tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18155604.post8544707284908290779..comments2023-10-17T10:21:11.698-06:00Comments on The Clutter Museum: Review: The People History SiteLeslie M-Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02434392840359276805noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18155604.post-79754722353674892952007-03-26T04:57:00.000-06:002007-03-26T04:57:00.000-06:00Jeff MatherOK Jeff I sort of went off the deep end...Jeff Mather<BR/><BR/>OK Jeff I sort of went off the deep end , I don't care what people say about the design of the site but do not get upset about the content some of the memories we have collected since the memory part of the blog went online in January are true gems , <BR/><BR/>When I had the idea for the site what I was after were memories from peoples lives BEFORE the Internet took off or at least before 2000 as up to then many ordinary people had no way of expressing the effects on their lives from major events, a couple which I am quite proud people decided to share are those below<BR/><BR/>http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/2007/01/pan-am-flight-103.html<BR/><BR/>and<BR/><BR/>http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/2007/03/president-kennedy.html<BR/><BR/>I agree that the blogosphere has allowed people to document events from their lives much better , but my own concern is that is few will be able to find and read them<BR/><BR/>The People History currently shows about 10,000 page views per day which is increasing and the Memories section has does about 1,500 of those page views per day.<BR/><BR/>One of the reasons I allow Bloggers to leave their site at the end of posts is so people who find a memory interesting or pertaining to something in their lives they can then visit the posters site<BR/> <BR/>stevestevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01441825212351898692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18155604.post-15629946668187748272007-03-25T20:41:00.000-06:002007-03-25T20:41:00.000-06:00I'm not saying that these memories aren't meaningf...I'm not saying that these memories aren't meaningful to the people who wrote them or to present and future historians. And I'm not saying that there aren't gems there in the posts.<BR/><BR/>But what I am saying is that I think many of these posts will be more valuable to readers and researchers in the future than they are now. Consider <A HREF="http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/2007/01/911-2.html" REL="nofollow">the one from Aimey about 9/11</A> that ends with this observation about what we're thinking now:<BR/><BR/>"I think I realized that day that life would never be the same, and 4 years later it seems to be a never ending battle to keep us safe from further attacks."<BR/><BR/>We don't really need anyone to tell us what the current political and social dialogue is like. But I suspect that when we look back in 10 or 20 or 50 years for attitudes about the so-called War on Terror and whether it had popular support, Aimey's little aside is going to be more valuable. And it will be a nice complement to more mainstream sources like the New York Times or the White Hose press briefings or John Stewart. (Personally I find entries in my own private journal more interesting years after I write them because I see who I was at a particular time and how my activities, concerns and personality have changed.)<BR/><BR/>Which brings me to my comment about the blogosphere. Many sites like The Clutter Museum, The People History Site, and my own occupy a curious relationship with the present and with history. Weblogs democratize everything: events, opinion, scholarship, even history itself. The fact that people talk without necessarily needing an audience -- although I know we all hope for one -- is one of the most interesting things about the blogosphere. I didn't mean it as an insult.Jeff Matherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18372557379944254143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18155604.post-69849571139076736392007-03-25T17:12:00.000-06:002007-03-25T17:12:00.000-06:00Jeff MatherI do take issue with some of your argum...Jeff Mather<BR/><BR/>I do take issue with some of your arguments, There are plenty of instances where autobiographies are published most often by the great and good or those who are famous enough that people will read and buy them , but many of the very ordinary people of this world have little chance of anyone reading what they consider important memories , many of the memories may not be considered great literary works but are no less important to preserve how those ordinary people were affected by changes in society or events in history that had direct impact on their lives. <BR/><BR/>I have a piece going out on PBS in mid April with some memories recorded on film by people ranging from mid 40's to 86 , the memory from the gentleman of 86 concerns the era of the depression when he was 7 years old his memory has needed to be heavily edited because of his age ( but still caused eyes to water by almost all those in the room ), his written memory would more than likely have you consider as just someone adding to the blogospere without being well written and just a name of Ed , USA as the poster ( memories from the Interviews will not be added until the piece is released ). But I will post as he originally did with no changes. <BR/><BR/>I personably think history is divided into 2 areas facts which can be verified and ordinary people's recollections of those times<BR/>Below is one of the many examples of what the site is about that I feel is important <BR/> http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/2007/01/growing-up-in-new-york-in-30s.html<BR/><BR/>But I must be very wrong as it just someone telling something that means nothing<BR/><BR/>Steve <BR/>The People Historystevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01441825212351898692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18155604.post-6315297881337043042007-03-25T15:56:00.000-06:002007-03-25T15:56:00.000-06:00I took a look at the site after you mentioned it a...I took a look at the site after you mentioned it a few days back and just finished reading a bit more closely now.<BR/><BR/>It's an interesting idea, a moderated blog with lots of authors talking about the way they thought things were. I didn't read most of the rememberances -- lots of homework going on right now -- but I skimmed a week's worth.<BR/><BR/>I don't know. . . . I just couldn't get into it. I like history a great deal, and I always get suckered in by oral histories much more than I expect. So I was a little surprised.<BR/><BR/>This project is a time capsule of what we choose to remember or share now about the past. I suspect this project might be more interesting years from now.<BR/><BR/>It's also unusual (to me at least) because it's a mostly anonymous, aggregate sort-of-history. There's "Steve from Canada" and "Tosh from the UK" and "Dan from the US". It's not at all focused.<BR/><BR/>If anything, it's a fabulous distillation of the blogosphere itself: lots of people talking about themselves to anyone who will listen without much worry about what will eventually happen to those ramblings.Jeff Matherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18372557379944254143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18155604.post-39509889938430207142007-03-24T05:30:00.000-06:002007-03-24T05:30:00.000-06:00Trillwing Thanks for your review It was fair and I...Trillwing <BR/>Thanks for your review <BR/><BR/>It was fair and I do know that the design is flawed and could be much much better.<BR/><BR/>Currently I am grappling with the choice between paying a web designer for some help with a new design or setting up something where for each memory added and donating $5.00 to a charity helping children in an underdeveloped country.<BR/>I personally would prefer to use the $2000 I have set aside for this to do some good for kids ( One of the first postings I recieved was from a boy in Burundai about using the site to find out about his birthday ( and I am trying to look into charities that may be working in that country ) <BR/>http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/2007/01/i-was-born-in-1993.html<BR/>.<BR/><BR/>It is funny you mentioned the Chewing Gum Memory as one of the anomilies the site has raised is how very diverse peoples memories are and so dependent on where they grew up not only country but also city or in the sticks .<BR/><BR/><BR/>Anyway I would like to thank you for taking the time and effort to review The People History where people memories and history join together to create an online social history<BR/><BR/>stevestevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01441825212351898692noreply@blogger.com