Stephen Downes

So anyhow I have been stranded by the weather for the second time in as many weeks, this time thanks to a snowstorm in Toronto. I'm on my way home from Northern Voice where I delivered this talk, an analysis of community as it emerges in blogging: how it is formed, how it should reshape the blogosphere, and how it can be implemented (quite easily) technologically. And along the way, deflating a few pet concepts of the blogerati, such as the value of the long tail and the utility of tagging. The main link is to the slides (about 9 mB); I have also posted an MP3 of Community Blogging (about 6 mB) (Also available here).

CRLF

Commentary on the talk in the blogosphere has been widespread, so if you don't want to listen to it, you can read summaries and opinions from any of these sources: a whole minute, Nancy White (who with Jon Husband was influential in its creation), Blogaholics, Mark Hamilton, Lee LeFever, Northern Blog, Ryan Schultz. I also sat on the Blogging in Education panel: here is the MP3 of Blogging in Education and here is a summary by Nancy White.