The next few steps for Deaf Blogland

September 25, 2006 9:22 pm

[This is in response to Mr. Sandman at my "A moment of Zen" post]

*** Begin Mr. Sandman’s comment ***
While I think DeafRead is a great idea, I’m not so sure about what you’ve said above. The pertinent portion is:
"The liberation will arrive when Deaf people are regarded by hearing people as a group of people who simply use sign language, rather than focusing exclusively on the fact that there is some hearing loss involved."
I agree- this is what the goal should be, but right now, when I look at the Top 10 listings, the most viewed posts tend to be those that announce, either in the title or in the opening paragraph, something about deafness or related to deafness. Such intense focus on deafness-related issues does not indicate to me the ability to be incidental about use of ASL, one’s deafness, etc., but more of the "focusing exclusively on the fact that there is some hearing loss involved."
Hopefully this will evolve over time, as the deaf blogosphere grows and matures.
*** End Mr. Sandman’s comment ***

We are witnessing the birth of the networked Deaf Blogland. Several
things need to happen first before we’ll start to see the change taking
place. It’s my hope that DeafRead.com will be the genesis behind it all.

First, there needs to be a huge increase in the number of active
Deaf bloggers. This is why we are trying to jump-start DeafRead guest
bloggers so that they can get a taste of what blogging is like and
hopefully start their own. We also need several "A-list" Deaf bloggers.
An "A-list" blogger is defined as one that consistently gets at least
20,000-30,000 visitors a day. Ridor is about half way there but it’s
entirely feasible in the future that several new Deaf bloggers can
instantly rise above the blogging masses and reach that high of a level
of readership. I know that there are many smart Deaf people out there
who have many interesting things to share with us all but they have not
taken up blogging.

Once there is a sufficient number of Deaf bloggers linking to each
other and talking, it’ll be a powerful force to effect a large change
in how a society perceives us. Essentially, it will be a bottom-up
movement.

DeafRead has a long-term goal and are carefully choosing the right
kind of technologies to focus the energy of everyone towards the
correct path. I’m trying to see a long way down the road rather than
worrying about the immediate results. I think it’s important to be able
to stay several steps ahead of the game, rather than becoming stagnant and be reactive to problems that will inevitably pop up.

I will know that DeafRead has become a success once the Blogland can
start to “police” itself. Once our numbers are high enough, DeafRead
will likely take on the same networked model as the one you see at
http://techmeme.com

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Related posts:
  • anon
    Hmmm....what about blogs by deaf folks? Or is this only for Deaf ppl?
  • moi
    Mr. Sandman, ya got it right - great memory! I *did* coin DeafBlogLand (one word). I started thinking about a "Deaf space" and the term just came to me. I started out saying the Deaf blogosphere for much the same reason you did, but after thinking and mulling over how DeafRead has changed the playing field and how it's our own space, and all that, I figured "why not," never dreaming it would get picked up by others. I'm flattered. *bashful smile*
    ... from a flattered lowercase moi *grin*
  • Good points-- I think Cali has it right-- we're looking at different points in the entire process. Still, do you think 20-30,000 unique visitors is possible in the deaf community? Perhaps it is...

    How do you suggest we "police" ourselves? Just curious.

    Cali, I believe Moi coined the term "DeafBlogLand," but it's possible Moi got it from elsewhere. Perhaps Moi will comment on this at some point...? I've always used "blogosphere" and just attached "deaf" in front of it, since "blogosphere is a rather widespread term on the net referring to the world of blogs. Still, a unique term could be created for our own corner of the blogosphere, and I have no problem with that. :)
  • cali
    I liked both posts, and I think you and Mr. Sandman both have valid points. I think you are both talking about different stages in this consciousness-raising process, though. A question that may be irrelevant or insignificant, but are you misquoting someone? If I recall right, I saw the term for the first time somewhere written as one word, three capitals like this: DeafBlogLand I liked that, and Deaf Blogland doesn't have quite the same ring (flash?) to me. Regardless of how the term is used, it's a really cool example of how DeafRead is doing its job by allowing thousands to exchange ideas!!!!
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