Dear Mark

You asked me some questions about how we should use this blog. I thought that I’d go ahead and answer here.

Q: What audiences are we hoping to reach with this?

A: I think it would be great if Obama tweeted a link to one of our posts, but short of that I’m content for the audience to range from you and me to anyone who finds us. I think we should talk to one another, but that we should try to frame what we’re saying in ways that a general audience can grasp. No private jokes, in other words. Or not many private jokes.

 

Q: What kinds of comments are we hoping to attract?

A: I hope as we get polemical that people who care task us with proving / solidifying our claims. Along the lines of getting people who might care to read us, it would be great if we could compile the requisite blog role. I’ll see about starting that up. I would include some theory blogs, some DH stuff, and some new and old media stuff. Agreed?

 

Q: Are we going to conduct a dialog by means of comments or only via posts?

A: I think we should stick to posts. I like the model of the Becker-Posner blog, for instance.

 

Q: Will we ever jointly author posts?

A: I think we should rewrite / edit each other rather than jointly author. That way we can see revisions and take back a move if necessary. I’d like a record of the process that is a little different than the way we’ve been writing / sharing docs to this point.

 

Q: How often are we expecting to post?

A: We are very busy people. I think 20-25 posts per day should suffice.

 

Q: How should we link this blog in with our other activities? Do we need pages that describe who we are?

A: I’m happy to link to other activities, but would suggest for now that we just provide a link to our web pages and such.

 

John