September 09, 2009, 5:06 PM — On the Web, no one can hear you scream. But no one can stop you, either.
In a world without the hard borders and the finite frame of a sheet of paper--and without the mediating effects of various supervising editors and copy editors--Web-centric writers are free to go on at length and without restraint about whatever topic happens to interest them. And they do, convinced that millions of loyal readers want nothing more than for them to share their definitive takes on everything from the latest MacBook to Michael Jackson to Barack Obama to the sandwich they're eating for lunch.
The term for speaking or writing verbosely and windily is bloviation; and to judge from their output, certain online practitioners are more adept than a pod of humpback whales at endlessly spouting vaporous nothings. Some even make a living at it.
After much debate, we've rounded up our favorite Web blowhards, ten leather-lunged loudmouths whose loquacity knows no bounds. Now, don't get us wrong: We love these guys (and gal); after all, they ultimately make our jobs easier. So please take our commentary in the spirit of good fun and (every now and then) constructive criticism in which it is intended. And of course, we're not above a little blowhardism ourselves. It's an occupational hazard--and if your friends and admirers won't tell you, who will?
