This essay by Carl Trueman is travelling like wildfire around the Christian blogging community, and with good reason. It’s a scathing critique of the profligate self-promotion that goes on in the Christian blogging community:
Let’s stop there a minute. This is madness. Is this where we have come to, with our Christian use of the web? Men who make careers in part out of bashing the complacency and arrogance of those with whose theology they disagree, yet who applaud themselves on blogs and twitters they have built solely for their own deification? Young men who are so humbled by flattering references that they just have to spread the word of their contribution all over the web like some dodgy rash they picked up in the tropics? And established writers who are so insecure that they feel the need to direct others to places where they are puffed and pushed as the next big thing? I repeat: this is madness, stark staring, conceited, smug, self-glorifying madness of the most pike-staffingly obvious and shameful variety.
As one of those younger bloggers, I particularly felt the sting of Trueman’s critique. Toiling in obscurity is difficult, and it’s tempting to get through that period quickly so that one can claim to have an audience. But the merits of obscurity shouldn’t be overlooked–I wrote a number of bad posts in my early days that went largely unnoticed, which makes me thankful that I had the opportunity to work out many ideas in relative anonymity.
But what strikes me more is that we had to wait for Trueman to say this.
I suspect if there was more intra-blogger accountability for such matters, Trueman’s critique would be less relevant and forceful. I have been enormously grateful for Joe, who has graciously given of his own time to read posts beforehand to make sure I didn’t sin in the publishing of them. But I suspect this sort of collaboration and accountability ‘behind the scenes’ does not happen nearly as much as it should.
Either way, read it all. It is a timely and convicting word.
December 15th, 2009 | 8:31 pm | #1
At the risk of committing the sins of which Mr. Trueman accuses us (bloggers) of … my inner dialog went like this:
and so forth. I think it is a very good accountability piece and it is great to be able to have the accountability you have here with Joe and the others.
December 15th, 2009 | 8:39 pm | #2
I NEED to read the essay and I’ve always been pretty self-aware of the problem of self-promotion. But good grief, you put your heart into a project you really believe in AND you want people to know about it so you can achieve the goal you had in writing in the first place. It’s not so much about getting a big reputation as it is about gaining an audience for the argument.
December 15th, 2009 | 9:46 pm | #3
Art is a constant form of self-expression. Your works, be they paintings or dissertations, are expressing an inner element is some tangible form. When we create, we naturally wish to share it with others, and it gives us a sense of satisfaction to communicate an element of ourselves to others.
But it’s hard not to get too caught up in self-promotion in doing so. Artists of all types are particularly tempted with egocentricity.
December 15th, 2009 | 9:53 pm | #4
[...] posted on Evangel, where I first heard about this from Matthew Lee Anderson: At the risk of committing the [...]
December 15th, 2009 | 11:46 pm | #5
Gary,
I felt many of the same things. : )
Hunter and Gary,
I think you’re both on to a similar theme, albeit from different angles (and complimentary ones). I agree with you both that there certainly is an level of sharing ourselves that is appropriate. That’s why I changed my original title (before I posted it) from “Trueman on the Sin of Self-Promotion” to its current form.
I think that was what I was trying to get at in my point about communication between bloggers behind “closed doors.” It seems like this is the sort of the thing we ought watch for in each other and graciously and gently admonish about when we see it. Self-promotion is such an overwhelming part of the online world that those who spend time in it ought be very sensitive to it and help those around who may be less aware of its pitfalls.
That’s partly why I also had mixed emotions about Trueman’s piece. I don’t know if he contacted the people he criticized directly, and his message certainly deserves a broader audience. But I’m not a fan of using people as examples of what not to do without naming them by name (so they can respond) or attempting to contact them directly. I’ve done it, and I regret it.
matt
December 16th, 2009 | 3:42 am | #6
Gotcha. I’m an undergraduate student trying to make connections and find more specifically what I want to do with my life. I want to teach the Bible. I want to, perhaps, teach Greek. But that’s a long ways away.
