Powered by WebAds

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Enough of the Jabs

There's a whole mess of discussion in the J-blogosphere today over the JIB awards, not all of it very nice. It's such a pity that people have to look so hard to find a bone to pick. Some of the complaints are valid, and do not come from a place that is mean-spirited. For example, the fact that the voting system favors those blogs with a higher readership. True, but such is life. Deal. Or the fact that some complained that blogs with an eclectic focus did not fit into any of the categories as originally specified by Dave. That was valid as well, and Dave actually loosened the category constraints a bit to reflect that.

But today's turmoil is just beyond. There are bloggers slinging insults left and right, calling each other names, and even lobbing unthinkable accusations, notably at the very hard-working and selfless organizer of the contest, Aussie Dave, of bias - which is baseless and absurd. As I said on DovBear's (who himself has been a victim of unfair name-calling in today's kerfuffle) site last week, those who are upset at the lack of equal political representation in the categories have only themselves to blame, for not stepping up to the plate and nominating those blogs they are now pulling for. Unfortunately, the root of much of this discord, I fear, is these very same political differences. At the risk of sounding trite, can't we all just get along? if people on both sides would stop being so damn smug and self-righteous about their politics, maybe this contest would revert back to being what it was intended to be - a fun way to increase traffic and awareness. I hope it does. Let's start having some fun. Please. Or as my mother used to say (jokingly) "Start having fun whether you like it or not!"

18 Comments:

Blogger The Town Crier said...

This is precisely why there were some of us who didn't even acknowlege this stupidity last year. Its cute that Dave and the jpost wanna make some Academy awards out of our own little world here but lighten up people - really. Why the heck do they all takes htis so darn serisouly? And for that matter who put them in chrage anyways? The fast majority of the J-Blogosphere would never qualify for an actualy Bloggy anyways.

4:56 PM  
Blogger Ezzie said...

OM - AMEN.

TTC, you missed the point. The JIBs aren't about the awards: Dave & the JPost aren't trying to create "Academy awards". They're about getting exposure to the blogs - and they do so.

5:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

'There are bloggers slinging insults left and right'

The first comment is a major reason why I haven't started my own blog. I don't want my name associated with some of the nonsense that passes for discourse. Since I use my full name, I would actually have to be responsible for what would appear on my site. Any thoughts on how to get around this?

(A second reason is that the idea that someone might actually want to hear what I have to say is not the best thing for my midot. A third is that I actually have a fairly demanding day job and don't want to lose it.)

'so damn smug and self-righteous about their politics'

It is always good for me to remember that I am not 100% sure that I am right on everything. I can actually identify some things about which I am sure I was wrong.

5:28 PM  
Blogger The Town Crier said...

Reminds how the sphere has shifted the last year or two - the majority of those who regularly read blgos are the bloggers themselves (as opposed to the days when Protocols was a website many read as part of their daily web routine)

5:34 PM  
Blogger Ezzie said...

Reminds how the sphere has shifted the last year or two - the majority of those who regularly read blgos are the bloggers themselves (as opposed to the days when Protocols was a website many read as part of their daily web routine)

I've wondered about that often... It seems most of my readers are actually not bloggers; is that true by most others? There are so many more blogs, it seems like everyone has one; and surely, many who used to only comment have one of their own. But I think the general population of J-blog readers has exploded: A ton of people read Hirhurim & GH, for example, and almost none are bloggers.

6:55 PM  
Blogger DovBear said...

I sort of doubt everyone who reads me is a blogger, too.

8:37 PM  
Blogger DovBear said...

Charlie, don't open a blog. You're too valuable as a commenter.

8:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

OM, you're such a Mom. Always the voice of reason. Nice post. I could not agree more.

10:49 PM  
Blogger Jack Steiner said...

The JIBs are a good thing. There are going to be some growing pains. I expect that we'll see some silly shenanigans every year they are offered. Too many people with too many opinions.

2:50 AM  
Blogger Ezzie said...

Too many people with too many opinions.

Too many Jewish jokes. :)

3:28 AM  
Blogger Frummer????? said...

The awards will merely confirm which are the most widely read, a feat which could be achieved by everybody publishing their hit counter results on a weekly basis.

