Calling for a Cease Fire at Blogosphere High

Wired News story on the Best Blogfights of 2006 is honestly an embarrassment to bloggers everywhere. John Koetsler was right to equate the blogosphere with high school.

The world is watching us. In 2007 our challenge, as bloggers, is to up our game. Let's skip the name calling and the back and forth cat-fighting. We should debate issues, of course. But the more that we treat each other like children, the more it brings down the entire credibility of the power of the digital citizen and his/her ability to shape online perceptions.

Let's take a page from our older, wiser siblings in the professional media and call a permanent cease fire.  Yes, the New York Post and Daily News trade barbs from time to time, but the professional media bring their A-game and it's time we take a page from their playbook.

Comments

[Valeria Maltoni]

In the offline world, this is called being hard on the issues, soft on the relationship; and responding to the issue, not reacting to the person.

[davidbdale]

Is it bad form to criticize the grammar of a very fine blogger? Maybe I'm a dick, but I can't help myself.

". . . the digital citizen and their ability to shape online perceptions"

CORRECTION: Digital citizen and his/her ability. Or digital citizens and their ability.

. . . from our older, more wiser siblings

CORRECTION: From our older, wiser siblings.

. . . the professional media brings their A-game

CORRECTION; The professional media bring their A-game.

I know. Very dicklike of me.

[Steve Rubel]

Actually, David that's helpful. I need to bring my A-game too!

[vps hosting]

Well, let it be any industry,where fame comes into picture you will face criticism every time, i dont think we should worry about that,infact we should try developing in more skills in blogging.

[Chris Felton]

Sorry Steve, I think people are coming in to blogs in droves for the food fights. It is a traffic driver. I think readers enjoy it because it isn't like traditional media. You can get into these sparring matches.

[ann michael]

Steve -

This post about a related issue might interest you:

http://makemarketinghistory.blogspot.com/2007/01/cynical-ploy-of-week.html

Credibility is earned - and unfortunately for the blogosphere - lost rather quickly.

Another interesting point is that people don't dismiss all magazines or books because of some "bad" ones (in the eye of the beholder, of course), but they do tend to dismiss blogs because of the actions of a few.

Happy New Year!

Ann

[The Aesthetic Elevator]

Hmmm, glad I was unaware of the teenage angst apparently so prolific in the 'sphere!

[Russell Page]

This made me laugh.

Blogging is not some high horse to bettering conversation in the world.

People are people, and a blog is merely an online extension of human interaction.

This story is nothing more than an Us Weekly version of people who are "famous" to geeks and other freqeuent Internet users.

[Giovanni Rodriguez]

I like the post, but it reminds me of a running conversations I've been having with friends over the past ten years or so -- people don't change all that much after High School. We will always have freaks, geeks, jocks, and bullies. Be true to yourself, and you'll do alright.

[David Koopmans]

I'm with Russell here. Isn't the fundamental difference between old and new media that online anyone can participate, without editorial control? I don't think you can compare "the blogosphere" with the traditional media for that reason alone. I struggle with the whole idea that "the blogosphere" can somehow be addressed as if it was a group of people that share a set of values, norms, rules, etc. That may have been so in the beginning, but as more and more people participate that is no longer the case. Maybe it is time to say goodbye to the concept of "the blogosphere".

[Jim Kukral]

I dunno Steve, I thought it was kinda funny and dead on. As much as we want to try and pull this outta the gutter, the real reason this whole thing is so successful is the real human interaction.

And in real life, people like to disagree and fight.

[Jeremy Pepper]

Is this because most of the time you do get into a blogger fight, well, you're like the Gerry Cooney of blog fights?

[Jake McKee]

First off, let's be specific about who you're talking about when you talk aobut "we". You're not talking about bloggers generally, you're talking about a specific type, and perhaps group of bloggers.... the blogging pundits. People like you and me.

