I have long known that some people will do things one way and other people in the same situation will do things a different way. I have incorporated my blog into this social computing class and a few other people have as well, but most of the class have chosen not to do so. There is nothing wrong with that, but I recognize some benefits that would come if we were all blogging as a means of communication for our ideas. There is the preface. . .
As I read about the work of Heidegger (Dourish p. 109) I began to recognize why the blog is so easy for me to use and to see why others look at it as an oddity. For me the blog is ready-to-hand because I already had it set up. I did not have to create my blog, I am comfortable with the world of blogging, I have my computer with me almost constantly and I have created tools that give me access to publish on my blog almost instantly. Now I begin to recognize that the blog would be present-at-hand for most other people in the class. They would have to set up the blog. They would have to get used to the rhythm of blogging (thinking of something and deciding to share it with others, finding something to share and making sure to create links and references to the source) and they would have to take the time to acquire the tools that would make the blog useful or ready-to-hand. I have tried to facilitate the ready-to-handness in previous postings (RSS Tools) but I must not confuse the availability of tools with the familiarity with those tools.
It would not be completely easy for others to pick up blogging merely because of this class, but that does not mean that the benefits of blogging are not worth the effort for those who are willing to pick up the tools and learn. In short, it is worthwhile, but I must not get trapped into thinking that because it is easy for me it will be easy for others.