Tuesday 27 February 2018

Courting Controversy

I think long-time readers of my blog will agree that I’m not usually one to court controversy. Mostly this blog is filled with my hobby projects, news about my writing, a bit about travel, and the occasional ‘thought piece’.

Yesterday’s blog post, Is Wargaming Getting Too Easy, started off as one of the later. Only after I had written it, did I realize that I had given it a slightly ‘provocative’ title (well, in wargamer terms anyway). Once I realized that, I admit, I decided to run a little experiment. I wondered if I could get the piece to go viral. So, I put up links to it on a number of forums and Facebook groups of which I am a member.

The effect was nearly instantaneous. Comments started flooding back. In only a few hours there was so much discussion going on in different places that I could no longer keep up with it. Overnight, the blog has become my 7th most viewed blog-post of all time (with about 5,000 views, so we still aren’t exactly talking a global scale here).

There has been a lot of interesting discussion, most of it civil, though there were a few calls of ‘elitism’. In a few places I joined in the discussion, and at one point even updated the original post (to include the final paragraph). It was all kind of fun and exciting, briefly.

This morning though, I felt differently. As I sat down to do my morning writing (the deadline for Ghost Archipelago: Gods of Fire is looming), my head was still buzzing with all of the discussion. I couldn’t help myself, but I checked all of the various threads again. This, of course, only increased the headbuzz.

I got my writing done this morning, eventually, but it was a real struggle.

I have learned an important lesson. While it is certainly fun to watch my blog numbers scroll up, it isn’t worth making that a goal. It isn’t fun to try to keep up with a conversation that is moving at the speed of the internet, and breaking into all kinds of sub-conversations. More importantly, it isn’t fun to have your head filled with endless chatter, even on a topic you find interesting.

So, it is time for me to withdraw from the conversation. Many thanks for everyone who posted here on the blog. This part I enjoy. One little conversation that I can follow and control. My own little corner of the internet, with a select group of people who actually come here because we share perspectives and interests, even if we don't always agree on every point. 

Tomorrow - back to figure painting!

10 comments:

  1. Oooh Steel legion vs Daleks.... cool !!!

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    1. A narrow victory for the Imperial Guard. I should really bust them out again!

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  2. I struggle to keep up with real life conversations, let alone ones across several sites online! Set the conversation free and let it go!!

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  3. HAH, one thing I've learned, is never to pay too much attention to the Anti-Social networks of trolls & hacks. I do enjoy the blog side, where I can choose to comment, or not, but enjoy the quiet & usually more staid discussions. Never did read that article btw, though at some point I should! Cheers Joe

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  4. It was an interesting post and well worth reading. Illegitimi non Carborundum.

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    1. Thanks Pat. To be honest, it wasn't that most people were being nasty, just that there was too much of it, and much of it off topic!

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  5. I've learned the hard way that Facebook is a double edged sword. There are some very troubled people kicking around.

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  6. Ooh, Gods of Fire! Does that mean there may be a "natives" plastic sprue coming sometime soon? Btw, where did you get that macross mech? Is it a model kit? It is cracking.

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    1. It means something like that... The mech is an expensive plastic model hit. They seem to pop up every now and again on Hobby Link Japan. Unfortunately, this guy was lost in my recent house move. I have another still in the box, so I can replace it someday.

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