I don’t have any claim to fame, and don’t pretend to. But I do try to promote myself, simply because I’m obscure. On the bright side, there is one other person who has me on his blogroll. That’s always nice.
December 16th, 2009 | 9:49 am | #7
Gary,
I understand the dilemma completely, as I have been in your shoes and it’s tough. If we’re not going to self-promote in the same way, then it seems like it’s really important for those who do have large audiences to find talent and do the promoting for them. Joe has, I think, been exemplary at that, as has Justin Taylor and a few others.
matt
December 16th, 2009 | 11:59 am | #8
What a coincidence. I am working on a book on self-promotion. I hope it sells. :-)
All kidding aside, Trueman is one of my favorite Reformed dudes. He brings real insight to a variety of matters.
December 16th, 2009 | 12:05 pm | #9
It’s funny. I was thinking about this yesterday as an exchange I was in got heated. Yes, heat. Was there light? Maybe I need to stop blogging. Sin is like the ring in LOTR. It wants to be found. No one can control. It just has to be destroyed. There’s no other hope.
I get too caught up in debates that are going to go nowhere.
Peace.
December 16th, 2009 | 12:12 pm | #10
This is important, for it helps a person experience how he is situated within and participates in a tradition of knowledge formed in relationships of grace-full receiving and giving.
It’s a gift economy which facilitates humility and responsibility to actual people. What a blessing such a practice would be, especially on the Internet…
December 16th, 2009 | 12:18 pm | #11
Beckwith, there are so many possible levels of irony here. Trueman wrecked me for tweeting links out to stuff I write. I am completely and utterly self-conscious now. Jerk.
And I completely agree with your assessment of him. His piece on The Shibboleth’s of Culture was brilliant, I thought.
Orthodoxdj, debates that go nowhere is a real problem, but I find it’s almost always the post that sets the tone. Flamethrowing starts at the top. And at some point, it’s important to say, “let’s just disagree for now.” Letting someone else have the last word is really hard on the internet–harder than in real life, from what I’ve found.
December 16th, 2009 | 1:01 pm | #12
That was brilliant. If I could write like Trueman, I would be committing all the sins he puts his finger on. –sigh–
December 16th, 2009 | 1:32 pm | #13
The hardest part for me here is that the article seems to further entrench the problem. “I’m going to blog about why blogging is so self-seeking…” I don’t disagree with the author. I’ve been thinking the same thoughts for a while. I know my sinful tendencies to self-promote, to align myself with a group, go out of my way to sound smart, on and on. I guess after reading it just hits me as ironic that while he author is right, we all know about his article because of a blog, be it Evangel or the original.
December 16th, 2009 | 1:45 pm | #14
This is an interesting article, that I’m sure “convicts” everyone who reads it, for, as I’m sure the author of the piece would also confess, we all want attention, to be noticed, to be recognized, to be regarded by peers and others as being “important” and “making a contribution.”
It is interesting to look at people’s blog sites and notice on the landing page what is the first thing you see/notice? What visual clues do you get by looking a person’s blog site where their priorities are?
It is an interesting exercise, particularly in light of this blog post.
PTM
December 16th, 2009 | 1:52 pm | #15
Concerning the big picture, Trueman is objecting to what was here before the internet. It’s just a different mouthpiece.
I agree that the internet has made it easier. Much easier.
There are other types of self-promotion that are more subtle. Before and after the internet people promote themselves by various means. From using a famous relative’s name to association with famous people (Mr. X has worked with so & so, etc.) and so on.
Even the people whose coat tails others ride on started with some kind of promotion.
On the other hand it can be very easy to become self-absorbed and self-centered in promoting ourselves. I can see how anyone could struggle with this as people love to make themselves an idol.
