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.







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.
Posted by: Valeria Maltoni | Thursday, January 04, 2007 at 10:30 AM
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.
Posted by: davidbdale | Thursday, January 04, 2007 at 11:10 AM
Actually, David that's helpful. I need to bring my A-game too!
Posted by: Steve Rubel | Thursday, January 04, 2007 at 11:42 AM
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.
Posted by: vps hosting | Thursday, January 04, 2007 at 11:43 AM
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.
Posted by: Chris Felton | Thursday, January 04, 2007 at 11:59 AM
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
Posted by: ann michael | Thursday, January 04, 2007 at 12:03 PM
Hmmm, glad I was unaware of the teenage angst apparently so prolific in the 'sphere!
Posted by: The Aesthetic Elevator | Thursday, January 04, 2007 at 02:35 PM
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.
Posted by: Russell Page | Thursday, January 04, 2007 at 03:10 PM
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.
Posted by: Giovanni Rodriguez | Thursday, January 04, 2007 at 03:30 PM
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".
Posted by: David Koopmans | Thursday, January 04, 2007 at 05:00 PM
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.
Posted by: Jim Kukral | Thursday, January 04, 2007 at 05:48 PM
Is this because most of the time you do get into a blogger fight, well, you're like the Gerry Cooney of blog fights?
Posted by: Jeremy Pepper | Thursday, January 04, 2007 at 07:30 PM
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.
Posted by: Jake McKee | Thursday, January 04, 2007 at 08:07 PM
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.
Posted by: John Cass | Friday, January 05, 2007 at 01:23 AM
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!
Posted by: John Cass | Friday, January 05, 2007 at 01:25 AM
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.
Posted by: Mario Sundar | Friday, January 05, 2007 at 01:39 AM
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.
Posted by: tish grier | Sunday, January 07, 2007 at 05:26 PM