Bitching Blogosphere
April 02, 2005 | 
34 Comments
Summary: Seems like many bloggers are doing a whole bunch of bitching and moaning lately.
Is it just me or is the “blogosphere” (I’m not too fond of that word but…) particularly bitchy and whiney of late? It could be that it’s always been this way, and I’ve just never noticed it. I have been reading many more blogs with much more frequency of late, and I’ve expanded “my circle” of blogs quite a bit in the last month or so…
It just seems to me that in the last few weeks there has been a whole lot of finger pointing, complaining, flaming and screaming. Now don’t take this as a complaint itself (and yeah, I realize that by posting this I’m just adding fuel to the fire) as I actually find it sort of interesting and entertaining in a sick sort of way.
Like watching a bunch of train-wrecks on the WWW.
It does worry me a bit though
The one thing that does concern me is the sheer volume of sites that are in “bitchy” mode right now. The tone, manner and message many blogs are putting out right now is pretty negative and, well, I worry that as so many people are beginning to discover blogs and blogging we might be turning them right off.
But then again, as I mentioned, it could be that I’m just now seeing all of this. I mean, in the past I’ve seen a bit of this now and again. Just about everyone who has a blog whines about something at one point or another. I know I have a few times and I always feel like a jackass shortly afterwards. It’s just now it seems like quite a few folks are on the bitch train and don’t seem to want to get off.
Makes for some entertaining reads to those of us who are in the know, but for newcommers I can’t help but think it’s a turn-off.
(As a side note — anyone who was at SXSW notice all the Web community gossip? It was kind of like High School all over again. Hilarious!)
Filed under: Web General
Comments
1. John Oxton said:
But how bland the whole thing would be if there wasn’t a good old bit of finger pointing, complaining, flaming and screaming once in a while.
Posted on April 3, 2005 12:00 PM | #
2. Philipp Keller said:
I didn’t notice such a trend.
Maybe I just read different blogs.
I merely read technical blogs (related to semantic web).
Well, I am tempted to ask for a few examples but well.. that would be very fingerpointing.
But what would be interesting is to know which kind of blogs you think are negative. And about what they are negative (just to know a topic)..?
Posted on April 3, 2005 12:00 PM | #
3. Ben said:
I think there is a difference between the sites you read and the sites the average blogger reads.
You appear to be talking about tech sites but most ‘normal’ people aren’t going to be reading them. They’ll be sticking to sites where people talk about their pets, and what they ate for dinner.
Personally I haven’t really noticed it. There are a few people being… erm… ‘opinionated’ but they’re fairly few and far between.
I don’t think we need to worry just yet.
Posted on April 3, 2005 12:02 PM | #
4. Sonia Salahuddin said:
I don’t know what to comment about. So, I will just say that my cousin likes one of the images on this page. She told me about this website.
Posted on April 3, 2005 12:08 PM | #
5. Mike D. said:
I guess I haven’t noticed it either but I tend to not finish reading entries that go off in that direction. Care to give some examples maybe? The only really negative meme I can think of from the last month or so is the WordPress pseudo-fiasco.
Posted on April 3, 2005 12:09 PM | #
6. Keith said:
John – You have a point there.
Phillip – Yeah, I don’t want to get into specifics.
Ben – That could very well be. I think it may have something to do with some of the blogs I’ve been reading. I used to keep it to Web design type blogs, but recently I’ve been hitting more tech, community and “blogs about blogs” sites. They might have been like that the whole time and I just never noticed.
Sonia – Well thanks for stopping by! Hope you can come again soon. ;)
Mike – That is part of it…seems to have worked it’s way, in a big way, into all sorts of sites. But it’s not just that, and really I don’t want to get into specifics.
I don’t think it’s really a big deal, just curious if I was the only one who’s noticed it. Maybe it is just me! ;)
Posted on April 3, 2005 12:12 PM | #
7. Kyle Fox said:
Hey Keith. You aren’t the only one who notices this. In fact it keeps me from opening Feeddemon for weeks at a time. To me your average tech blogger has a very high opinion of his/herself and seems to thing their “opinion” is something everyone wants. Now I don’t mind it in small doses, but you’re right, there has been quite a bit going on recently and I’m not sure what that is.