I suppose one could just hire a publicist and then it would not really be themselves promoting themselves, right? ;)
December 16th, 2009 | 1:52 pm | #16
I find the article here and the responses to be a bit more irenic than Dr. Trueman’s original. And refreshingly so. The ability to see the sins of others is no great gift. We all can and do do it. Speck and log anyone? Justin Taylor at Gospel Coalition titled his piece on this firestorm “Carl Trueman is Not Humble and He Knows It.” Since he knows it, he is one step ahead of most. In light of this, may he ought to try “cloth(ing) (himself)…. with humilty…” Col.3:12
December 16th, 2009 | 2:32 pm | #17
“The hardest part for me here is that the article seems to further entrench the problem.”
Orthodoxdj, I am quite aware of this problem. So here’s my question: is it possible to say ANYTHING online about Trueman’s article without reinforcing the problem it critiques? How?
I may be attempting to vindicate myself a little too much here, but I did try to point out a few aspects that I thought he missed, namely, the virtues of obscurity and a possible remedy for bloggers.
matt
December 16th, 2009 | 3:36 pm | #18
Matt,
I wasn’t referring to your article, but to the original one. It’s odd. It’s like writing a book about why people shouldn’t read books. Nevertheless, there are some who are on the internet, blog or otherwise, whom I do not believe are looking to simply self-promote.
Generally, I think most people have a sense of the difference. One of my biggest problems is with young persons setting the world straight about everything. Some want to take the Christian and/or political world by storm. That doesn’t seem like Christ’s way. I’m 31. There’s a lot I want to say, but I often feel that I simply haven’t earned it. Because I see myself that way, I’m leery of those who are around my age or younger who have this newfangled tool called the internet and they want to push an agenda rather than promote to the goodness of God.
December 16th, 2009 | 5:18 pm | #19
I’m all too guilty of this. In fact, I’m so guilty that having read all of your comments I really don’t want to read the piece by Trueman – I mean, enough’s enough already.
A funny thought occurred to me as I read Hunter’s comment about putting your heart into something. I have found on a number of occasions I would write something that I thought was deep. I’d put hours into it and I would truly pour my heart into it just knowing this was the post that would change the world. And I would get almost no comments. Then I’d read some stupid joke that I thought was funny and so I’d spend all of 2 minutes copying and pasting it into a post, just as a light diversion. Then I’d get tons of comments on that. So much for self-promotion in those cases !!
December 16th, 2009 | 5:51 pm | #20
orthodoxdj,
Ah, I appreciate the clarification. As one of those young kids, I certainly understand the struggle to want to ‘earn’ the right to say what you want to say. That’s something I think a lot about.
David,
I couldn’t agree with your experience. It’s painfully sad, as (really) some of the best stuff I’ve written gets almost no attention. There’s got to be a shorthand name for this experience, as almost everyone I know that writes online has had it.
I know it wasn’t a failure to promote those posts, though, because I sure did that as much as I could!
December 16th, 2009 | 6:23 pm | #21
The very idea of someone starting their own blog is a self-promotion. It is not only the idea that one thinks he has some thoughts to share but also that he should put out there in cyberspace where they can get indexed by the search engines and people can find them.
And then, coming to a blog like First Things Evangel — when someone comments, there is a place in the form where they can put a link to their website or blog. I know because I do it myself, but I’m not the only one. Roll over the names of the various commenters and you will see that some of them link to something. (Perhaps I would not have noticed this if I was not making use of that place in the form myself.)
Nothing shameful about it. Just letting people know you’re there, should they be interested. I often am and have checked out some of those links to get to know people here a little better. To me, it’s part of the interactivity digital technology affords us.
My son has always been very good with people. Always outgoing, even in elementary school. One day he explained that he learned it from me — he observed how I would go right up to people and meet them by extending my hand and introducing myself. That is an act of self-promotion that says, “I’m someone you should meet and you might benefit by getting to know me.”
It can be abused, though. If self-promotion is simply about promoting me instead of promoting relationship with others, it can get very tiresome and off-putting.
Links
Blogs
Find Us
Contact