Is There Love in the Blogosphere?
October 29, 2008
A controversy is brewing in the blogosphere over whether blogs are a thing of the past or the wave of the future. My last piece, The Value of Blogging, is certainly an expression of my enthusiasm for the future of the medium. Others, though, are not so confident. About a week ago, Paul Boutin posted a piece titled, Twitter, Flickr, Facebook Make Blogs Look So 2004, over at Wired, writing:
Blogs are all about expressing yourself through a combination of words, pictures, audio and video. You can say as little or as much as you'd like. You can rely heavily on visuals or stick to beautifully written prose. You can use formatting, fonts, and colors to express your thoughts and organize your ideas. You can use hyperlinks to link to other blogs, news stories, or whatever is relevant. The other mediums mentioned just do not cut it.
Facebook is a great way to chat with friends, share embarrassing pictures, or write messages that you simply do not want available to the world. Most Facebook users take advantage of privacy options that allow them to decide exactly which people get to see different bits and pieces of their profile. Plenty of people say that they would not be comfortable if an academic or corporate recruiter dug them up on Facebook. Thus, Boutin's idea that Facebook is a great place to express yourself to the world just isn't realistic.
How about Twitter? I agree that microblogging is probably the hottest phenomenon of 2008. I joined Twitter in August and have been using it regularly since. I think Twitter is an indispensable form of expression, but it isn't mutually exclusive with blogging; not even close. Twitter has a 140 character limit per post; formatting and hyperlinking are not allowed; and most importantly, it only allows you to share a very simple message. Could I create this blog post using Twitter alone? If someone can figure out how, I will reconsider my point. If anything, Twitter isn't a substitute for blogging; the two are actually complements. Once this particular blog post goes live, I will more than likely Tweet about it.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Flickr could crush blogging in a second. The reality is that some people have natural writing talent, others have amazing photography talents. I am confident in my ability to write a solid blog post, but I have no confidence that I could snap photos worth any recognition. Plus, there is no reason why the two can't co-exist. Photos uploaded to Flickr can be shared through blogs, providing the ability to provide a little extra commentary and context to the shots.
Maybe there is another reason why Boutin believes we ought to quit blogging; something that has to do with blogging fame and fortune?
The suggestion that trolls and professional insulters scour the web looking for hard-working bloggers to harass is unsubstantiated and, in my experience, simply not the case. Yes, there will be trolls, that is one of the nasty side-effects of anonymity of the web, but they can be controlled. Trolls flock to the unmoderated corners of the web - where they can say whatever they want and no one can do anything about it; or to places like newspaper blogs, where they can cry "censorship" or "polical motivation" if their comments disappear. For the casual blogger, the delete button works wonders for dealing with trolls - if you don't like the way someone is acting on your blog, simply delete them.
I remain unconvinced that the blogosphere is terrorized by these blog criminals. When Andrew Sullivan posted a link to Extraordinary Observations on his blog, The Daily Dish, I received dozens of positive comments, emails and messages; and virtually nothing that could be considered negative or unprofessional. Sullivan's appearance on NPR's On Point today, along with Nicholas Lemann and Tina Brown, is an excellent discussion of the role blogging plays in modern journalism and why there is still so much value to be found in blogging. Despite the people who want to put bloggers down, I know there is still love in the blogosphere, and I still believe that this is not the end, but only just the beginning.
Thinking about launching your own blog? Here's some friendly advice: Don't. And if you've already got one, pull the plug. Writing a weblog today isn't the bright idea it was four years ago. The blogosphere, once a freshwater oasis of folksy self-expression and clever thought, has been flooded by a tsunami of paid bilge. Cut-rate journalists and underground marketing campaigns now drown out the authentic voices of amateur wordsmiths. It's almost impossible to get noticed, except by hecklers. And why bother? The time it takes to craft sharp, witty blog prose is better spent expressing yourself on Flickr, Facebook, or Twitter.Boutin's argument is not only disappointing because of how discouraging it is to bloggers and potential bloggers, but it makes a flawed assumption about the role that these different mediums play on the web.
Blogs are all about expressing yourself through a combination of words, pictures, audio and video. You can say as little or as much as you'd like. You can rely heavily on visuals or stick to beautifully written prose. You can use formatting, fonts, and colors to express your thoughts and organize your ideas. You can use hyperlinks to link to other blogs, news stories, or whatever is relevant. The other mediums mentioned just do not cut it.
