When Oliver Willis talks the blogosphere listens

July 23, 2003 7:22 AM

Oliver makes the mainstream media!
posted by Fenriss (33 comments total)

When Oliver Willis talks, it turns out, the blogosphere cares.

*ROFL's until pain sets in*
posted by quonsar at 7:33 AM on July 23, 2003

But the most fervent blog proponents have been talking like apostles. Blogs, they predict, are harbingers of a new, interactive culture that will change the way democracy works, turning voters into active participants rather than passive consumers, limiting the traditional media's role as gatekeeper, and giving the rank-and-file voter unparalleled influence.

*gasps for breath*
they forgot curing cancer!
posted by quonsar at 7:35 AM on July 23, 2003

la la la...I'd like to buy the world a blog...la la la la la...
posted by stonerose at 7:39 AM on July 23, 2003

Wait... raise your hand if you HAVEN'T been interviewed by the press about your weblog?

I've seen enough variations of these, "wow aren't these 'web-logs' interesting" articles that I suspect just about every blogger has been interviewed by now.
posted by KnitWit at 7:39 AM on July 23, 2003

Congrats are due to Oliver. But might I oh-so-gently suggest this might've made a better "Metafilter-related" MeTa post than an FPP?
posted by soyjoy at 7:43 AM on July 23, 2003

So is Oliver officially famous enough now that he can stop asking for it? Or do we need to get him on a reality show or something?
posted by briank at 7:46 AM on July 23, 2003

Does it say anything about him and Britney?

Man, these reporters never get to the meat of stories!
posted by signal at 7:47 AM on July 23, 2003

Congrats, owillis! Never mind the naysayers, good for you, that's a lot of ink to get in a major paper ;-)

Maybe the article will spur more people to check out alternative and web sources rather than relying just on the lazy, lapdog mainstream news outlets. While this piece may be exuberant in it's analysis of the importance of blogs, I will say this: most of us who have been reading blogs like yours knew about the bullshit war propaganda months ago - stuff that is just now hitting the mainstream press.
posted by madamjujujive at 7:55 AM on July 23, 2003

Yeah, OK. MeTa might have been more appropriate. I just got all excited and junk.
posted by Fenriss at 7:55 AM on July 23, 2003

raise your hand if you HAVEN'T been interviewed by the press about your weblog

hand raised
posted by vito90 at 7:57 AM on July 23, 2003

Damn. For a minute I thought he'd got himself a TV show...
posted by i_cola at 7:57 AM on July 23, 2003

So is Oliver officially famous enough now that he can stop asking for it?
Not until I get a prime time slot.

And yes, my site does cure cancer.
posted by owillis at 8:00 AM on July 23, 2003

raise your hand if you HAVEN'T been interviewed by the press about your weblog

young whippersnappers. once upon a time i was interviewed about my web page way back in the summer of 1998. had to code the html by hand in the snow back then, and bugs! let me tell you about bugs. Browser errors the size of my hand! *drools and falls asleep*

rock on owillis. seriously. god damn i need coffee.
posted by th3ph17 at 8:07 AM on July 23, 2003

Can I just point out that I have neither been interviewed about blogs, NOR have I met Harlan Ellison.

Thanks.
posted by Pericles at 8:07 AM on July 23, 2003

Dean is famously ahead of the pack, with an official blog (blogforamerica.com) plus dozens of unofficial sites dedicated to his candidacy.

Hey everybody. Blog for America.
posted by angry modem at 8:07 AM on July 23, 2003

what madamjujujive said. congrats, owillis.

who really cares if *blogs* change the way democracy functions. is there anyone who doubts that online civil society will in general? people oversold internet commerce at first, but it has had a major impact, and so will the web change politics.

not that we shouldn't make fun of silly, celebratory articles, i guess.
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 8:10 AM on July 23, 2003

And yes, my site does cure cancer.

Then again, maybe it's just the pizza and masturbation.
posted by samuelad at 8:10 AM on July 23, 2003

Wait... raise your hand if you HAVEN'T been interviewed by the press about your weblog?

Not I. Not yet. Maybe I could get that interview by being part of the article about the thousands or millions of bloggers who receive no attention whatsoever. Why do they keep doing it? Do they think that someday this will suddenly change? Are they just writing crap, or do they not know how to promote themselves?
posted by weston at 8:23 AM on July 23, 2003

Is anyone else tired of this: " 'blog' (short for weblog)"
posted by shoepal at 8:42 AM on July 23, 2003

Would EF HUTTON blog?
posted by shoepal at 8:46 AM on July 23, 2003

*Starts printing up "I f*cked Oliver Willis" T-shirts and trucker hats*
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 8:50 AM on July 23, 2003

T-shirts sound good, but trucker hats would be unforgiveable.

Congrats, Oliver.
posted by dhoyt at 9:00 AM on July 23, 2003

I would probably wear a trucker hat saying that. (thanks everyone)
posted by owillis at 9:04 AM on July 23, 2003

Won't the "mesh trucker hats with cooper black text reading 'I fucked [insert name of a-or-b-list-blogger]' " meme just die already. Geez.
posted by zpousman at 10:25 AM on July 23, 2003

"*Starts printing up "I f*cked Oliver Willis" T-shirts and trucker hats*"

Been there, done that.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:31 AM on July 23, 2003

''They call themselves the Green Party,'' Willis wrote in his blog this week. ''We call them poor, deluded souls.''

Yeah! And that hat is brilliant Crash.
posted by insomnyuk at 10:41 AM on July 23, 2003

Dammit, I'm always behind the curve.

*Pounds bubble tea, chokes on tapioca wad*

Oh, and congratulations and whatnot, O-Dub.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 10:42 AM on July 23, 2003

I can't believe no one has done this yet.
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:33 PM on July 23, 2003

Can someone tell me how to find the blogosphere? What's the address?

can I get the internet on a disk?
posted by RylandDotNet at 12:41 PM on July 23, 2003

RylandDotNet: yes, for 49.95 I will send you the Internet on a disk, complete and installable on your Windows or Macintosh PC. Shoot me an email and we can discuss payment.
posted by insomnyuk at 1:29 PM on July 23, 2003

I've had a few interviewy things in Big Media as a result of my site, most of which came after the Bali bombings last year.

The most amusing was this person who claimed to be from a certain crappy American daily tabloid that at 2.25 million has the largest daily circulation in the country. She asked via email if she could interview me (via email). I'm not overly fond of the paper in question, to put it mildly, and answered, 'Sure, why the fuck not?'

Didn't hear from her again.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:55 PM on July 23, 2003

They have the internet on computers now?

I told Britney not to wear the hat in public. People will talk. Now they're talking.

And that's... okay.
posted by owillis at 5:29 PM on July 23, 2003

PS Good on ya, Oliver!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:52 AM on July 24, 2003