Blog Overkill

I was surprised at this Slate piece on blogs. It is thoughtful and even-handed. It is easy to mock "blogger triumphalism", but Jack Shafer goes beyond that. RTWT.

Two quick points.

First, the problem of speed in the blogosphere. Shafer calls himself a "slow blogger" and wears it as a badge of honor. There are many other slow bloggers out there, but the blogosphere as a whole does tend to reward speed too much. I discussed that here.

Second, Shafer uses Michael Shamberg as an example of a techno-visionary who ends up as a pillar of the existing media establishment. I think it is telling that some of the most over the top blogthusiasts (e.g. Jarvis, Sullivan) were already part of the media world, but were trapped at its periphery. As noted here and here, being blogbastic was just a smart career move.