How do we escape the hysteria that threatens to erode public debate?
The blogosphere, increasingly fuelled by toxic language, is hindering honest engagement rather than encouraging it
‘N’ You Can Fuck Off ‘N’ All
August 26th, 2012 · 10 Comments
Tags: blogs
10 responses so far ↓
1 John Price // Aug 26, 2012 at 9:03 am
Sneering commenters make an increasingly dull noise and people eventually turn away to the next big thing – Facebook, is it?. It would be better if we were well mannered, though perhaps then nothing would ever get done and no one would be won over to a competing argument. I feel certain that the first rock will come thudding in shortly.
2 Frances Coppola // Aug 26, 2012 at 9:45 am
Well, well. Paid hacks criticise the (largely unpaid) blogosphere. Whodathunkit.
3 Alex B // Aug 26, 2012 at 9:46 am
‘As Yochai Benkler and Aaron Shaw of Harvard University discovered in a survey of 155 US political blogs, rightwing blogs were more likely to be hierarchical and individualistic, shorter and less likely to link to other sources, with only about 13% encouraging participation. Conversely, on the left, 40% of blogs had “adopted platforms with enhanced user participation features”.’
That may be so, but I’m sure we’ve all experienced being called paid shills, trolls, or being blocked altogether from left wing online discussions, even when all we’re really trying to do is to get them to improve the rigour of their case.
4 Jim // Aug 26, 2012 at 9:55 am
So to paraphrase the author: ‘The internet has made me realise that there are lots of people out there who fundamentally disagree with me and the liberal Left, which fact was hidden before by the Leftist bias of the traditional media, and I don’t like this. I want to go back to the point where I can write bien pensant articles in the Guardian, and no-one disagrees with me.’
5 Nick Luke // Aug 26, 2012 at 10:02 am
I’m Surprised that anyony is surprised by any of this. We all read only those newspapers and books, listen to radio or television that most closely echo our own beliefs and perceptions. The blogsphere is just the same. What is very different, however is the access individuals have to comment and discussion. Tim writes occasionally for The Telegraph, occasionally I read him there. However, if I write to the Editor saying I disagree with Tim’s output, I’ll likely be ignored. Here I am writing turgid guff of the sort that will be ignored by the Editor of any newspaper and I am hopeful that at least one person will read my thoughts, it might even be Tim and so I am able to address my thoughts directly to him.
To get the same coverage in a National daily I would have to be an actor (to comment on the Tory party), a sportsman (politics in general) an author (the city) a Big Brother contender (the church).
6 Richard // Aug 26, 2012 at 10:44 am
“on the left, 40% of blogs had “adopted platforms with enhanced user participation features”.”
That probably means they’ve got a “spread this on Twitter” button, rather than any active intellectual debate.
7 bloke in spain // Aug 26, 2012 at 11:26 am
“on the left, 40% of blogs had “adopted platforms with enhanced user participation features”.”
“This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our community standards. Replies may also be deleted. For more detail see our FAQs”
8 Stuck-Record // Aug 26, 2012 at 12:04 pm
“on the left, 40% of blogs had “adopted platforms with enhanced user participation features”.”
Do you know someone who agrees with you? Why not tell them about this post?
9 JuliaM // Aug 26, 2012 at 12:22 pm
“We all read only those newspapers and books, listen to radio or television that most closely echo our own beliefs and perceptions.”
Speak for yourself, Nick!
10 Thomas Gibbon // Aug 26, 2012 at 10:01 pm
bis
Indeed. Not to mention migrating to Disqus for comments, which my Ghostery and DNT add-ons identify as a multisite tracker.
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