Laurel Wellman thinks blogging is dumb.
July 2, 2002 12:22 PM Subscribe
Laurel Wellman thinks blogging is dumb. Well, you knew that was coming.
I didn't get a very strong 'blogging is dumb' sense out of the article. It was more like 'blogs are being used as an excuse to talk when one has nothing to say'. Whatever you think of the article, ya gotta love bits like this:
"Hi! Whassup??? Nothin' new around here, just napping -- :-D!!! Going to the mall with Jenna!! LOL!!!!!!!"
Yes, just smell the quiet desperation.
posted by holycola at 12:37 PM on July 2, 2002
"Hi! Whassup??? Nothin' new around here, just napping -- :-D!!! Going to the mall with Jenna!! LOL!!!!!!!"
Yes, just smell the quiet desperation.
posted by holycola at 12:37 PM on July 2, 2002
So I was blogging along and this blog blogs up to me and blogs, "Blog! What the blog is blogging, blog?" I blogging didn't blog what to blog, so I blogged my blog and blog. Then, the blog blogged all blog, and blogged down the blog, blogging me a blogging blog in blog. I blogged there to blog and blog only when blogging blogged for.
Blog me?
posted by almostcool at 12:45 PM on July 2, 2002
Blog me?
posted by almostcool at 12:45 PM on July 2, 2002
laurel wellman was insanely funny when she was skewering the sf cognescetti for the sf weekly.
Now that, well, she's one of them, uh, she's, uh, kinda (read: very) unexciting.
but i'm glad she's pulling down the cash. she was a great writer. i'm just going to believe they're putting the screw to her over at the chron, and, uh, just keep faith that our other favorite snarky columnist will preservere and be destitute all her life ('course, i don't know, maybe she made some bank on that suck thing.).
posted by fishfucker at 12:51 PM on July 2, 2002
Now that, well, she's one of them, uh, she's, uh, kinda (read: very) unexciting.
but i'm glad she's pulling down the cash. she was a great writer. i'm just going to believe they're putting the screw to her over at the chron, and, uh, just keep faith that our other favorite snarky columnist will preservere and be destitute all her life ('course, i don't know, maybe she made some bank on that suck thing.).
posted by fishfucker at 12:51 PM on July 2, 2002
Interesting that she begins by saying "So I've decided to volunteer my services as The Chronicle's first Weblogger columnist."
Because that's been Mark Morford's gig (essentially) for years.
posted by emptyage at 12:55 PM on July 2, 2002
Because that's been Mark Morford's gig (essentially) for years.
posted by emptyage at 12:55 PM on July 2, 2002
i don't mind a considered discussion on how blogging often IS dumb, but I just begin to get the sense that certain snarky columnists (and laurel is certainly not alone in this, see above) are getting into a tiredish old routine of pissing on everybody else's parade. Suck perfected the art and now, well, it's been done. mean-spirited punditry is so ... 90s.
however, i agree that much blogging, even a fair chunk of my own, is little more than participation in a huge virtual circle jerk. But so was working for a newspaper when i did that.
posted by brookish at 1:15 PM on July 2, 2002
however, i agree that much blogging, even a fair chunk of my own, is little more than participation in a huge virtual circle jerk. But so was working for a newspaper when i did that.
posted by brookish at 1:15 PM on July 2, 2002
however, i agree that much blogging, even a fair chunk of my own, is little more than participation in a huge virtual circle jerk. But so was working for a newspaper when i did that.
that's exactly my opinion. 1 out of a 100 blogs is good stuff, and that's about the same as anything else, whether that be books, records, etc. no one seems to be writing about the 1 though, which i find troubling.
this week i'm supposed to be interviewed by a canadian daily. i'm praying i don't crack open the paper and find another article on the uselessness of blogging. however, i'm not ruling out the possibility.
posted by dobbs at 1:27 PM on July 2, 2002
that's exactly my opinion. 1 out of a 100 blogs is good stuff, and that's about the same as anything else, whether that be books, records, etc. no one seems to be writing about the 1 though, which i find troubling.
this week i'm supposed to be interviewed by a canadian daily. i'm praying i don't crack open the paper and find another article on the uselessness of blogging. however, i'm not ruling out the possibility.
posted by dobbs at 1:27 PM on July 2, 2002
Humanity is just a big circle jerk, it's just that the participants change, and no one ever really has an orgasm.
Blogging and all that is just the idle chatter to pass the time.
Not that I think it's a bad thing.
posted by rocketman at 1:30 PM on July 2, 2002
Blogging and all that is just the idle chatter to pass the time.
Not that I think it's a bad thing.
posted by rocketman at 1:30 PM on July 2, 2002
You don't ever orgasm? I orgasm. I know some other people who orgasm. In fact, I'm pretty sure people orgasm.
Or was that a metaphor, or something?
posted by cortex at 1:35 PM on July 2, 2002
Or was that a metaphor, or something?
posted by cortex at 1:35 PM on July 2, 2002
Dobbs, I though Catherine Seipp gave political/news blogs a
pretty fair shake in American Journalism Review last month.
