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Gazing at Blog's Navel

Whither blogs? is a question posed by both PinkDreamPoppies, Alas, a Blog, and Bilmon, Whiskey Bar. Bilmon writes after attending a session on blogs at the World Economic Council in Davos.

If you are interested in such things go read the posts. In the meantime here is a bit from each. First, from PinkDreamPoppies

I'll make a prediction on the future of blogging: We'll see fewer and smaller independent blogs as large, corporate-sponsored blogs eat up the readership, and in some cases the writers, of smaller blogs. And that's all I'll commit to. I think that, as Bilmon fears later in his aforementioned post, the Golden Age of free-for-all blogging is just about up.

Now Bilmon may fear this but I don't think he expects this:

I suppose the key question is whether the technology of the Internet will be enough to keep the blogs from going the way of the '60s counterculture. Rock bands and radical writers could be squelched or bought off because the corporations controlled the means of communication -- the record labels and the magazines and the major publishing houses. But while the Man can, if he wants to throw some money around, buy up individual blogs, he can't buy the blogosphere. New voices can always set up shop to replace those that move to the Dark Side.

At least that's what I hope. The potential of blogging is something I've come to believe in passionately -- as passionately as I once believed in the mission of professional journalism. I'd hate to be wrong twice.

There is more in these posts then just this. They also take a look at corporate marketing, political power, the future of journalism and more.

Oh and take a listen to The Blogging of the President 2004 where Atrios, Josh Marshall, Andrew Sullivan, Jeff Jarvis, Jerome Armstrong, Ed Cone, Gary Hart, Richard Reeves, and a few others discuss the impact of blogs on mass media and the presidential campaign. Doc Searls blogged this show live.

Posted by Steve on January 26, 2004