Are Bloggers Parasites?

That’s the question of the day in the navel-gazing world of the blogosphere. But let me assure you that this question/allegation does not come from the White House/politicians/establishment!!! This question is posed by a fellow blogger, and he answers it himself.

Nicholas Carr, who says he ’scavenges’ at his blog named roughtype, writes: “It is worth remembering that, in a literary context, another word for ‘parasitic’ is ‘critical.’ Blogging is, at its essence, a critical form, a means of recycling other writings to ensure that every molecule of sense, whether real or imagined, is distilled and consumed.

“So if someone wants to call my blog parasitic, or even bacterial, that’s fine with me. I’ll consider it not an insult, but a compliment.

“Robert Niles, the editor of the Online Journalism Review, recently decried what he sees as a tendency by journalists to characterise blogs as ‘a parasitic medium’ that feeds off the work of traditional newspapers and magazines (tinyurl.com/yv67v). He calls the charge ‘a poorly informed insult of many hard-working Web publishers who are doing fresh, informative and original work.’

“Maybe so, but Mr. Niles’ protestations notwithstanding, blogs are largely parasitic. Yes, a handful of bloggers do original reporting, usually on highly specialised topics, but most simply react to the news of the day. The blogosphere, as others have pointed out, acts as a kind of global echo chamber. An idea gets swatted around like a ping-pong ball for a few hours until a fresh one takes its place.

“But is that really so bad? I used to think of blogging’s reactive nature as a flaw in the medium. I’ve changed my mind, though. I’ve come to believe that being a literary parasite is no bad thing. I’d argue, in fact, that parasitism is blogging’s most distinctive and probably its most valuable feature…”

Please click here to read the full article…

Online Journalism Review is organising on March 30 a Conference on Entrepreneurial Journalism at Los Angeles to discuss “Can independent online news sites make money… and a difference?”

OJR conferences, the website says, bring together writers and editors to share their passion for online media in group discussion sessions and to learn from colleagues how to improve the quality, visibility and profitability of their work.

Interesting…How I wish I could take a flight from India and attend the conference as interesting and diverse people are participating. Check here for details… But the travel and stay expenses are far beyond my budget!!!