The Hierarchy of Blog-Bashing
Adam Thierer writes about “internet optimists” versus “internet pessimists”:
The problem with the Internet pessimists, however, is that their skepticism often borders on Chicken Little-ism or outright Ludditism. I thought Andrew Keen’s Cult of the Amateur was about as over-the-top as things could get in this regard. (See my 2-part book review here and here), but then I worked my way through Lee Siegal’s tedious screed, Against the Machine. It made Keen seem downright reasonable and cheery by comparison! Keen and Siegal seem to be in heated competition for the title “High Prophet of Internet Doom,” but Siegal is currently a nose ahead in that race.
And it’s true — Keen’s book is quite annoying, but Siegel’s absolutely blows it away. Both, though, seem a bit like cleverly postmodern efforts to undercut their own theses and prove that the quality control mechanisms of traditional media don’t actually work. Lots of blogs suck, in other words, but so do lots of books.
23 Responses to “The Hierarchy of Blog-Bashing”
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September 7th, 2008 at 10:54 am
“And it’s true — Keen’s book is quite annoying, but Siegel’s absolutely blows it away.”
The thing about Siegel’s book is that here you have a guy who plays on the internets, gets brought low by the internets, and then goes and writes a book about how the internets are bad.
No matter whether he’s wrong or right on the merits, it’s impossible to take it as anything other than blaming the game for the sins of the player.
September 7th, 2008 at 11:07 am
“Ludditism”?
September 7th, 2008 at 11:08 am
But then, you would say that, wouldn’t you?
September 7th, 2008 at 11:10 am
You need only cite Sturgeon’s Law: “98% of everything is crap” — science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon’s response to a complaint that 98% of science fiction is crap.
September 7th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
8 years ago when I wanted to understand the ideas of Bush and Gore I had to depend on news sites like the Washingtonpost and various think tanks like the Brookings Institution. Now I can read Yglesias blog for foreign policy, Ezra Klein and Jonathan Cohn for health care policy, and Joseph Romm for energy policy. I could also go back and read policy papers from think tanks, but that was less timely. So blogs are good. I don’t know what it was like to follow campaigns pre-internet. I have seen old Clinton ads suggesting you go to the library and read his policy ideas, which sounds crazy to me.
September 7th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
this post is just typical of what’s wrong with blogs.
lee siegal is a genius! you aren’t fit to tie his shoes!
September 7th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
People, you’re missing the significance of this post. Adam Thierer repeatedly misspells Lee Siegel’s name, and then Matt Yglesias responds, spelling Siegel’s name correctly.
September 7th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Corsi is proof of the latter concept
September 7th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
The Internet folks (Leonsis, Calacanis, etc.) are printed word pessimists. Long live the printed word!
September 8th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Adam Thierer repeatedly misspells Lee Siegel’s name, and then Matt Yglesias responds, spelling Siegel’s name correctly.
Given the general credibility of Thierer and Siegel, and MY’s credibility on spelling issues, the only sensible conclusion is that Matt has been taken in by Siegel’s lies about how to spell his name.
September 18th, 2008 at 10:17 am
I reviewed Andrew Keen’s book and philosophy in video and blog form. Personally, I think he is incredibly short-sighted.
Video Form: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=XCFIfPlrAvE
Written Blog Form:
http://www.speakmediablog.com/2008/09/social-media-keep-up-or-fall-back.html
Jennifer A. Jones
Speak Media Blog
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