On Saturday night I'm going to my department's Beginning of the Year Party. Every other year I've missed it because I've been in Saskatchewan. It's going to be my chance to meet several of the new grad students, the post-docs and the new hires.
And I will play an inward game, as I meet and greet: "Who here is most likely to be a pseudonymous blogger?"
(It will be a variation on a game that my friends and I used to play, entitled "Judge a Book By Its Cover," in which we'd make up stories about the people passing by.)
Of course, I won't ask them. And there's a good chance that I'll be wrong. But what characteristics should I be looking for?
9 comments:
Quality 1: Is he or she a relative?
Quality 2: Does he or she use "for reals" or "for serious" in regular conversation?
Quality 3: Does he or she own a disproportionate number of dogs?
Quality 4: Does he or she think the word bees is awesome?
That's all I can think of for now.
I love games like that...
Hubby and I make up the conversations and back-stories for other couples we see at restaurants.
My favorite game is "figure out who is a stripper"... after having two stealth-strippers on my debate team, I got to know the signs.
As for secret blogger characteristics...
1) doesn't look right at you when you talk and lets you finish your whole thought before replying with a comment-length answer.
2) Seems like they are writing a sarcastic blog note in their heads. They may even take a few surreptitious notes.
3) Their right shoulder is lower than their left, from hauling the laptop around.
Signs of blogging academics:
1) Unfinished thesis/dissertation/book.
2) Carpal tunnel syndrome.
Laptop. For serious.
frequently refers to nonspecific "friends" from far flung parts of the world/odd institutions/completely unrelated fields
Ha! Anastasia, I am so very guilty of that! "A friend of mine...who happens to be a linguist...in Australia..." (It's easier to reference Trillwing. Everyone here knows people from California! It just makes people assume I'm from the West Coast.)
Adding on to Teacher Lady's Quality 3: "or cats." (And I'm only teasing Inside the Philosopher Factory a little bit.) (By the way, ipf: "stealth-strippers" is my new most favourite phrase.)
Roger: people are now going to think we're relatives.
I especially like Anastasia's, because I frequently find myself doing that. But, here's mine: If said person waxes poetic about their RSS feed reader. Hardly anyone in my department even knows what one is, but any dedicated blogger will be familiar with the concept. As, a discussion starter, you could also ask them if they are jumping on the bandwagon of the Web 2.0 phenomenon. If they say that they have no use for the internet as a communication medium, then odds are they aren't a blogger.
The vague references to far-flung "friends" is right on.
But also I'd look for a combination of depression, humor or quirkiness, and a serious tendency to procrastinate.
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