A helpful distillation of the formidable argument and follow-up discussion.
by va
Like every great subject, blogging must be approached through etymology. "Blog" comes from "web" and "log." If this is boring you already, it's because this is a thoroughly-considered, long-gestating print piece whose truth is inherently stable and permanent. Not at all postmodern, in other words.
The thing about blogging is that it's done instantaneously, with the nerves and hormonal stink of emotion. This I dub "humanity." Bloggers must be as stenchy as possible, because humanity, you see, is the coin of blogger authenticity. If bloggers didn't come off like incessant bed-shitters, they wouldn't be believable as bloggers. The statesman-columnist, by contrast, is made of light and is always reasonable. You know this is true because I am performing Apollonian reasonability right now, in print. Thus your sensation of incipient unconsciousness.
Now for a lesson in hyperlinks. They're magic portals to the Original Source, where you can check the accuracy of quotes. However, linking to others means bloggers must submit to others' authority. Montaigne, a sixteenth-century writer whose protean essays are very much like a blog--no really, they are--referenced other people to diminish his own authority, as bloggers must do. Today, marginal blogs cast about like sycophantic courtiers for links from big-time blogs. Verily, the blogosphere has changed from the days when everyone wanted a heh-indeed from Glenn Reynolds: now they can get one from me, too. The more hits and links you get, the more central you are to humanity.
The role of the blogger is similar to that of a dinner-party host. The blogger gathers people and organizes a vibrant, vivacious conversation of exciting buzz and emails. For example, my readers and I were together for 9/11. And for Abu Gharib, too. I blogged passionately about those historic events, very passionately. Looking back, I see I posted twice on 9/11. That's the beauty of blogs.
The thing about blogging is that it's done instantaneously, with the nerves and hormonal stink of emotion. This I dub "humanity." Bloggers must be as stenchy as possible, because humanity, you see, is the coin of blogger authenticity. If bloggers didn't come off like incessant bed-shitters, they wouldn't be believable as bloggers. The statesman-columnist, by contrast, is made of light and is always reasonable. You know this is true because I am performing Apollonian reasonability right now, in print. Thus your sensation of incipient unconsciousness.
Now for a lesson in hyperlinks. They're magic portals to the Original Source, where you can check the accuracy of quotes. However, linking to others means bloggers must submit to others' authority. Montaigne, a sixteenth-century writer whose protean essays are very much like a blog--no really, they are--referenced other people to diminish his own authority, as bloggers must do. Today, marginal blogs cast about like sycophantic courtiers for links from big-time blogs. Verily, the blogosphere has changed from the days when everyone wanted a heh-indeed from Glenn Reynolds: now they can get one from me, too. The more hits and links you get, the more central you are to humanity.
The role of the blogger is similar to that of a dinner-party host. The blogger gathers people and organizes a vibrant, vivacious conversation of exciting buzz and emails. For example, my readers and I were together for 9/11. And for Abu Gharib, too. I blogged passionately about those historic events, very passionately. Looking back, I see I posted twice on 9/11. That's the beauty of blogs.
Blogging will never replace thoughtful print journalism. The ephemerality of the blog format attests to the urgent need to respect the timeless greatness of print journalists. Indeed, the more the blogosphere is alluring, the more golden is our era of journalism.
The digested read, digested: My bloggy fragments I shore against my faculty of judgment, whence I become Teh Good Man Speaking Well.
Alternate doubly-digested read: Let us stipulate that everything I've ever said about Trig Palin doesn't count.
The digested read, digested: My bloggy fragments I shore against my faculty of judgment, whence I become Teh Good Man Speaking Well.
Alternate doubly-digested read: Let us stipulate that everything I've ever said about Trig Palin doesn't count.