Blogging and Careers in Academia

The Chronicle of Higher Education has an collection of articles from the academic blogosphere on the case of University of Michigan professor Juan Cole who was recently denied a tenured job at Yale University. Juan Cole authors a popular blog on current events in the Middle East. The title of the symposium is 'Can Blogging Derail Your Career?'

Mark Thoma over at the Economist's View blog weighs in with his own thoughts. He agrees with Brad Delong (who is one of the contributor's the the Chronicle's collection and a tenured Economics professor/blogger himself) that his blogging is primarily about trying to raise the level of public debate and start of conversation with a wider general audience. What's more is that he feels writing the blog has expanded the set of issues he feels he can write intelligently about and it has even helped him keep up with developments in his very narrow field of study. It has made him happier and more productive.

Where he seems to part with Brad Delong however is on the "commercial gains" to having a blog:

Finally, I don't have any interest at all in using this blog to promote commercial interests, to sell books or anything like that. I'd start a second blog if I wanted to do that. One reason is that I wouldn't want anyone worried that I'm afraid to say something because it might hurt book sales, or whatever else is being peddled. But I don't mean in any way, shape, or form to look askance at anyone using their web log in that way, that's their choice not mine, it's just not for me. I don't want the constraints on my own ability to comment nor the questions from readers about how the commercial intent of the web log interacts with its primary academic mission. And I don't want the public face I present for myself and as a representative of my Department, the University, and more general academic community to be subject to criticisms along these lines. The views I present are my own, not the views that will sell the most stuff.

Whether the blog's purpose is to promote books or not is irrelevant. This blog is now a permanent addition to the Mark Thoma brand and by extention the University of Oregon. As Greg Mankiw puts it, "Have you noticed there are no ads on this blog? That's because this blog is an ad. It's the blogosphere version of the infomercial." The product is the blogger.