As most of you have noticed, Pixels and Policy hasn't been terribly...current lately. In my experience, writing a post pledging to post more is the first sign a blog is on that long grim slide to death. Now, there are certainly former friends who now advocate for Pixels and Policy's hasty demise. Some have been true-blue in their novella-length distaste for the blog and its content, and I've gladly provided a forum for their venting.
Yesterday, I received a rare e-mail at Editor@PixelsandPolicy.co that jogged old memories. I'll put down the most salient points and respond to them as best I can for the few people still following the blog:
What happened to the blog? As best I can say, I'm still jazzed about virtual worlds and the interplay of new media, old media and public policy. However, writing three articles a day got laborious, and back in March I wasn't willing to invest 5-6 hours a day in the research, writing, advertising and outreach necessary to sustain the site. Content started slipping into tabloid style. I wasn't terribly pleased. My goal had been to write analytical work that pursued interesting questions. I became a sort of Hank Venture clone of New World Notes. So I put the blog on break.
What are you doing now? I'm still writing and researching, both as a staff writer at former CNN Director Frank Sesno's environmental project Planet Forward and within The George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs. Current projects include ghostwriting for The Huffington Post and working on a forthcoming research paper on whether blogs and new media simply reframe stories originally produced by mainstream news outlets. I also provided research on the 60 Minutes piece "The People Behind the Mosque." I'm enjoying the new level of resources, and hope to turn out new Pixels and Policy content as time allows.
What's next? To be honest, I'm hoping to continue Pixels and Policy when I get a break. I still think virtual worlds are fundamentally redefining how we communicate with each other and how government communicates with the public. I think recent trends in international politics are placing a premium on understanding digital communication. But I don't want to come back with an inferior product and waste the reader's time. It's my hope that my work at George Washington can provide some interesting academic guest-posters and some collaborative relationships on virtual worlds research.
That said, I'm more than happy to work with others in the virtual world community to host content and facilitate discussion through Pixels and Policy. I'm hoping to have some work up in the near future by the author of "The Myth of Digital Democracy," Dr. Matt Hindman. I'm also hoping to restore connections with thoughtful writers like Ariella Furman, Gary Arthur Douglas and applied people like the mercurial but wonderful Ron Blechner.
I'll be placing some of my research and draft work up here as I write, as well as posting interesting discussion topics and commentary on some of the new applications of virtual and social media in political campaigns. Less Second Life gossip, I'm hoping. Fewer hard drive waving contests between people who share the same interest in virtual worlds but come to differing opinions.
Always expect more.
