Expertise (Or, why you are one of the chosen few)

The reason there aren't thousands of people flocking to this blog is ... I'm not an expert.

I realised this a short time ago, and decided I don't want to be an expert. Not quite yet.

Of course, in the old days, one couldn't be an expert unless one actually knew and could demonstrate knowledge of one's expertise. But in this world of soundbites, it's how you position yourself, perhaps more than what you say, that qualifies you as an expert.

This is not sour grapes because I'm not getting blog traffic ... it's just an observation of my own blog-reading habits. There's a lot of information out there, and before long I have to prioritise what I view.

At the moment my rough, hitherto unwritten categories, are:

• I know this person personally (that sounds very silly when you say it out loud)
• I have read an insightful book by this author
• This is a recognised news source (eg existing media)
• This blog is recognised by one of the above 3.

Most of those, you've got to say, are based on some sort of expertise. Expertise is like a shortcut. And, as a recent post by Jack shows, sometimes it's the wrong shortcut!

So if I'm not an expert, what am I? Well, I've been an expert in the past, and hope to be again in the future. But for the meantime, I'd like to think of myself as an explorer, wide eyed with wonder.

So if you're reading this, and you must be, thanks for exploring with me.