i think i'm beginning to understand 'blogger burnout.' over the last year or so, several bloggers decided to shut down. i was dismayed when billmon quit. i was starting to visit the whiskey bar regularly when he called it quits.
i have to admit, his complaint about the commercialization of blogs made me want to scream. after a technology market meltdown when billions of dollars in investments in the 'internet miracle' disappeared into thin air, the first thought that came to my mind when blogging 'went 'commercial' was: "holy shit. the internet can make money. " i was delighted ... and surprised ... to see the DIY zine spirit flourish online. in fact, i'm still having trouble assimilating the knowledge that the daily kos gets 300,000 visits a day. the daily kos isn't even what i'd call a blog anymore.
blogs aren't anything truly new. in the late nineties, one of the venture capital buzz phrases that was certain to set investors salivating was 'online community.' investors fell for a lot of stupid ideas in those days, but they were on to something there. the online world has always served to cultivate niche obessions. politics is a popular obsession that flourished under the blog format.
blogging doesn't scale well. that's why kos evolved into something new. the blog format couldn't handle the traffic or serve the diverse interests of such a large readership. it's also why some bloggers decide they can't take it anymore. managing a growing online community is a lot of work. it's also usually thankless. or it was until BlogAds underwent its stratospheric success and proved that there was money to be made from online communities. all in all, i thought this was a good sign. it meant that good bloggers would keep blogging.
blogging becomes annoying after a while. when a blog reaches critical mass, it inevitably draws the attention of one or more dedicated trolls. trolls always try everyone's patience. they ruin what is good about 'hanging out' online. they distract. derail. obsfucate. push buttons. kevin drum appears to be losing his patience with charlie. kevin held out for a remarkably long time before getting testy. i'd have flamed charlie to a crisp a long time ago.
what an annoying twit.
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