DISQUS

duncanriley.com: BlogHer: where the feminist victimhood agenda is at

  • Jesse · 3 years ago
    You're going to have the roof come down on you in a minute, but you're dead-on.

    Next what, an organization for non-american bloggers?
  • Seth Finkelstein · 3 years ago
    Duncan, there's a bunch of stock arguments that get made every time inequality is pointed out.

    1) The powerful are a tiny percentage of the populace, so that makes inequality OK.

    2) What me worry? Not me! So that makes inequality OK.

    3) The people pointing out the inquality are relatively privileged too! So that makes inequality OK!

    I could go on, but what's the point? The basic idea is trying to slide away from the unpleasant truth by either redefining it or pointing to unpleasant aspects of the outsider group (which is not going to consist of selfless saints).

    The Blogosphere IS NOT a level playing field, it's an amazingly cliquish and oligarchical system, which is often WORSE - that's WORSE - than the mainstream media, precisely because it's less willing to even deal with the complicated issues.
  • duncan · 3 years ago
    Seth
    this is were we disagree, because the blogosphere is a level playing field, it's just that the reporting of it, the obsession at the top of it (and by observers) distorts the fact that for every Robert Scoble there are millions of people out their with their own audiences within their own niches.

    It's only cliquish at the top, and in the way its presented and reported on. It was always the quandry I had at The Blog Herald, because in many ways I presented the news in that very same way, however 99.99999% of people out there don't give a rats about the A-List and the like. I don't like the term, but the "mainstream" is very much ignored in reporting, but it's the vast majority.
  • Seth Finkelstein · 3 years ago
    Duncan, that's what I mean by "redefinition". It's like saying "Income is level, because for every Bill Gates who is a billionaire, there are millions of people just getting by, and happy not to be homeless". It's almost an illogical substitution of terms of debate.

    Some people don't want to be rich. But others do. The segues into the standard argument made earlier, which I'll summarize as "Look, they want to be rich too! So that makes them bad people!"

    The fact is, audience distribution in the bogosphere is highly exponential. This is again such a disturbing fact that it sets off all sort of evasion and rationalization. Yes, there are people who don't care about audience, who are happy little diary-writers and chatters. But there are also people who do want the kind of influence that comes with being higher up the curve, and that's where the clique and exclusionary effects are very evident.

    That is so difficult to discuss this very basic and elemental aspect is a profound indicator of the quality of the reasoning.
  • Hsien Lei · 3 years ago
    Hey, so may a woman speak up here? ;) I can see your point, Duncan, about BlogHer. It's a little too much "pity poor little ol' me." But at the same time, I think it's fantastic that there's a place where women can get together and talk about what makes blogging important to them. Because there IS still a difference in the roles men and women play in this world and there IS still a preconceived notion about what women can or cannot do.

    Take, for example, science. I am so proud and grateful that b5media has allowed me, a woman, to spearhead the Science and Health Channel. It actually breaks many prejudices.

    1. Women can't do science (health is a different matter but I'll lump it in together).

    2. Asians (I'm Chinese-American) can't write.

    3. Science is not for everyone.

    The fact is, the blogosphere is extremely segmented. I don't see anything wrong with that. We all have our individual interests and that's how we build strong niches, brands, identities and readership. We cater to people who are like us. And that's what BlogHer is all about.

    So I'm all for conferences and associations specifically for science bloggers, blogosophere bloggers, entertainment bloggers, etc. It's fun and energizing to get together with people of likeminds.

    But NO WHINING please. And definitely no misrepresentation of facts. Just get out there and do it! :D