On clownsourcing
In a well-thought-out, provocative (as opposed to incendiary) 2006 essay on the perils of online collectivist thought, Jaron Lanier offers the following near-parenthetical tidbit:
The question of new business models for content creators on the Internet is a profound and difficult topic in itself, but it must at least be pointed out that writing professionally and well takes time and that most authors need to be paid to take that time. In this regard, blogging is not writing. For example, it’s easy to be loved as a blogger. All you have to do is play to the crowd. Or you can flame the crowd to get attention. Nothing is wrong with either of those activities. What I think of as real writing, however, writing meant to last, is something else. It involves articulating a perspective that is not just reactive to yesterday’s moves in a conversation.
The whole thing is well worth the read. If you do read the whole thing, his bio at the end becomes utterly hilarious.
Comments
Well that may be true with the exception of a few writers such as Michael Berube and you.
i will read it…but i think a great distinction is made already in the graf: blogging is more of a conversation than a book is.
Hey! I sometimes use yesterday’s news as a hook for stuff I thought. But I thought the stuff first! I’m not just reactive.
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