Since I read the ubiquitous New York Times Magazine piece on blogging: Fear and Laptops on the Campaign Trail I’ve had some doubts and questions. Like Rayne and Betsy Devine I wished other female political bloggers had been included, besides Wonkette.
I’d be lying if I said I never wonder how many people are reading this blog, or whether I’ll ever make money off of my writing. Somedays the idea of being paid to post seems like a dream deal: nice work if you can get it…. However, the bloggers featured in the article, who are full-time and professional, appear to be miserable. Who wants to be like these people? They are described as “exasperated”, “pretending”, “wrinkled”, falling asleep while editing, or staying awake all night, “afflicted” with “angst”. Talk about intensity, lack of transparency, and feeling trapped in a persona. More evidence that blogging mixed with money makes a strange toxic addiction.
And who wants to be a blogger if it is two extremes: readers in the hundreds of thousands, or “nobody”?
In a recent national survey, the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that more than two million Americans have their own blog. Most of them, nobody reads.
By these two standards, I am obviously in “the tail” as David Weinberger describes it. But I don’t think that “nobody” reads this blog. Although I’m not about to dethrone Daily Kos in ranking, I am grateful for everyone who takes the time to read, link or comment: thank you! Markos Moulitsas may be unhappy blogging, with his millions of readers, but I’m happy here. It’s Christmas every day from all the gifts I receive. No nobodys at my blog, thank you – or no thanks – NYT.
The one thing the article did get correct? Bloggers are described as wearing T-shirts not pajamas.
…the news agenda was beginning to be set by this largely unpaid, T-shirt-clad army of bloggers.
Indeed. I’ve never posted anything while wearing my nighttime attire…but I’ve written plenty of pieces while wearing a T-shirt and jeans. That does seem like a better blogger uniform and perhaps a better theme for the proposed blogger calendar…although I certainly hope we are not headed in that direction…
4 responses so far ↓
1 pops // Sep 27, 2004 at 8:10 am
The easy thing to do when talking about blogging is just quote Sartre (Hell is other people) and then fire up the pity party. The article did an excellent job of that.
The point of talking to Ms. Cox, nee Wonkette, as I saw it was to show that there’s only one fun person to hang around with out of this whole sorry lot. As she said most bloggers don;’t think she’s a blogger. It’s probably the fact ath she’s a hell of alot of fun to read.
BTW- Andrew Sullivan was on CNN over the weekend. He looked like his dog just died.
It’s less a matter of pajamas but going around in public wearing your nice new hair shirt that you bought with all that Pay Pal money. I’ve had several email discussion with several of my inner circle about how no one in this little medium wants to be seen as amusing.
And if you want to drive off the readers there’s only one thing to do.
Act like you’re having a good time doing this.
2 Soylent Content // Sep 27, 2004 at 10:21 am
Shot at and Missed
What I find terribly distressing this morning, other than the constant seismic activity, is the fact that a good many people seemed to have missed the real article on blogging that appeared in yesterday’s NY Times. A goodly number of
3 Soylent Content // Sep 27, 2004 at 10:22 am
Shot at and Missed
What I find terribly distressing this morning, other than the constant seismic activity, is the fact that a good many people seemed to have missed the real article on blogging that appeared in yesterday’s NY Times. A goodly number of
4 Katherine // Sep 29, 2004 at 7:13 am
I love reading your blog, Julie. Catching up now after our vacation and illness, and enjoying it all…here’s one faithful reader, which definitely means it’s not nobody. I, too, sometimes wonder about “lurkers” and if there are any… I checked http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/blogs_as_virtual.html to make sure the word meant what I thought it meant…