Comments on: Are bloggers taken seriously?

By: Julie

Julie — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:15:33 +0000

Drew– Firefox extensions are one of my favorite things. I don’t know how I lived without them!

By: Drew

Drew — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:19:27 +0000

@Julie: True… I guess Google Reader is your best option! Google Reader, especially with a few Firefox extensions, is a damned fine reader.

By: Julie

Julie — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:37:58 +0000

Drew– just not portable on a mac.

By: Drew

Drew — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:36:02 +0000

@Julie: No argument that Google Reader is a great solution, but FeedDemon’s feeds ARE portable… I read synchronized feeds on three different computers (well, FOUR if you count my PDA, which also synchronizes).

By: posty mcposterton

posty mcposterton — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:34:49 +0000

Bloggers are fools.

~Dan
http://jazzsick.wordpress.com/

By: Michelle

Michelle — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:32:07 +0000

Interesting debate. I agree with you- it’s about concent- not gender. The NY Times ran an interesting article yesterday about the BlogHer conference. They released new stats on the blogosphere- gender percentages.

By: Julie

Julie — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:24:07 +0000

And now I remember why I don’t use FeedDemon– I’m on a mac and i prefer my feeds to be portable. Thus Google Reader is my perfect solution.

By: Julie

Julie — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:03:52 +0000

Thanks for your response! I totally agree that content should be king– er, queen– but, unfortunately, I don’t think everyone is as progressive as you are. That content may be fantastic, but for some people– still– if it comes from a woman, it’s not always looked on with as much seriousness as if it came from a man. When was the last time you got a comment criticizing your outfit or appearance and not your content? Look at the ‘08 Democratic primary: some people wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton for president, even though she was arguably more qualified than Obama for the sole reason that she was a woman. Journalists– non bloggers and bloggers alike– commented on her “emotionality” and her clothing– but you’d never hear that about the male candidates. Then again, some people won’t vote for Obama because he’s black.

As far as bloggers being taken as seriously as journalists? I think that the wheat will always separate from the chaff, and the good bloggers will (hopefully) stay around and get better and the ones that aren’t won’t. Newspapers are losing circulation and people don’t trust the media like they used to– gone are the days of the anchors-as-father-figures– and slowly, well-researched, blog-based journalism is gaining a lot of headway. I think it’ll be interesting who gets the scoop in the election– traditional journalists or bloggers.

Certainly, the blogosphere (man, do I hate that word) is in its infancy, and I doubt it will ever entirely replace newspapers and books (I refuse to read ebooks, personally), but I think that there’s room for both the serious blog journalist AND the person who wants to write about their puppies and weekends. That’s the beauty of the web– there’s always been a place for everyone (and man, we do mean everyone…).