The Blogosphere's Loss Of Innocence

Before the big guns realized the reach - potential or actual - of blogs, the blogosphere was the domain of independent spirits. The use of blogs for big-time marketing or for artificially manufacturing buzz (whether for commercial or for political ends) was considered cynicism, and in poor form. But those were the salad days. Now, instead of being able to wade through blogs - political blogs specifically - reading unique opinions and fresh perspectives on things, we are inevitably sucked into the orbits of this politician or that soap-box preacher. In some blogs, and in some comment threads, the blogosphere now bears an uncanny resemblance to the legal profession where entire treatises are composed of artfully arranged quotes and paraphrases.

The argument can be made that this outcome was inevitable. Even though the blog was originally just an online diary - a way of broadcasting your thoughts out into the world - it was really only a matter of time before it got co-opted by politicians; weaponized, if you will, into a sword with which to attack an opponent or an idea. Worse, there are blogs now whose sole purpose is to proselytize.

Nothing against politicians who blog, of course, but - and you may well call me a purist or naive - that just isn’t the way blogs should be. Blogs are not soap-boxes but streams-of-consciousness made readable; blogs are not platforms as they are arenas for debate; blogs are not public relations tools, blogs are the public made audible.

Look at it this way:

Blogs are conversations between people. We talk about things that interest us or disgust us in equal measure. Political blogs, to be more specific, gave us a place to vent our disappointment with the status quo.