Facebook is a great way to chat with friends, share embarrassing pictures, or write messages that you simply do not want available to the world. Most Facebook users take advantage of privacy options that allow them to decide exactly which people get to see different bits and pieces of their profile. Plenty of people say that they would not be comfortable if an academic or corporate recruiter dug them up on Facebook. Thus, Boutin's idea that Facebook is a great place to express yourself to the world just isn't realistic.
How about Twitter? I agree that microblogging is probably the hottest phenomenon of 2008. I joined Twitter in August and have been using it regularly since. I think Twitter is an indispensable form of expression, but it isn't mutually exclusive with blogging; not even close. Twitter has a 140 character limit per post; formatting and hyperlinking are not allowed; and most importantly, it only allows you to share a very simple message. Could I create this blog post using Twitter alone? If someone can figure out how, I will reconsider my point. If anything, Twitter isn't a substitute for blogging; the two are actually complements. Once this particular blog post goes live, I will more than likely Tweet about it.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Flickr could crush blogging in a second. The reality is that some people have natural writing talent, others have amazing photography talents. I am confident in my ability to write a solid blog post, but I have no confidence that I could snap photos worth any recognition. Plus, there is no reason why the two can't co-exist. Photos uploaded to Flickr can be shared through blogs, providing the ability to provide a little extra commentary and context to the shots.
Maybe there is another reason why Boutin believes we ought to quit blogging; something that has to do with blogging fame and fortune?
When blogging was young, enthusiasts rode high, with posts quickly skyrocketing to the top of Google's search results for any given topic, fueled by generous links from fellow bloggers. In 2002, a search for "Mark" ranked Web developer Mark Pilgrim above author Mark Twain. That phenomenon was part of what made blogging so exciting. No more. Today, a search for, say, Barack Obama's latest speech will deliver a Wikipedia page, a Fox News article, and a few entries from professionally run sites like Politico.com. The odds of your clever entry appearing high on the list? Basically zero.What some critics do not seem to understand is that blogging is about more than just fame and glory; more than just having the biggest audience or a powerful ranking on Google. Blogging is about writing because you have a passion about something; it is about expressing yourself because you might be surprised who enjoys what you have to say; and perhaps most importantly, blogging is about all the little surprises along the way. Extraordinary Observations didn't always have the highest daily traffic or the most subscribers, but I was always pleasantly surprised when people mentioned something I had written. My blog has been brought up more than once in job interviews, for example. So I might not have had a ton of people reading my blog, but the respect I received from a person of particular importance was valuable in its own right.
That said, your blog will still draw the Net's lowest form of life: The insult commenter. Pour your heart out in a post, and some anonymous troll named r0rschach or foohack is sure to scribble beneath it, "Lame. Why don't you just suck McCain's ass."
The suggestion that trolls and professional insulters scour the web looking for hard-working bloggers to harass is unsubstantiated and, in my experience, simply not the case. Yes, there will be trolls, that is one of the nasty side-effects of anonymity of the web, but they can be controlled. Trolls flock to the unmoderated corners of the web - where they can say whatever they want and no one can do anything about it; or to places like newspaper blogs, where they can cry "censorship" or "polical motivation" if their comments disappear. For the casual blogger, the delete button works wonders for dealing with trolls - if you don't like the way someone is acting on your blog, simply delete them.
I remain unconvinced that the blogosphere is terrorized by these blog criminals. When Andrew Sullivan posted a link to Extraordinary Observations on his blog, The Daily Dish, I received dozens of positive comments, emails and messages; and virtually nothing that could be considered negative or unprofessional. Sullivan's appearance on NPR's On Point today, along with Nicholas Lemann and Tina Brown, is an excellent discussion of the role blogging plays in modern journalism and why there is still so much value to be found in blogging. Despite the people who want to put bloggers down, I know there is still love in the blogosphere, and I still believe that this is not the end, but only just the beginning.
Mr. Boutin reminds me of the brilliant thinkers who warned us back in the 60's that television was just a fad.
Well, now I know what to call all those negative commenters: TROLLS!
wademcclay, I wasn't around at the time, but what did those thinkers in the 60s believe would go on to replace television?
beth, you've got it!