Are Gen Y committing the cardinal sin of believing our own hype? I’m afraid we might be. Blogging may be a great way to get noticed in our respective fields, but let’s not allow our mastery of web 2.0 to lull us into thinking we’re achieving something we’re not.
Penelope Trunk was interviewed by Peter Clayton on Total Picture Radio recently. (For anyone interested in where the Brazen Careerist network might be headed, it makes for great listening.) But she said something that made me think, “No, no, no, NO!”. She says:
The people who are blogging about their careers are the top performers, because it is so hard to blog. It’s so hard to be constantly thinking about your profession and to be gathering new ideas and putting out new ideas and having conversations about it, that only the best people, only the best employees are blogging and following blogs…
There are lots of things that make someone a top performer – hard work, talent, experience. But blogging? I really don’t think so. It may be a common denominator among successful or highly motivated employees, but I bet it’s also common among employees who are bored, or disillusioned, or really, really ticked off too.
Penelope does a great job of giving a voice to a sub-culture and I really admire the time and effort she puts into helping young bloggers find their voices. But in this particular case, I think she’s in danger of mis-managing expectations. I think it’s dangerous to believe that just because someone blogs, they’re a top performer or the best kind of employee. And it’s especially dangerous for younger bloggers to believe this, as it plays into all the worst kind of stereotyping of Generation Y-ers.
There’s no doubt that it’s hard to be constantly thinking about your profession, and formulating ‘new’ ideas. But who’s to say we’re coming up with anything really new? An idea or concept might be new to me, but that doesn’t mean it’s new to everyone else in my field too. I’d be embarrassed if anyone thought I was under the illusion that I was contributing to my field in anything other than a general way. (And by general I mean that if someone learns from my mistakes, then all the better).
The main issue here is that we’re in danger of confusing style with substance. Blogging is just a tool we can choose to employ for any number of purposes. Personally, I blog to learn, not because I’m any kind of ‘expert’. Blogging is simply one way to consolidate all the information I come into contact with everyday. It doesn’t in itself make me any different to another professional translator who might choose to use a different set of tools to track their development.
Blogging with an authoritative voice is an accepted means of writing for the web, but let’s not fall into the trap of believing our own hype. That’s just setting ourselves up to look dumb when it turns out that we’re only learning what a lot of other people have already worked out for themselves – and in a much less painful and self-absorbed way. I’d heartily advocate using blogging as a means of developing professionally, but I’d also recommend being clear on how sure you are of your ideas, and at what stage you’re at in the opinion-formulating process. Anything else and we’re just giving blogging a bad name.
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
About the author
Sarah Dillon is a qualified, accredited and experienced professional translator originally from Co. Clare in Ireland. She specialises in producing English-language texts that don't "sound" like translations, ensuring her clients' message has the desired impact in their overseas market. She is based in Brisbane, Australia and works with corporate clients, small businesses, agencies and nonprofit organisations all over the world. In her spare time, Sarah is also Marketing Director of eCPD Webinars.
Sarah Dillon has written 252 posts for There's Something About Translation.
{ 7 comments }
Very well put. I personally started blogging because after many years living in Japan, I felt my English writing was getting rusty.
I later found that there were career advantages to blogging — that blogging was helping me get new clients, in the fields I prefer.
But I don’t think it’s made me a better translator per se. I may be a slightly better writer and researcher thanks to blogging, but it’s no silver bullet.
By the way, as a gen X-er do I officially get to feel old now?
I’m a gen x-er too, Ryan. You aren’t alone. I blog because it gives me an outlet to share with my fellow translators. I also like to think I am helping new translators with my advice. That was the best part of teaching the grad students at Kent State, and this offers me an alternative outlet since I didn’t enjoy the other parts – like grading.
Here’s something to think about: the bloggers who write because they are disillusioned, bored or ticked off could still be high performers. If you are a great thinker, a boring job is boring. And a blog is a great place to deposit your ideas, even if your ideas are about how your job sucks.
The portion of the world who is willing to try to put out new ideas each day is very small. Whether or not those ideas are new is not as important as if the person is trying.
This is why I think that people who blog are a top-tier bunch — they are curious, community focused, and idea-driven. These are great traits to have, even if the blog isn’t sheer genius.
Penelope
I am part of Gen X, and I started my blog because I love language and wanted to write publicly without waiting for someone to give me the “opportunity.” It was just a hobby, but it’s led to some cool work.
Just yesterday I was telling my boss that I never thought my nerdiness would lead to interesting work in a competitive field.
I’m not making much, but I never dread Monday
Thanks for the great discussion everyone. This wasn’t an easy post for me to write so I really appreciate the time you’ve taken to comment.
@ Ryan I agree with you – I think blogging is a fantastic way for translators to maintain a fluent, professional-level style in their source language. It’s so easy to get sucked into translatorese – and your post on this last year was instrumental in helping me clarify my own ideas on why I was blogging, by the way.
Re. generations: I generally don’t place much store in the whole generation debate, to be honest, but it’s a useful way of referring to particular groups and subcultures. Anyway, I’m right on the cusp of x and y and therefore like to think I’m the perfect blend of only the ‘good’ traits of both
(Plus I was born and raised in the west of Ireland, which adds a whole other layer to the equation!)
@ Jill I can’t tell you how excited I get when I see more experienced translators sharing their knowledge via blogs. It adds credibility to the blogosphere and helps to ‘join up’ the conversations we’re having as a profession. Plus, it’s like having my own personal source of inspiration every time I log into my RSS feed
@ Penelope, thanks for weighing in. You make a very good point about the great character traits typical to many bloggers, regardless of the quality of the content they’re producing. But I’m still far from convinced that blogger = top performer. Maybe I’ve seen too many exceptions to believe it to be the rule across every industry and profession. Either way, these discussions are useful food for thought for all sides of the debate.
@ mj that’s something I enjoy about blogging too – the chance to develop a voice without waiting for someone to bestow the chance on me. And everyone knows nerdiness is the new cool
Thank you for a very thoughtful post, Sarah.
As you said: “There’s no doubt that it’s hard to be constantly thinking about your profession, and formulating ‘new’ ideas. But who’s to say we’re coming up with anything really new? ”
That honest but self-defeating truth is precisely what makes blogging so incredibly difficult. “Who cares what I might have to say?” is its natural corollary.
The web 2.0 version of the wallflower is behind his or her screen, fingers frozen on the keyboard, brain cells unplugged.
The connection to your post “Conference tips for introverts” seems obvious (ok, obvious to me!) and I’m sure many of your readers would welcome a “Top 15 tips for the timid blogger”
What a great idea for a post, Patricia. I’ll have a think and see what I can come up with… thank you.