With so many blogs around, it's questionable why so many people continue with their blogging. I strongly suspect that were some bloggers to know how many hits the well established bloggers get, they would soon be loose interest and give up.

If everyone who reads the blogs was a blogger too, G-d, the thought of how many more blogs there would be, hurts my head.

With the awards, I find that there are far too many of them, and by far, too many categories. The whole thing is one big mess. Perhaps they should have restricted it to blogs with a readership of more than X.

On a final note, how many bloggers nominated themseves??????

12:21 PM  
Blogger Ezzie said...

Frummer, you assume that people write for the sake of an audience. That's not at all the case. Most bloggers blog because they feel like it and enjoy it.

8:41 PM  
Blogger Frummer????? said...

Ezzie:

Are you saying that you would write if you knew that absolutely nobody read your posts?

8:11 AM  
Blogger Ezzie said...

Put it this way: When I first started, I had never heard of any Jewish blogs, and had no clue that they were out there; nobody read my blog at all, except my mother and a friend or two; and yet I still wrote. Perhaps I wrote less, and obviously having a readership affects how/what you write, but I think that's overall a good thing: It makes you more careful in what you do and don't say - No lies, no twists, no lashon hara [another reason I'm not anon].

But, to answer your Q more directly: I think I would, but that's not what I was saying; if there's NO audience, then I may as well just think what I'm saying - I never had a diary. But that doesn't mean I'm writing for my audience: I'm writing for me. If I sometimes decide to do things for the audience, that's my choice - but that's not WHY I write.

11:57 AM  
Blogger Frummer????? said...

I understand the point you are making, blogging can be very addictive and it’s a way getting things off one’s chest!

But to be honest, if nobody read my blog, I’d give up. It would be a waste of my time.

12:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

[url=http://seghan.ru/go.php?sid=35][img]http://s002.radikal.ru/i200/1001/f0/0ddd2280d906.jpg[/img][/url]












[url=http://vjzvmeu.il.gp/]buying cigarettes in delaware [/url]
buy cigarettes in bulk buy maverick cigarettes tucson e cigarette buy
[url=http://vjzvmeu.il.gp/sitemap.html]where to buy crown 7 cigarettes [/url]
buy pianissimo cigarettes dallas texas buy old gold cigarettes online buy cigarettes for a
[url=http://wcsoius.biz.co.nl/]age to buy cigaretts [/url]
order cheyenne cigarettes cigarette boat buy buying cigarettes online arizona
[url=http://vjzvmeu.il.gp/sitemap.html]buy cigaretts but dont smoke [/url]
remove cigarette order from a home ultra buy cigarettes buy camel robust cigarette cartons
[url=http://vonzura.misslich.de/sitemap.html]buy cigarettes from europe [/url]
marlboro cigarettes buy now pay later seneca nation order for cigarettes buy 305 cigarettes online
[url=http://tioozua.connection24.de/sitemap.html]buy cigarette box [/url]
buy specialty cigarettes buying cigarettes for minors buy west ice cigarettes
[url=http://wcsoius.biz.co.nl/sitemap.html]buy exploding cigarettes [/url]
buy gold coast cigarettes buy discount cigarettes complaints where to buy cigarette paper
[url=http://wcsoius.biz.co.nl/]buy cheap cigarettes promo code [/url]
order cigarettes samples online buy duty free cigarettes in can i order cigarettes online
[url=http://qzexaua.flackert.de/sitemap.html]cheapest cigarettes to buy [/url]
age to buy cigarettes in maryland buying cigarettes from missouri buy cigarettes in japan
[url=http://mlwqdwu.xn--baldmglichst-8ib.de/]buy camel crush cigarettes online [/url]
ordering cigarettes made in america online order camel crush cigarettes buying foreign cigarettes

3:50 AM  
Anonymous generic propecia said...

Hello people want to express my satisfaction with this blog very creative and I really like the views of the focus very good indeed Thank you for the helpful information. I hope you keep up the good work on making your blog a success!

10:49 AM  
Anonymous buy xanax said...

Im impressed. I dont think Ive met anyone who knows as much about this subject as you do. Youre truly well informed and very intelligent. You wrote something that people could understand and made the subject intriguing for everyone. Really, great blog youve got here.

7:54 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home