It’s possible to get so caught up in blogging and the blogosphere that the rest of existence becomes filtered out, like the view when a mist drops silently onto a landscape. I’ve become conscious of this phenomenon recently as I’ve simultaneously tackled two blog-related projects : the launch of Syntagma Media, and writing three blogs for b5media. I call the effect “Blost”, or lost in blogs.

The effect is a narrowing of focus, and an increase in superfical attention. Real attention includes awareness of the world around you. The result is a loss of counterbalancing channels of information, and an increasingly eccentric outlook on the world.

The symptoms of Blost are :

1. An obsession with blogging as lifestyle as well as work.
2. A belief that something called Web 2.0 is changing history ~ it’s not, it’s just being driven by portable communication devices and is therefore part of the driven universe, like the Blost.
3. A conviction that there’s a moneymaking bonanza somewhere out there if only you can get enough Google juice to light its fire.
4. A determined insistence that blogging is easy and has no downside.

Having said all that, most writers will recognize the tunnel-vision syndrome from the last time they wrote a book. Where blogging differs is that it doesn’t have a cut-off point; a moment when the work unit is finished. It goes on forever, Blost in space and time.

Conclusions :

1. Bloggers should get out of the blogorium at frequent intervals to escape the damnation of the Blost.
2. They should retain other channels of news and information to avoid the idee fixe of the geek mentality.
3. Trim, clip, slice and cut the contents of feed readers. They will eat you alive if you let them. They’re not called “feeds” for nothing.
4. Cull email notifiers. You just have to reply to every white box that rises compellingly from the bottom of the screen.

Actions to take :

1. Write letters occasionally, walk to the Post Office, buy a postage stamp and stick it in the top right-hand corner of the envelope. Place the whole in the slot provided.
2. Read a newspaper offline. You’ll be surprised what’s left out from the screen version.
3. Beg, swipe or borrow a “book”, a bound swatch of paper containing extended arguments and narratives.
4. Re-engage in romantic interludes with that familiar ghost who wanders around the house saying, “Are you still on that computer? I thought we were going out.”
5. Be a better blogger. That mean never spending more than four hours a day online.

If you look up “Blogorium” and “Blexercise” in the search tool of this blog, there are lots more tips on how to avoid being Blost. It may be your last chance. Ever.