Bloggers are just netizens. Blogsites are little more than the evolution of personal homepages in the modern Web 2.0 generation. Do you need an association for netizens who have homepages? Why do you need an association for bloggers?
My first reaction on hearing about this association was one of surprise. Of course not without having more information about the association initially, I hesitated to say anything about it. What will this association do? Is this a case of setting up a new association for the sake of having an association?
The title of my post is my tongue-in-cheek swipe at the pointlessness of such an association. What next, do we need an association for gossipers? In some sense blogging is like gossiping eh. Yah of course, gossiping needs more than one person, while you can blog on your own and just blissfully ignore the rest of the world. An association for gossipers might actually be more necessary, because gossiping must be done in groups. If not anything else, an association for gossipers will at least serve some purpose to help group people together with similar gossiping interests.
Well, of course, this is a free country. You can setup any association you feel like, as long as you do it within the confines of the Singapore law. Obviously, the Registrar of Societies agrees that the Association of Bloggers (Singapore) meets all its requirements and allowed the entity to be formed. I’m not sure, but I’d guess the Registrar of Societies doesn’t care whether the society or association serves any useful purpose or not. Time will tell whether this new association really works out or not. Obviously its founders put some thought into it and felt they had a purpose and mission.
Anyway, for the rest of this post… let’s take a seat, relax and enjoy some humour…
I read about the mission statement of the Association of Bloggers (Singappore).
To promote and support the positive development of the blogging scene in Singapore, as a distinct form of media; with all the rights and responsibilities that entails, to every citizen.
Is there any problem with the development of blogging in Singapore right now? Is it expected to be? So what if it does not develop? I think the Association of Gossipers (Singapore) might have a more important role! Gossiping is an important form of community communication! News through the grapevine is an important news channel. Clearly it is sometimes faster, more efficient and more effective than Channel News Asia or other forms of mainstream mass media.
To promote professionalism in blogging among members.
Does it matter? Does anyone actually think about blogging as a profession? Are we carrying things a little far to try to inculcate professionalism in everything we do?
Well, if blogging professionalism is important, I’m sure it is even more so for gossipers. Right now, gossipers are often not well-respected. The reason could be that gossipers are thought to spin tales and pass on misinformation. This is not always entirely true. Gossipers have a story to tell, but they also want to add on their thoughts and comments. Sometimes, when the message is passed on, the recipients mix up the “comment” part with the “fact” part.
To promote its members by advancing the grassroots media movement generally through activities and events organized.
I don’t understand, why do you need to promote bloggers? But again if that is so important, we might as well do so for gossipers too. We could ask Mediacorp to start a Gossipers Idol or something. We certainly need some positive spotlight on gossiping.
Fostering a positive identity with credibility.
I wonder if the Association of Bloggers (Singapore) felt that bloggers are lack positive identity and credibility. Clearly there are some blogs less credible than others. Blogging is a personal activity. This sounds like a personal development thing.
Educating its Members through mutual support and robust internal discussion, by partnering with organizations dedicated to education in the area of technology, methods and standard otherwise, creating educational opportunities for the association and its Members.
This sounds like the association thinks its members need help to blog properly, or perhaps to improve their blogging skills, or to improve their blogs. These are also important skills we need to teach gossipers too!
To provide for the interchange and advance of knowledge in the field of blogging.
Yes. Gossipers, too, should learn about advancements in gossiping. On the technology front, blogging is actually one such tool they could use, as are podcasts and such. The Association of Gossipers (Singapore) could have a subcommittee, chapter, or special interest group to focus on blogging.
To promote social interaction and cohesion among Members.
Every association ought to do that. No doubt, there are associations where the members are not wholly cohesive. Then they break into factions. Eventually, they breakaway to form another association. Obviously that’s not associations want to happen to begin with.
Ok there you have it. I think we need to quickly get this new Association of Gossipers (Singapore) setup soon!