Man, the world doesn't care what we have to say. The world isn't paying attention to us, they're paying attention to brands who are listening to our advice. They're paying attention to teenagers putting video podcasts togetether. They paying attention to the Snakes on Blog blog. We're none of those things. If you asked 10,000 random people if they know who Dave Winer is, the answer would likely be 100% "no".

Let's not overestimate our self-worth in the world at large.

[John Cass]

I've been thinking about developing a curmudgeon meter, a rating for people who complain about other bloggers, except they might be overly critical of the other blogger when laying out the facts would just suffice. Jason Calacanis inspired the idea from a post he made. I forget the post, but I remember he was right it was just the way he said the things he did about the other blogger, it left me wondering.

I’ve chatted with other bloggers about this before, sometimes I get suspicious that the reason for all of the bile and hot air is because people want more attention and links, but I was also thinking it was because people don’t know how to give critical feedback to others without sticking in the knife once or twice.

My model for constructive feedback is a toastmaster, toastmasters is an international organization for public speaking and as it turns out polite criticism of other’s work. Toastmasters recommend you always complement the speaker’s presentation, and then provide facts as to how they might improve their speaking next time.

Therefore elements that would go into making the curmudgeon meter would be:

Sticking to facts

Level of personal attack

Level of importance of the incident

The best use of this meter would be that it could only be used for a measurement for you. Let me know how you think you would rate on the Curmudgeon scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the top curmudgeon level.

[John Cass]

I think I will disagree with David on the use of singular "their".

I researched the usage of "their" and find that the singular usage is okay according to Henry Churchyard. http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/austheir.html

Here's what Henry had to say about the usage:

"Singular "their" etc., was an accepted part of the English language before the 18th-century grammarians started making arbitrary judgements as to what is "good English" and "bad English", based on a kind of pseudo-"logic" deduced from the Latin language, that has nothing whatever to do with English. (See the 1975 journal article by Anne Bodine in the bibliography.) And even after the old-line grammarians put it under their ban, this anathematized singular "their" construction never stopped being used by English-speakers, both orally and by serious literary writers. So it's time for anyone who still thinks that singular "their" is so-called "bad grammar" to get rid of their prejudices and pedantry!"

Paul Brians, author of the book, "Common Errors in English Usage," agrees with Henry, though he does suggest that too much usage, sounds flat and hard on the ear in formal writing.

"However, in many written sentences the use of singular “their” and “they” creates an irritating clash even when it passes unnoticed in speech. It is wise to shun this popular pattern in formal writing. Often expressions can be pluralized to make the “they” or “their” indisputably proper: “All of them have brought their own lunches.” “People” can often be substituted for “each.” "

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/they.html

More from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they

I thought this quote was interesting:

"There's not a man I meet but doth salute me / As if I were their well-acquainted friend — Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors, Act IV, Scene 3, 1594"

However if you are writing an academic paper according to Tim O'Keefe at Georgia State University

"'they' and their' are often used as generic singular pronouns in conversation, and some people have claimed that this usage was common even in writing at some points in the past. I believe that usage determines 'correct' grammar, and at some point in the future, the 'generic singular' they and their might be generally considered acceptable. However, standards in written language (especially academic written language) tend to be less relaxed than those in spoken English, and also to lag behind spoken English."

Steve, do not feel bad, you are in the company of Shakespeare!

[Mario Sundar]

I covered the blogosphere smack downs on my blog last year because of the human interest factor and as juvenile as the fights are, c'mon, aren't we allowed a guilty pleasure :)

Let's face it -- high-school or otherwise, the media (MSM or blogs) loves to create idols and then tear them down; the blogosphere is no different and I don't see this dying down anytime soon.

[tish grier]

Steve,

The Wired article is fixated on a small portion of the blogosphere that makes the most money and has the highest profiles.

But the A-list is not the totality of the blogosphere.

Personally, I don't see a lot of fighting among the citizen journalists I know, nor do I see a lot of snipe-y backbiting among the marketing bloggers I know. Everyone plays nice, even when we disagree. Please don't paint all of us with the same broad brush stroke.