Monday, September 08, 2008

In which the Meridian ponders his place in the Wichita blogosphere

I recently learned via the indispensable-for-Wichita Douglas and Main that there is now an interactive map of Wichita websites, done London Tube style, that shows and links to the city's most-visited sites and blogs. It's attractive-looking and functional besides.

Anyway, good old Blog Meridian, it appears, is among those sites, thanks to you reading these words and to those who find their way here via search engines and folks kind enough to have linked to me in the past. It's a surprise and an honor to appear alongside those other, very good blogs. But relatively little of this blog's traffic comes from Wichita, or even from Kansas. Because of that, and because this blog isn't focused exclusively on Wichita, I have mused at various times in the past on just in what sense this is a "Wichita blog." The obvious answer--that its writer lives in the city--after all seems at variance with the notion of a blogosphere, doesn't it? By that I mean that a blog's "location" is its subject matter, its preoccupations, and not where the writer sits down to post to it.

Ah, well. Whatever the answer to those questions, it's nice to have one's presence in said blogosphere noticed, and in a positive sense at that. So thanks, good people of 2wichita, and thanks for calling attention to this thing called the Wichita blogosphere.

4 comments:

Melissa said...

"But relatively little of this blog's traffic comes from Wichita, or even from Kansas. Because of that, and because this blog isn't focused exclusively on Wichita, I have mused at various times in the past on just in what sense this is a "Wichita blog."
I'm one of those other blogs there (found it through SiteMeter, though) and I have the same problem. I'm a Wichita Blog only because I physically live in Wichita. (Maybe also because I sing praises for the local library?) Otherwise, I consider myself part of the book blogging community, which isn't really "located" anywhere. Interesting, isn't it? (Not that I'm nitpicking; it really is a cool site.)

John B. said...

Melissa,
Thanks for stopping by and commenting--and congratulations to you on appearing on the map, too. I'm certainly not complaining that I'm considered to have a Wichita blog. In terms of physical geography, it's not a mistaken designation. But this whole internet thing raises some curious metaphysical questions, to my mind, regarding the notion of space. Not that I'm smart enough to get much beyond musing about them, mind you, but they're fun to think about.

Anonymous said...

well, if us reading this blog is going to lead to to that sort of thing...

; ' )

John B. said...

Doc,

Exactly.