What bloggers are saying about the latest in information technology
My eighth grade shop teacher used to require that we learn the basics of each machine before he would let us use them. We would have to get a basic understanding of how a machine worked and how to operate it, as well as basic safety and consideration, and once learned; he would sign off and let us make our birdhouses. Because of his diligence, I still have all my fingers. His point was to teach us a little bit of professionalism before acting -- something that he hoped we would carry with us later in life. Generally, we want trained professionals to fix our cars and our plumbing, and to prepare our taxes for us. We want trained professionals, rather than amateurs, to fix our computers when they break down, and we want trained professionals, rather than amateurs, to educate our children. Why then, has there come to be an attitude that blogging and unedited "citizen journalism" practiced by amateurs is equal or superior to the work done by professional writers and journalists? Blogs have value and serve a purpose, of course. But let's take them for what they are. Blogs are not news. They are not journalism. They do, however, represent an ongoing dialogue in response to news and journalism. And it's good to have a dialogue.
BusinessWeek's Blogspotting blog noted that the number of blogs is decreasing. The question of just how big the blogosphere is has caused some debate recently, and the BusinessWeek blog notes that the "State of the Live Web" figures of 15.5 million blogs reflects live blogs, opposed to the often reported figure of over 70 million -- which includes all blogs. It's not surprising to learn that the majority of blogs are inactive. Not everybody needs their own soapbox, and a lot of people that have one, probably shouldn't. The Cnet blog says the bubble has burst, and the millions of people who were at first excited by the phenomenon have grown bored with it.
There are those who take exception to the notion that the blogosphere has reached saturation -- those who would have us believe that it is, and should be, limitless. Unfortunately, the vast majority of blogs in the blogosphere contain nothing worthwhile. A comment in the ValleyWag blog aptly points out that there is only a finite number of people who can write something interesting.
A strange sort of evolution has happened. The blog, which was first seen as a sort of personal diary, has attempted to cross over into the realm of actual publishing and journalism. An article in the Guardian presents the unpopular but compelling view of dotcommer Andrew Keen, whose book "The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture and Assaulting our Economy" takes on the sacred cows of Web 2.0, citizen journalism, blogs, wikis and other types of self-indulgent social networking sites that masquerade as real news. Keen's own blog notes that "journalists are also waking up to the absurdity of Web 2.0 economic utopianism."
The statistics indicate that blogging may be entering a more mature stage. The current stage of blogging has been polluted with a free-for-all mentality, where anybody can say anything, no matter how ridiculous, hateful or threatening, under the guise of free speech. Hard-core, idealistic bloggers are reluctant to edit or restrict hateful, offensive or even threatening commentary and as a result, good bloggers (Kathy Sierra for example) with something valuable to add to the dialogue drop out, and the hatemongers take over. The fact that blogging has plateaued isn't a bad thing, and it doesn't mean that blogging is dead. Far from it. On the contrary, it means, or at least one would hope it means, it is evolving, and that the millions of blogs with poor, marginal, or offensive content are dropping off, and the handful of blogs with actual quality content are gaining more prominence. Let us hope that the next wave of blogging will bring something of greater value.