The old-media sniping is, I'm convinced, a backlash against the warbloggers'
"look at us, we're the future of journalism" crowing of late.
posted by nance at 1:47 PM on July 2, 2002
1 out of a 100 blogs is good stuff,
Yes, and unfortunately it's rarely the same one from day to day. That said, the argument that blogging is boring is a thin one coming from a newspaper columnist. They of all people should know how hard it is to come up with original, interesting thoughts every day. (To her credit, Wellman seems to acknowledge this, though mainly to imply that she'd welcome a break from being so damn creative.)
posted by me3dia at 1:52 PM on July 2, 2002
Yes, and unfortunately it's rarely the same one from day to day. That said, the argument that blogging is boring is a thin one coming from a newspaper columnist. They of all people should know how hard it is to come up with original, interesting thoughts every day. (To her credit, Wellman seems to acknowledge this, though mainly to imply that she'd welcome a break from being so damn creative.)
posted by me3dia at 1:52 PM on July 2, 2002
Blogging itself is a good idea. Most people who blog are dumb idiots with all the typical crap to say.
And then there are the comment posters... don't get me started on us.
;-)
posted by dopamine at 2:00 PM on July 2, 2002
And then there are the comment posters... don't get me started on us.
;-)
posted by dopamine at 2:00 PM on July 2, 2002
nance, thanks for the link. excellent article and i hadn't read it before.
posted by dobbs at 2:07 PM on July 2, 2002
posted by dobbs at 2:07 PM on July 2, 2002
The thing one has to remember about blogging is that it's possible that some blogs aren't meant for the general public...some are just teenage girls who want their friends to keep on about their day....sometimes blogs are just that logs about what's happening in their day. It doesn't have to be pulitzer prize material because it's not meant to be pulitzer prize material.
posted by rlef98 at 2:18 PM on July 2, 2002
posted by rlef98 at 2:18 PM on July 2, 2002
blog, blogging me a blogging blog in blog. I blogged
Sounds like someone is blogging a "bong-blog".
And what do you get when you take the words "blog" "blog"minus the o's & g's and add the double a's. Not that I totally agree.
posted by thomcatspike at 2:22 PM on July 2, 2002
Sounds like someone is blogging a "bong-blog".
And what do you get when you take the words "blog" "blog"minus the o's & g's and add the double a's. Not that I totally agree.
posted by thomcatspike at 2:22 PM on July 2, 2002
only thing worse than writing a newspaper column that looks down its nose at blogging, is being the latest newspaper columnist that has looked down its nose at blogging.
this elitism has turned my martini.
posted by tsarfan at 3:18 PM on July 2, 2002
this elitism has turned my martini.
posted by tsarfan at 3:18 PM on July 2, 2002
I thought the column was (mildly) amusing and well-written, unlike most of the pieces I've seen from journalists on blogs recently.
posted by gohlkus at 4:05 PM on July 2, 2002
posted by gohlkus at 4:05 PM on July 2, 2002
i thought the column was boring, making it quite similar to my blog.
posted by howa2396 at 4:14 PM on July 2, 2002
posted by howa2396 at 4:14 PM on July 2, 2002
Blogs.... E/N sites... Personal pages...
Same shit, different pile. Like anything, there's good and there is bad. Find what you like, and stick with it.
posted by Dark Messiah at 4:40 PM on July 2, 2002
Same shit, different pile. Like anything, there's good and there is bad. Find what you like, and stick with it.
posted by Dark Messiah at 4:40 PM on July 2, 2002
And what do you get when you take the words "blog" "blog"minus the o's & g's and add the double a's
Um...bla bla? I love rebuses.
posted by iconomy at 5:03 PM on July 2, 2002
Um...bla bla? I love rebuses.
posted by iconomy at 5:03 PM on July 2, 2002
The piece was fairly lazy, and no better for admitting it. But Wellman's a Bay Area treasure -- she almost can't help but be insightful, and she's a born writer. Since she left the SF Weekly, I hardly ever pick that paper up (her "Dog Bites" replacements were awful), though I must admit I don't make a huge effort to read her stuff in the Chronicle. (Steve Rubenstein is another great writer on staff there, though I haven't noticed his byline much lately ....)
posted by macrone at 6:13 PM on July 2, 2002
posted by macrone at 6:13 PM on July 2, 2002
...clavdivs' old job.
clav's around. Just low key. He's Overlord For Life, isn't he?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:53 PM on July 2, 2002
clav's around. Just low key. He's Overlord For Life, isn't he?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:53 PM on July 2, 2002
Light-hearted satire has no place in the world of weblogs. The piece only serves to demonstrates this.
posted by kofisaffu at 7:34 AM on July 4, 2002
posted by kofisaffu at 7:34 AM on July 4, 2002
« Older Mike Ovitz uncovers a sinister organization! | Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
*BANG* (That's the sound of me shooting myself in the head)
posted by mark13 at 12:31 PM on July 2, 2002