Think Outside the Blog

Late this afternoon I got an e-mail from a secret contact telling me that PBS has a new blog. MediaShift is a blog venture pitched to PBS by freelance writer Mark Glaser. (See e-mail isn't dead).

Of course I already knew this because, Media Orchard reported on it on Monday, but trust me, today I didn't remember it or anythign else (explainer is below).

Mark made two posts today, one rather funny one by the “Preacherman” telling the story of how Glaser got Social Media religion and another about the goals and aspirations of his blog.

I like the vision. He plans to blog on how social media is changing our world; keep up a weekly Top 5 Trends list and host a weekly meme asking readers for their 2-cents on as he puts it, “an important media-shifting question of the week.”

I like the tone and his sense of humor. The posts were interesting and insightful, and I plan to add him to my feed.

Today I was contending with a 2-year-old that had a 103-degree fever, a work deadline for a magazine I edit, and the thought that I didn’t have the energy or the brain cells to blog today, so I especially enjoyed this quote by Glaser:

But now, finally, in 2006, I am ready to turn my life over to the blog. I hope it doesn’t eat my wife and son, chew through my assorted leisure activities, and gnaw on my dreams at night.

Welcome to the blogosphere Mark, and be ready for a little bit of all of the above. Hey, so far some of my best ideas have come in dreams.

Maybe we can all help each other achieve blogging balance this year (ha-ha).

(Note: Thanks to my PBS insider source for making this post possible)