Abu Muqawama quits daily blogging

Andrew Exum, aka Abu Muqawama, has announced that he will be dramatically scaling back his blogging. Exum is a very serious analyst of military issues and his daily presence will be missed. From the comments on his post, you can get a sense of how much he is respected.

So why is Exum quitting? He writes:

Blogging forces me into more or less split-second reactions to complicated policy events before I have had the opportunity to research and weigh opposing views. In addition, the AD/HD nature of this medium — as well as its format — has harmed both my research abilities as well as my ability to write in the long form. Blogging, like any medium, is one you get better at with practice. As I have become a better blogger, my long-form writing skills have atrophied.

A valid position, although I feel very differently myself. I don’t see a trade off. I see a chance to develop my abilities to express myself through different media.

To be fair, I have a fraction of Exum’s audience and post less often, so he faces a different set of challenges. However, my audience and my output both peaked while I was writing my dissertation a few years ago, and I saw no trade-off then, either. In fact, I really appreciated the chance to comment on the news of the week since my academic research focused on events from a generation ago.

Also, I’m curious about Exum’s comment that blogging forces him to provide instant reactions. I think it’s quite valuable to test your rapid judgment ability and see how it lines up with your conclusions later on. What’s the worst that can happen? People know you’ve changed your mind?

Bottom line, I only care about these secondary points because I have so much respect for Exum’s work and hope he continues contributing to the public debate.

Cross-posted at Conventional Folly