Joi Ito has put up a very evocative description of how blogging shapes his behaviour. An excerpt:
I realized that I was compromising and in fact evening softening my words assuming that the video of my presentation might end up on the Internet and that I would have to defend any hardline positions I took.
Exactly. The conversation of all with all has a moderating effect that dampens extremism in all forms, as individuals are forced to constantly monitor how their behavior will look to others – including individuals they haven’t even met yet. Ties in nicely with Stowe Boyd’s informal poll, where 67% of respondents stated that a corporate spokesperson can’t have a private voice, and my earlier observations on Niall Kennedy & Technorati. Joi ends his post by asking
[A]m I compromising by adapting my words for the audience and where is the line beyond which I am not adapting words, but changing my position?
Of course, adapting one’s words is changing one’s position, ever so gradually. I suspect the line is hard to see because we’re all continually crossing it.
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