Mary and other list members, I'm really interested in hearing more about the reactions you mention. The complexity of various emotions and performances of the self tied up in all of this is, of course, what that particular paper was about. But anyway, just to jump in with a bit of background and disclaimer info, I was the organiser of that panel, and I'm also the one who shouted out "it's not funny!" from down the front. But my faux protest, like the "word count obsession" post which people were laughing at, was a kind of wry joke in itself, at least in part. That post from my own blog is here: http://creativitymachine.net/ 2006/05/15/word-count-obsession/ For those who weren't at that session and are interested in this topic, or who were there and didn't catch the URL, there is a post at Mel's blog which should guide you into the discussion: http:// homecookedtheory.com/archives/2006/07/17/academics-blogs/ Cheers Jean Jean Burgess http://creativitymachine.net Centre of Excellence in Creative Industries and Innovation Queensland University of Technology Australia On 02/10/2006, at 12:22 PM, Mary-Helen Ward wrote:

Hi all

I was in the session at the conference on Friday when Mel Gregg showed some screen shots of blogs that are kept by academics and by PhD candidates. I was quite surprised at the reactions in the room - a lot of people laughed at the things that were blogged by the PhD students, and even when someone sitting near the front called out "It's not funny!" the laughter continued. I also thought that I discerned some anger - or some other strong emotion - around me (near the back).

I'm doing a PhD on the process of doing a PhD, with a group of blogging candidates (myself included), so I was very interested in these reactions. Unfortunately I had to leave to catch a flight before that group of papers had finished so I couldn't ask any of the people in the room why they had reacted that way to the screenshots. I'd be really interested if anyone who was there could reflect on those reactions - either here on the list or privately if you think that might be more appropriate.

Thanks in advance

M-H _______________________________________________ The air-l@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http:// listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org

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