The Rise of the Amateur Expert
Many years ago I saw a hilarious comic whose name escapes me, and who my Google-Fu cannot locate, but who made laugh with one line: I am a writer. [sotto voce] I write checks. Mostly fiction.
Twenty years ago, being a ‘writer’ meant publishing - being a professional writer meant sending your work to a magazine, a journal, or a book publisher, having it accepted, seeing it in print, often months after you wrote it. Sometimes years. Or it meant you were that annoying guy that ate all the brie at every party and went on and on an on about your one unpublished but brilliant novel. But one of the things I love so much about the internet is how it makes everyone with a point of view a writer. Even me! Maybe not a good writer, but a published one.
What is even more astonishing to me is how fast the culture has changed to accommodate this shift in communication. In 1995, when I read Carolyn’s online diary, I can remember thinking to myself how big this was going to be - how monumentally huge it would be if everyone had a platform for personal expression. And then they did, and that is a story for another day, the history of online diaries, but she was the first, and I think what she did in publishing her diary online opened the floodgates for the vast scope of personal expression we see today.
One of my favourite categories in that vast scope is what I call in my bookmarks and de.licio.us account “Amateur Experts”.
What is an Amateur Expert? Simple, really. Amateur Experts are people who keep websites dedicated to a narrow band society and culture, an area in which they are passionate, and for which they aren’t paid for their expertise, with the exception of ad space on their blog. Or, they are an expert in a narrow field of reference, but have started a community that invites non-experts to contribute. Name a topic - any topic - and I can guarantee you that somewhere, somebody has started an Amateur Expert blog about it. I love these blogs for two reasons: one, I adore people who have a passion for something, and two, I adore people who share their expertise and provide information.
What has emerged from this trend is the ability for people to spin their blog into a career. Just flipping through the channels this afternoon, while studiously avoiding doing any studying at all today, I saw two AmateurExpert bloggers on E! and HGTV, channels that seem well suited for providing cross media platforms for bloggers looking to enlarge their scope.
Some of the best examples of emergent Amateur Expertism come from design, and gossip. Design links are below: gossip deserves its own post.
Design:
Apartment Therapy: Its mission is simple: ” Helping people to make their apartments better places to live.” The sheer scope of this page is beyond description, but what I love best is that it combines both expert instruction and reader particpation. And the Fall Colours contest is fabulous.Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan and his wife live in a 250 square foot apartment in NYC, so they know all about making small spaces work well. I just saw him on an HGTV show and he is very good on camera! While Maxwell is a professional designer, this is as much a community as a straight blog, and what blows me away about their content is the huge number of house tours - homes designed by amateurs, not decorated by professionals.
The Cool Hunter: “Roaming the Globe so you’re in the know.” What I love about this site is that it is truly global in scope, and that it clearly expresses the intersection between design and lifestyle. Don’t miss Kool Kids Spaces.
Cool Hunting: “Finding things in the intersection of design, culture and technology that excite the imagination and inspire creativity”.
Design Sponge: “Dedicated to home and product design .”
Notcot: ” a visual filtration of ideas+aesthetics+amusement.”
MightyGoods: Mightygoods is a shopping blog, but so much more than just a ‘go buy this’ blog. The aesthetic is wonderful.
Houseblogs.net: “a community-powered home improvement publication.” No lie, the founders of houseblogs.net, Houseinprogress.net, are pretty much the rockstars of DIY house restoration. And every blog linked to this community hub represents amateur expertism at its finest: demonstrating DIY home restoration, design choice, and an amazing amount of research.
Chances are, if you are web savvy and own your own home, you have probably seen one of the sites listed above. And that is where the power of amateur expertism really lies - the ability to share knowledge and resources independently of traditional print media. And more importantly, not just independently of, but transcending traditional print media. My next home project is refinishing my floors, something I have never done. I could get a book on it, I could buy a DIY magazine, or I can watch a step by step tutorial on a houseblogs web site, and then email the site owner for clarification on a step, get a response back, ask for advice, build a connection with them.
Build a connection with them.