The best way to figure out bloffles
Here's what you do: go way back, way back, waaaaaaaaaaaay back, as in distance, not time.
There are so many trees in those bloffle forests! To understand the most popular points, skim the 500 plus comments, vaguely keep score of what's being said, dump the outrageous posts on either side ("She's a whore!" "She's being unfairly attacked by demon-monster-posters!") as well as any posts that go Godwin. By the end you should have a fair view of what most people actually think.
And here's the part I like: Except for the blogs that are full of the crazy or that dump any opposing POVs (Redstate, for instance) you end up with something that's usually basically pretty sound. People aren't so bad. We're all a bunch of hyper, scampering gerbils that squeak a lot as we run on our wheels but as fictional character JD** says, at the end of the day, it's not bad.
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**I was really looking for another fictional character, named Martin, a British PR arsehole who always uses the phrase "at the end of the day" but I can't recall the name of his novel. The book is a series of notes and emails from him. Five points and my eternal gratitude if you can give me the name of that book.
There are so many trees in those bloffle forests! To understand the most popular points, skim the 500 plus comments, vaguely keep score of what's being said, dump the outrageous posts on either side ("She's a whore!" "She's being unfairly attacked by demon-monster-posters!") as well as any posts that go Godwin. By the end you should have a fair view of what most people actually think.
And here's the part I like: Except for the blogs that are full of the crazy or that dump any opposing POVs (Redstate, for instance) you end up with something that's usually basically pretty sound. People aren't so bad. We're all a bunch of hyper, scampering gerbils that squeak a lot as we run on our wheels but as fictional character JD** says, at the end of the day, it's not bad.
_________
**I was really looking for another fictional character, named Martin, a British PR arsehole who always uses the phrase "at the end of the day" but I can't recall the name of his novel. The book is a series of notes and emails from him. Five points and my eternal gratitude if you can give me the name of that book.
And yet...
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How am I, ignorant and disconnected little gerbil that I am, to figure out which blogs are "full of the crazy" etc unless I read a lot for a while?
Of course, once I'm a bit familiar with different bloggers and their commenter communities, I should have a better grasp of who's full of it, and who likes to spew it around, no?
Jest sayin'
(No clue about the book, sorry)
You're right of course, about it depending on the community.
ReplyDeleteI used to read trainwrecks. (bad, bad addiction) and even there, a place that mocked and celebrated stupidity, comments would eventually swing towards something closer to compassion. Unless the trainwreckee came over to complain. Then Wow! Yuck.
The book is Who Moved My Blackberry by Lucy Kellaway. PHEW. Thank goodness Mike remembered the title.
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