The power of the blogger

[bbk 188]

The trend that the mass media has been reporting on lately is the decline of newspapers across the country due to the economic woes. However, news outlets are also saying that the boom in blogging and private forums, as well as the wide-spread, free access of the internet is taking business away.

 

Personally, I think this is great. The problem with syndicated mass media outlets is that they are no different from the smaller media outlets, and yet are considered to be far more credible due to the fact of their size/influence alone. While everyone here has their own opinion of who is slanted and who is more slanted, we can all agree that CNN and NYT takes sides, while FNC and USA Today take sides as well (not necessarily paired in those respective groups, just a general statement). However, because these sources have been around for so long, or are owned by business moguls, they are deemed credible by the general public-- and can be led astray (which is the danger). This is where the power of the blogger is inserted. Going back a few years ago when blogging/social network sites first became popular (beyond the underground), it was truly a David-vs-Goliath match-up between mass media outlets and bloggers, however the scales have tipped a bit in favor of the individual. Even mass media outlets are admitting to a sort of defeat ("if you can't beat'em, join'em") by adding things like CNN's "iReports."

 

There is danger in bloggers as well, though far more obvious. Each blogger will obviously have their own opinion on whatever the ongoing issues are. However, the truth is that it is far easier to separate the BS from the information. And in forums, such as these, it allows for a diverse group to check and balance each other.

 

So, for those considering blogging, and for those who are already blogging, keep the signal strong. In the current mainstream media flood o' cr-p, at least there will be some individuals who will be willing to get you through on their boats. Just be careful.

[Maksim 1,504]

see... and at one point you were considering leaving. =P I am glad you see the light now.... come... follow our ways. lol.

 

but it is true. the only problem is though, not sure about here or not, but when I worked for a major international bank, some invesnt decisions were made, and speculated on about what a certain blog, yes, a blog reported. this blog was followed by fund managers, research guys at investment banks, etc.....

 

But hey, cant be worse than cnn. =P

[bbk 188]

Hehe, I've always been a fan of bloggers before mainstream. Less censorship, and more flexibility (can anybody say Twitter?)

 

As for making huge decisions based on one or two people's opinions, sports scouting is the same way. I was watching the high school basketball movie by Adam by the Beastie Boys, and they discussed the scouting market with the top "scouts" (who are pretty much just bloggers). Everyone from news outlets to universities and professional teams create their charts by pretty much copy-pasting online scouts.