But I also think that in some ways, blogs created to make people agree can also be a good thing. You may have non-believers out there searching for answers, and they end up on Blogs with bible studies or other resources to help them, and may become believers. Nothing wrong with that. Also, blogs made to challenge people’s assumptions or start thought provoking conversations can lead people around to new conclusions, whether or not they agree with the blog itself.

Great post in any case. Nice to see that someone has taken the time to work out the past and possible future of blogging.

Greatly appreciate it.

Have a plan for posting.

Post consistently and carefully.

Meet other bloggers and occasionally point them to your material.

So, as one who is new to the blogosphere – and ambitiously hopeful – having just begun a blog at the end of Nov. 09.

What advice do you give going into the 2010′s as a new blogger?

My biggest concern is what you have hit on, the lack of real dialogue on many blogs. If this is a bunch of people just building their little kingdoms, a real opportunity is being missed.

I’ve noticed and thought about many of the points you make.

My blog has few readers, but I enjoy having it. My writing has improved. My reading has more of a focus. And I’ve been forced to think through issues that I’ve ignored. These are selfish reasons for blogging, but they are reasons, none the less.

Not that we don’t want readers.

Pick a keyword and look it up on Google blog search, or at the homepage of WordPress.com, and you’re more likely to achieve the degree of diversity you’re seeking. Of course your discernment level needs to be turned up all the way to “10″ and you’ll also get anti-Christian bloggers in the mix, but hey, you asked.

I don’t know that there is a “third way” in the blogosphere yet. The camps seem pretty entrenched. Michael Spencer at iMonk does a pretty good job of trying to link across the spectrum.

I think we need to get away from the idea that the blogroll necessarily means “I endorse everything these people say”. Instead, something to the effect of “blogs that make me think” may be better. It will give the idea that there is something to learn from people you have sharp disagreements with, and that people with opposing views can still articulate them well and with charity.

Your analysis here is spot on. In particular, #5 is sad but true. In spite of all the potential for interactivity and conversation across the evangelical spectrum, I’ve found very few blogs (and blogrolls) courageous enough to include voices outside their particular “camp.”

With my own amateur blog and list of blogs I frequent (including yours), I’ve tried to remain in contact with a diversity of perspectives under the banner of evangelicalism. Do you have any suggestions/recommendations of other bloggers who are at least attempting to swim against the back-patting currents you describe in #5?

To put it another way, do you know of any bloggers whose blogrolls include at least some representation of Reformed/Arminian, Traditional/Emerging, Complementarian/Egalitarian, GOP/Democrat, High church/low church, women/minority/international perspectives within the evangelical world? Is there a blogosphere equivalent to the third way espoused in books like “Deep Church?”