New and improved and open for business. That could be Mo for Mormon or Mo for Monotheist or even Momentous, I suppose. A blog club is simply a short-term group organized (loosely) around a common theme. Club members just make the rounds to fellow blogs on a daily basis (more or less) and leave regular comments. What follows is a condensed and slightly modified outline of how it works (for the original FAQ, see here).
Q1 - Who can join the club?
A1 - Any solo blog with comments. Family unit blogs and binary blogs are generally okay, but not group blogs.
Q2 - What are the benefits and duties of club membership?
A2 - Simple. A club member must visit each of the other club sites more or less daily (weekends optional) and likely leaves a comment (as simple as "Nice post. Love the picture."). That's it. Oh, and members must post a blogroll of fellow club sites. Zero cost. Quit anytime.
Q3 - What is the "Mo Life Blog Club" theme?
A3 - It's a loose theme, since solo blogs can of course say anything they want. "Mo Life" means any personal blog that hits Mormon or Monotheist (Christian, Jewish, whatever) religious life issues from time to time. If an interested Buddhist feels excluded, we can work that out too. I suppose even confirmed atheists, being on average at least as dogmatic and preachy as any true believer, can petition for entry if they have something worth blogging about.
Q4 - How do I apply?
A4 - It's a blog. Leave a comment ("Sign me up") with a link.
Q5 - Who decides who's in or not?
A5 - The Chair of the Club--keeps everything simple. The club will last a month or two, then split again.
Q6 - How is this different from the prior Mo Blog Club?
A6 - I'll try to tighten things up a bit--look at the blog to see a track record of more-or-less daily posting with some "Mo Life" issues in the mix somewhere or with some other equally redeeming social value.
Sign me up.
Posted by: Kim Siever | Jun 15, 2004 at 11:52 AM
Sign me up too. :)
Posted by: danithew | Jun 15, 2004 at 12:23 PM
And me!
Posted by: Arwyn | Jun 15, 2004 at 12:46 PM
Sign me up...Maybe I'll write about Mormon stuff more often...
Posted by: Ann | Jun 15, 2004 at 01:58 PM
Dave:
Thanks for the invite (over at A Motley Vision). I'm going to pass on this round although I like the idea of the Mo Blog Club.
I'd be even more intrigued bn the idea of a blog burst where a few of us agree on a particular subject or book(s) and spend a week (or so) posting and commenting on the same theme.
Posted by: William Morris | Jun 15, 2004 at 02:59 PM
Make it one more.
Posted by: Nate Cardon | Jun 15, 2004 at 08:10 PM
William, I definitely second your idea and we'd mentioned that earlier when discussing doing the split. Please offer any suggestions. Also anyone who wants to be in the "bookish and thoughtful" blog group please let me know. Perhaps we could make it that once a week you have to post on something related to the book at hand?
Posted by: Clark Goble | Jun 15, 2004 at 09:38 PM
Clark, that sounds like a nice arrangement. By the way, I'm offering Joseph's Journal as an RPT blog:
http://mormoninquiry.typepad.com/josephs_journal/
I need to get a little more mileage out of it to justify the effort I'm putting into it, despite the satisfaction of reading the HC slowly and carefully.
Posted by: Dave | Jun 15, 2004 at 10:35 PM
I'm not sure Joseph's Journal is the kind of project that inspires a lot of comments... but I just want you to know that I think it's an exceptional and useful project. I check it pretty often and appreciate being able to read about Church History a little bit on a regular basis. I hope you don't feel discouraged due to lack of feedback. I think it's very worthwhile and edifying to read.
Posted by: danithew | Jun 16, 2004 at 07:18 AM
Sorry for not keeping up on this.
So right now this is what I have in the RPT blog club:
Dave's, mine, Speaker for the Living, WumpBlog, Let Us Reason, and possibly Our Thoughts. Is that about right? Anyone else want to join? Anyone want to be in the other?
Same rules as before, everyone has to post in each others blogs at least once a week. That means we probably have to offer some post that people can post in. (I'm sometimes guilty of that when I get caught up writing about what I'm interested in)
I'd like to do the book reading thing as well but don't know what everyone would like to read. Presumably something common but available online as well so no one has to purchase anything.
Posted by: clark | Jun 18, 2004 at 04:15 PM
Clark:
Okay, if it's not too late -- I'm in.
http://motleyvision.blogspot.com
When do we start?
Posted by: William Morris | Jun 19, 2004 at 07:25 PM
Can I still be in it?
Posted by: spencer | Jun 21, 2004 at 03:10 PM
Spencer, seems like your heart isn't in blogging lately (one post in two weeks) which makes sense if The Big Day is about a month away. Don't you hate it when real life intrudes on blogging?
I'd be inclined to give you a bye this round and put you in the On Deck Circle until the next blog split so you can give your full attention to pressing matters like: Which dish towel set goes with the china set honey, pink with white flowers or rose with the teal border?
Unless the MLBC really, really matters to you.
Posted by: Dave | Jun 21, 2004 at 11:02 PM