I had no idea there were so many purists among bloggers.
In a way, it’s pretty heartening. Especially Marocharim’s insistence that it’s all about the writing. I suppose some of us started that way. But as time wears on, I’m pretty sure that the number of people who continue writing for writing’s sake must dwindle. There will of course, be a privileged few will find that they can still afford to fan the flames of idealism – both financially and in terms of available time. But others will take different paths. Some simply lose the fire; others realize they need to have more time for financially rewarding activities; and yet others come to the acknowledgment that they have the skillz to make writing a financially rewarding activity.
What’s wrong with that? We all need to make a living. So there’s really nothing wrong with making money off of your blog; and bloggers who don’t make money do not necessarily occupy a higher moral plane.
And besides, who’s to say that a blogger has sold his soul? My own standards – standards I do not demand that others adhere to as well – are quite basic.
When a blogger tailors his writing to follow the money that I become comfortable believing that he has lost integrity. When he spouts drivel, for instance, that he does not believe in with moral certainty because he’s gonna get paid for it, I call that integrity-challenged. When he promotes stuff, or people, or places, or whatever simply because he expects money or stuff in return, I cringe – but (and this is important) I don’t care.
Like I tell people, you don’t like what I wrote, go find something else to read.
Sure, we all want a pristine blogosphere – but that’s not gonna happen. Hell. We don’t have a pristine blogosphere anymore to begin with. And guess what? The blogosphere will not implode even when the hacks outnumber the purists. Hell. Look at media. It’s still there isn’t it? And we bloggers still pull quotes from their newspapers and broadcasts.
At the end of the day, all it really boils down to is caveat lector. Reader be-fucking-ware.
Having said all that, I have to say that although I agree with what lies at the heart of Pat’s post – that bloggers should avoid selling-out – I need to agree also that the blogosphere cannot be policed. In fact, there is not even any need to police it.
The blogosphere is a dynamic environment. There may be times when the hacks gain the upper hand, but then even they will eventually suffer a backlash. At some point in the rise of hacks, the readers will realize that they’re being manipulated, and they will start seeking out the smaller blogs – the indies, if you will.
Inevitably, as these indies start attracting attention – kinda like the story of FV’s life eh? – they will themselves become a potential marketing tool. Hacks will again proliferate like wolves in sheep’s clothing and for awhile, the readers will eat it all up. But then, a tipping point will eventually be reached and the wolves will be exposed for what they are, and readers will again seek out the new indies.
And so the cycle goes on. The best we can hope for is to make the period of indie integrity last longer. And our best hope of doing that is to try to keep each other honest. Somehow, I suspect this is what Pat meant to say when he called for us to ‘police our ranks.’
No need, gentle-folk, to take the man too literally.
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benign0 say:
Different folks, different strokes.
And some would say “today” differently from what they acted out five days ago.
my main criteria for reading a blog, after visiting it, is if it made sense and if it was well written. if it was, i would not only read it, i would keep on visiting it. i would, regardless of whether or not i agreed with the writer or whether he was paid or not.
i think i have a good-enough ability to discern whether a blog is worth my time or not. in the latter case, i would just treat it as a cyber pollution that i’m never gonna regret not to ever see or read again.
It’s ironic that those who supposedly fight for “democracy” are those who advocate an antiseptic and sterile blogosphere.
I told Patricio this in a previous exchange:
speaking if hacks:
even commenters have been accused of being hacks.
The two ben’s in this comment thread can relate to that. Yours truly have been accused of being pretentious some time ago,and i hated it,but I have learned to get over it.
I have a blogger friend who was even mentioned by an inquirer columnist coining the term: Luli Arroyo’s internet brigade. With all due deference to that blogger friend( whom I just trust that he or she knows my family even if I never had a chance to meet him or her face to face), I don’t believe that such a group exists literally,sure there are trolls,hecklers and alter egos that raises our bps just by the sight of their names ;but claiming that all of them are paid hacks is just such an incredible claim. (ok it may just have been a hyperbole)
as to Pat’s concern, the pinoy blogosphere is to vast to police.
As for ethics:
That too was a learning experience having outed a commenter (one with an IVY league sounding alias). two words: Lesson learned.
benny,
So, how do we profit from Get Realism? ;)
Naku Sister, agree ako sa iyo.
Sa Iba:
Pero hindi rin naman pera ang nakakagawa ng bansa. Hindi lang ang pera and end-all ng lahat. Marami pang iba. Poder, Ego at pribadong interest ng mga badette.
Si Pat ay isang Romantiko na papa. Kailangan ng mundo yan. Meron din naman mga intellectual na papa . Parehong puwedeng ma loko. Sabi nga na mga sisters ” matalino man ang matsing na iisahan din!”
Rom:
I care much for the writing aspect because I’m a writer by trade and my hobby is writing. ;) I don’t mind being on some list, for example, as long as I know that list exists and that that I don’t cost anything less than my salary, so to speak.
Like I tell people myself, it doesn’t matter that there’s a Big X Above that you can click if you don’t like what I wrote or that you were offended by it. The fact is that a lot about writing involves responsibility and commitment. It has a lot to do with love, but I’m getting way ahead of myself.
Policing the blogosphere has a lot to do with self-regulation, if you asked me. If you like the money so much, then take it. But if blogging becomes all ABOUT the money, then I suggest you get a job that pays better.
That’s quite a long comment for a claim that some things are better than money…
Wait, blogging is not about the writing. Give me one really good writer who blogs. You mentioned Jessica Zafra. Look over to her blog. Ever noticed why her entries are short?
My experience: good writers online are a chore, great writers are torture.
blog site is a forum for market of ideas. ideas are like goods, they must be packaged. poor packaging is a turn off. grammar, syntax, and prose are the marketing tools for ideas. :)
I dunno man. But I’m open to suggestions… ;)
I don’t think there can be any hard and fast rules about why a person blogs or how. As a form of free expression,like traditional media, not all free expression is necessarily FREE. In fact most of it is commercial expression, as in newspapers, tv and radio. As the Web becomes the new and dominant medium, ingesting and transcending all three we can expect more commercialism.
My blog, Philippine Commentary has been advertising free since it was born six years ago. It’s one of very few Page Rank 5 blogs that is not monetized. But that is no guarantee that I am not in fact a Mercenary. The truth is, I don’t want those ads for the Nu-Bra Paste-on Bra suddenly appearing on my site like it does on certain websites, or the latest tonic for my schwanstukka.
I doubt anyone in the Philippines is actually living off of blogging (unless they are also mooching off their parents). Even the ever-active tech-blogs are largely an incestuous orgy with all the actual innovation and development far, far away from the so-called tech bloggers, who try to look and sound like they invented all those cool gadgets and ever advancing software. They are mainly the outlets for the marketing and sales departments of old and newi companies with and endless array of products coming out of Technology’s Horn of Plenty. Lucky for them too, the real geniuses are generous with their knowledge.
But most tech bloggers are just living off that manna from heaven. What are most of them inventing or contributing but churn?
NO one is “pure” — not even the techiest tech blogger. If people can make money representing politicians or cellphone and telecomm companies, that is their business. They can even be dishonest if they want to. We cannot control, only detect and expose that.
Blogging is like life. How can it be pure?
DJB,
we’re doing fine. And as I mentioned in my post I have no illusions about the purity of what I do. The onyl really uniqueness of the tech blog I mentioned and the only thing keeping the traffic is something so simple I cannot help but think others have to be so stupid not to think about it.