Daniel Pearl of Newsnight poses the question on his blog; do you realise that we are reading you?
Also, we know what you are saying about us (really, we do).
If you write anything about Newsnight, or about me, on a blog, I’ll probably find it via Technorati.
Yes, Daniel, we do. We can use Technorati, too. :dry: Indeed, I’d be very surprised if you admitted that you didn’t.
Facetiousness aside, I’m bemused that there are bloggers who genuinely don’t appreciate that their scribbles might be read by others – or, for that matter, by the subjects of their entries.
The post itself was fine in that it raised a valid point; that of naivete among some denizens of the world of blog. It is when you get to the comments that things take a turn; Alan Constable, for instance:
Please define the word “BLOG”.
Or Roy Baker:
First off, I don’t know what a blog is, sounds like an abreviation[sic] of a swear word.
Try Google, it’s free and easy to use – or do you need that defined, too? What is it about a certain type of technophobe who thinks that announcing his ignorance to the world in some way makes him clever or superior?
Maybe it’s the time of year, maybe it’s the weather, maybe I’m just getting older and less tolerant, but it seems to me I’m surrounded by stupidity…
Oh, yeah, silly me; it’s the BBC… :devil:
There’s a certain machismo in saying that one doesn’t understand the ‘net and I’m not sure why. I’ve seen it displayed on the tv, with people discussing it on the radio and in people I’ve personally met while out and about (all men). It’s almost a defiance and they’re the same people who say “I don’t own a mobile phone and I’m not going to.” I’m not quite sure what it’s all about, a little like a chap saying “the only time I go to the kitchen is to walk through to the garden.” It’s a conversational swagger, posturing. Nothing more and nothing less.
Daniel Pearl opened his artice with: “It’s become a cliche that new technology has changed TV, for ever.”
In addition to his view on blogs, there is another aspect. This is that there is so much more TV now, than there used to be.
In all reasonableness, given that this TV is produced by a greater proportion of the population (and hence of a wider range of ability, especially at the the lower end), and for a wider range of the population (no longer seriously constrained by the cost), is it surely not the case that the average quality of TV must have fallen.
Now, the same issue is true of the bloggosphere. There’s a lot of it, the quality is highly variable, and so on.
However, each blog being the creation of a single person, or small group, one can choose what to look at with greater confidence of not being disappointed.
Though I do rate Newsnight (I watch it nearly every day), sometimes what I see stretches credibility. Fortunately, at the same time, that thing over on Channel 3 is also showing. Surprisingly often, they strike me as having a more intelligent and realistic take on the day’s events (sad that, for the BBC). Still, it’s an improvement that TV is becoming more like the bloggosphere every day.
As for Mr Paxman having trouble with his incoming email, technology (rudeness filters along the lines of spam filters; even relevance filters) would undoubtedly help. If he’s not up to speed on that, perhaps I can help.
Best regards
Unfortunately, the BBC is becoming too dumbed down for my tastes. We are given measurements in “football pitches” or “double decker buses” or areas the “size of Wales”. I can work out conventional measurements, thankyou…
Then we get the nonsense stories, such as a news item on it being hot today. Yes, I know, I’ve managed to figure that one out for myself… :dry: We are then regaled with dire warnings of the blindingly obvious.
The recent evacuation of British citizens from Beirut, that could have been summed up in a sentence, warranted a whole 15 minutes of repetitive drivel.
And we pay (with menaces) for this… :dry:
Technorati is NOT Bloggers’ one true GOD. Indeed, since T’rati began accepting MySpace blogs, I rarely get any hits from Technorati… and look at T’rati right now… a series of blogs featuring keywords “women sex iran’ dominate any search for “Newsnight.”
Don’t get me wrong, I associated this blog with Technorati VERY EARLY in the game and there was a time when hundreds of hits a day came my way from blogders searching Technorati, but those days are gone. The most hits I got recently came within 15 minutes of the posting of an artcile on the World Cup. After 15 minutes my entry was lost way down on page 5 of T’rati. In my webstats for the last two days, I have NO TRAFFIC incoming via Technorati, and I believe users of the service, like myself, are now taking advantage of OTHER services and tools Technorati provides.
Dave, welcome.
I don’t recall suggesting that it was. 😉
Longrider,
I once had a very interesting close encounter with a former editor of ‘The Scotsman’, who didn’t like something I’d written abount him.
I think he’ll be checking whether his next intended target is a solicitor by training before he threatens them with libel.
Have we yet had a judge say ….”Blog ! I don’t understand. What is a blog ?” 🙂