Lord Andrei's Blog

Warning: I am as stated earlier sick. My tone and opinion may move about during this post. Such is the effect of having a gut reaction and then philosophizing as you type.

Today, on an off chance I heard a regular blogger talking about “Blogebrity“… Yes, that’s really the name.

For those who have not been touched by this ounce of Newsstand-GQ-People sensationalism, let me explain:

Blogebrity has established The connsumate list of bloggers. (Oh, for wish that blink still existed as an html tag to truly convey the hollywoodesque, dripping sarcasm, that this deserves.

Blogebrity has gone so far to create an A-List, B-List, and C-List of who YOU should be reading.

Now, I realize these comments may doom me forevermore to the just recently established “D-List”. Now, if you’ve managed to inadvertently cause a following for your writing… Bully for you. If however, there is a compelling need to transcend the list of the nameless masses to garner their favouritism… perhaps the art of blogging has taken a left turn at Albuquerque and gotten lost in the futile search for the world famous Albuquerque Holiday Inn.

This of course makes little sense. Please refer to previous post where I state that I am sick and unfocussed. I have personally walked that tightrope of wanting to write what I feel, what I think, and what I wish others would (well frankly) get through their heads. I have also fallen prey to the monster of ego.

Ooh, what do people think of my content? Should I censor that thought? Should I just post or should I let shimmeringjemmy edit though it first so it actually looks like English?

Blogging (in my eyes, YMMV) was intended as a tool to write and to publish. Inevitably, a tool created for one purpose will inevitably be used in any manner regardless of the designer’s intent. Motion pictures begot Television begot Television Advertising begot Infomercials. We can be assured that the pioneers of HTML and javascript really had no aspiration that one day their technology might make it easy to pop-under X-10 cameras or autolink Orbitz flash games to a travel site.

A tool is what you make of it. If you want to juggle chain-saws rather than cut down trees with them, I’m pretty sure without proper care and training, you will find the practice fairly ‘armless. (I have no idea why I felt the need to go there). Likewise, blogging can be informative, it can be fluff, or it can be a tool to further an internet presence with absolutely no real content at all.

I took the time to actually speak to the founder of Blogebrity… or at least the razor toothed-icon that represented the Blogebrity presence on AIM. The system really seems to try to work in a method similar to the Neilsen system… At least when that rating system worked. Lists are generated by readership and link-throughs. So.. how many people are reading a blog and more importantly, taking something from it.

This system seems fair enough. And the little-razor-toothed-icon-avatar-of-Blogebrity was friendly enough. Eventually, they hope to have a list for every blog out there. I noted that the statement seemed to carry the need for classic horror lighting and thunder. The question becomes… does the rating and categorization of blogs and blog content devalue that content. Do we run the risk of performance anxiety? (Oh, I so wanted to link a picture of Cindy Brady in the classic stage fright stare)

The answer, much like going to the elves for counsel, is both Yes and No. Like the arrival of AOL on the internet, you will increase the gene pool, no matter how dearly some of it really needs to be flushed. Good stuff will get better, bad stuff will get worse.

Theoretically, however, Blogebrity will find a way to filter the Whedonesque genius of small but intense followings from the hive-minded banality of the masses waiting to see if Chandler will wear a monkey again this season. Or maybe not. In truth, I’m really not sure it actually matters. *grin*

But hey, maybe I’m missing my chance at realllllll virtual stardom. If you think so, feel free to write the little razor-tooth’ed icon at blogebrity@gmail.com or talk to the icon yourself on AIM.

Personally, I’m going back to scarfing Ricola.

Edit: I did in fact successfully make my saving throw. At no point in my conversation with Blogrebity did I pitch my journal 🙂