea -- once we bring it on stage, it is no longer personal. I write about my relationship with Greg Narain, a good buddy, and someone I work with a lot on many projects. Once it's out here, then its no longer a personal relationship: it is a public relationship. If you want it to be personal and private don't blog about it! That should be simple. You can't expect the community out there to be able to determine through some nuanced reasoning that these things are public and/or part of the public persona, and these other things are personal, and although made public, are still not up for public discussion. So, I recommend that people not discuss business dealings, love affairs, or family issues unless you want your blog -- and the blogs of others who connect with you -- to start to feel like a paparazzi nightmare.

I was one of many who slammed Mena Trott for the obvious ironies involved in her yelling at Ben Metcalfe for his backchannel remarks at Les Blog in the middle of her talk about a "Kinder, Gentler Blogosphere," and I feel the same sort of off-ness about Robert's tone in recent posts about Dave Winer.

It's off because its easy to get confused when things "get personal" in a negative sense, even though much of what goes on in blogging is the outgrowth of living in the first person. We have to accept the dark with the light, we have to develop thick skins, and we have to remain authentic, all at the same time.

So it's completely reasonable (and in character) for Robert to tell people that they are wrong about Dave, that they are being unfair, and that they should stuff it. But he goes too far to state that once the mob has burned Dave at the stake, they will turn and burn Robert, and then the the rest of us. No, they won't. Dave has worn his persona well for years, and he shouldn't be surprised that the mob arrives with torches and rope. I don't think he is. It's also fine for Robert to howl at them, to tell them they are unjust, and that it's wrong. Some of them might listen, but most will be unmoved by his entreaties, even though it is in character, and noble.

If Robert is disillusioned at this apparent mistreatment, then I suspect his voice will deepen, he will mature, and we will all of us be better off for that, including him. His pain will not remain his own, however, it will ours, collectively, as the drama is played out in front of us. And we will all be made better, and wiser, because Robert's innocence is torn in this passion play.

In mythic drama, this would be the time for the young hero, deeply wounded by implacable enemies, to take a trip, a quest. So taking a week off and thinking deep thoughts might be called for, not only psychologically, but mythically. And I expect more great things from Robert in the future, and the same is true, although from a vastly different angle, for Dave, wherever their personas take them.

[Update: Jeneane weighs in with wise words: get back to writing, because the lynch mob can't get through security.]

tags: robert+scoble, dave+winer, blogging, blog+persona, mena+trott, ben+metcalfe, greg+narain, living+mythically, kinder+gentler+blogosphere

Comments

[Robert Scoble]

That's deep! Gotta read that again and again. Thanks!

[Scott Lake]

I have to admit, I feel bad for anyone who is friends with either Dave and Rogers now. Part of why I say that is because this kind of fight seems to be polarizing the blogoshere and it's hard to watch your friends being attacked.

The problem with this whole thing is that it is a very personal fight which has been made public for all the world to chime in on. Im sure that if both Dave and Rogers had thought about it a little more, neither would have chosen to make it the public specticle it has become.

I would hope that they could both just work it out but that is not going to happen until people ease up on the mob mentality.

Lastly, Stowe said it best: "If you want it to be personal and private don't blog about it!"