Bene Diction is annoyed by the current state of the blogosphere. Frankly, I can't blame him. As he points out, there's too much hype, too much spam, too much noise, too much propaganda, too much rhetoric, too much partisianship, and too little meaningful content. Fortunately, there is reason to be hopeful.
"Blogging isn't going away, nor is the hype, the scams and the scramble to learn to find readers. Most bloggers aren't in this for the money or the acceptance into perceived power circles. And there will always be media who don't get this. In the three + years I've blogged, I've been challenged, taught, mentored and helped. I've made friends I never would have otherwise. I've seen solid sense, wisdom, kindness. And I have had some terrific shared laughs. [Main stream] Media can't give me those benefits the way blogging can. We'll keep doing what we do because it's a privilege, it's available and it's fun. But overall, I think the bubble needs to burst." (emphasis mine)
Amen.
I don't have time in my life to do and say as much through my blog as I'd like to. However, I try hard to make what I do have time for interesting and provacative. I enjoy fostering discussions between people of very different backgrounds and biases. Too many blogs devolve into echo chambers for propaganda and rhetoric. I think after the newness of blogging wears off a bit and bandwagoners get bored, blogs that are platforms for intelligent discussion and debate will earn greater prominence. Just as the dot-com crash weeded out most of the wannabes, blogging will lose its fad status and I believe most of the survivors will be those who have something worth saying and to whom people will listen and respond.
Funky Dung
Comments 5
Is he saying my plot for world domination by blogging won't work? And it seemed like such a good plan…
Pinky: What are we going to do tonight, Brain?
Brain: The same thing we do every nigh…no, wait. Tonight we take out the garbage and recyclables. Taking over the world will simply have to wait!
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Posted 24 Aug 2005 at 3:08 am ¶I think it does require a greater sense of purpose to keep blogging over an extended period of time.
dlw
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Posted 24 Aug 2005 at 4:18 am ¶Well, I don't know if the problem is propoganda per se. Heck, most blogs really aren't about politics or religion or anything really significant. There's a lot of Live Journals, Xangas, etc. that have nothing to do with political life.
As for political blogs, you can't really well kill something when its not commercial, so a lot of blogs, poorly written ones at that, will stay around as long as there's free web space and as long as there are people willing to exchange have ads and post, they'll be bad blogs.
Will the "good" blogs rise to the top?
I don't know. It'll be what people demand. Take Sadly No. All they do is constantly belittle people and make no positive contributions and they're one of the top 200 blogs out there.
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Posted 25 Aug 2005 at 6:18 am ¶Thanks for this.
I am known as an enthusiastic proponent of this medium, and initially a rather idealistic one.
*…blogs that are platforms for intelligent discussion and debate will earn greater prominence.
I don't know that they will gain prominence simply because the squeekly wheels get the grease, but there are wonderful, thoughtful blogs and bloggers that enjoy what they do, don't pick fights with others, and post faithfully. They do outnumber the 'echo chambers for propaganda and rhetoric'.
My personal experience is that it takes time to find them, I've no doubt you may be having the same experience.:^)
Blog on!
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Posted 26 Aug 2005 at 5:16 pm ¶My personal experience with web hosting and blogging is probably pretty typical. I began with a specific purpose in mind( my 7th grade CCD classes) and when that ceased to be a reason I was hooked.
While my purpose is less specific I find that keeping a weblog is far better than simply trying to host a "web site" - the blog thing keeps me from doing too much with too little (mostly the too little is between my ears!). As it stands now if I were asked why I blog my response would have to be that I blog to be a witness to Jesus and His Church.
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Posted 10 Sep 2005 at 12:47 pm ¶Post a Comment