In what ways do we matter?

What have blogs done for the world as a whole thus far? What will they be doing soon, or not so soon? Why is all this RSS mumbo jumbo important? How can I make money from this? Why do I have hope for what blogging will do for the world?

I can't answer these questions, not without help from y'all out there reading this. Real-world intelligent people are asking me some tough questions that I can't answer. They look at me like I'm in a cult — and in a way, I am; I'm only beginning to understand the reasons.

Finding people takes a lot of sifting. It's been a lot of work to find people on the Net I enjoy talking to, and harder still to be their friends. I've put years of my life into social groups, and yet still I try to find more.

Individuals are as important as groups. Random people from life and the net, combined with loosely-tied social communities, and suddenly I'm part of a hundred little worlds, each different. They all have their ups and downs, and my attention drifts where it wishes

Participating is hard, this early in the game. This kind of thing isn't something that comes naturally; it's a shift in thinking, and may yet require some thought. Eventually this will all be easier, but right now it's rather uncut around the edges.

Things will be what they are, and are never the same. In the end, all of this is an expression of myself, and this is who I choose to be. My opinions are as flexible as I desire them to be; people communicate differently here, and I've come to enjoy it.

This path is a new one, combining many fields of experience. The "blogging thing" has tied together sociology , politics, diaries, and people-movers. A small community has formed, roughly a thousand people (more or less – anyone got better statistics here?) haved formed a continuous feedback loop between themselves, their information being whatever they choose; they've created something no one yet understands, a kind of social mob that doesn't fit any known classifications.

Got more to say? I'd love to hear it. Anonymous posting is open as always; I ask for respect, though passionate is fine. I'm here to try and understand.