I mean fighting over one open source technology or another like it’s life or death…come on, get a life. And the whole Wordpress thing (Scoble’s blog and relateds?) sheesh, get over yourself…
So, no, I notice this stuff also.
Posted on April 3, 2005 12:17 PM | #
8. Scrivs said:
So a post bitching about bitching. Cool.
:-P
I really haven’t noticed anything unusual going on, but then I might not be reading the same blogs. To be honest there isn’t any innovations when it comes to content blogwise, but then again you don’t really need to innovate on content.
Posted on April 3, 2005 12:23 PM | #
9. Phil Ringnalda said:
At least part of it is perception bias: we all wander back and forth between negative and positive, but once you start noticing the negative posts, it seems like they are everywhere. I would have said I’ve been really negative lately, but trying to honestly rate the posts on my front page right now, I come out exactly even.
Posted on April 3, 2005 12:31 PM | #
10. Keith said:
Scrivs – I’m most certainly not bitching about it, at least, that’s not my intent. Like I said, I find it fairly entertaining, but I’m still learning how to write and maybe I’ve not conveyed that very well.
But I don’t get what you mean by “To be honest there isn�’t any innovations when it comes to content blogwise, but then again you don�’t really need to innovate on content.” I’m curious to what you mean by that…?
I feel that, while I agree with you on the first part, that people don’t innovate contentwise, I totally disagree on the second part, that you don’t need to. Maybe not just yet, but I see one of the only ways to differentiate a blog would be with the content. Maybe I’m not getting what you’re saying??
I mean, you do talk about how for 9rules your focus is good content….???
Phil – You know, there could be something too that. I’ve been really reading and focusing into some specific topics (community, open source solutions, business, branding, blogging, etc.) recently and maybe it’s just the topics that have been on a negative slant of late…hmm.
Posted on April 3, 2005 12:36 PM | #
11. Jon Hicks said:
Look on the brightside Keith, it looks like you’ve got an image fan with Sonia’s (‘coolgirl5590’) cousin!
Posted on April 3, 2005 12:45 PM | #
12. Andy Hume said:
Any sources to back up your claim Keith?
Not noticed any bitchiness myself. Perhaps we are reading different blogs, but without any examples how can we comment?
I think the truth is that anyone who lived through the blog explosion - which probably ended 12 to 18 months ago now - just finds today to be a little bit boring in comparison. Wow… some bitchiness going on!
You’re all aching for the good old days, but times have changed.
Posted on April 3, 2005 12:53 PM | #
13. Taco John said:
Bitching on blogs is a time-honored tradition. It goes back to the predecessor of blogs, diaries. Part of the web’s allure, and also one of its biggest challenges is the anonimity it gives people. You can whine about someone personally, rip your employeer, or share secrets without anyone knowing who you are. Thus you can whine on the web without being a thought of as a whiner personally. The whole idea of “online identity” leads to this: a bunch of bloggers who have a place to pop off about whatever they want. I know all of these people aren’t anonymous, but they’ve probably just gotten comfortable enough sharing with the public.
I agree with Phil’s point. It’s probably just the cycle of ups and downs, peaks and valleys, bitching and rejoicing.
Posted on April 3, 2005 01:10 PM | #
14. B. Adam said:
Keith: I don’t want this to come off like I think you wrote this whole entry about me (I’m not quite that narcissistic) but since you actually told me I was “bitching” in the comments you left on this entry, I’m assuming I’m part of the “finger pointing, complaining, flaming and screaming” ;)
Funny those words you chose. If we were to change them instead to something like “discussion, question raising, arguing and answer seeking” (or something like that – I know ‘answer seeking’ is stretching it), then maybe we could have an open discussion about it. Instead you use these reasonably negative words that effectively closes off discussion. Kind of like how the words ‘terrorist’ or ‘compassionate conservative’ get thrown around all the time.
I wrote a follow-up entry to the one above that points out how quick people are to shoot down ‘complaining’ like it has no place on the web and make the ‘complainers’ feel bad about it.
“Stop complaining and do something about it” is the mantra of the web – but how else are we supposed to raise issues that are bothering us? Isn’t that the whole point of having our own blogs, so that we can voice our concerns?
Now, I don’t know the answers to all these questions, but here’s an answer I’ve been considering lately:
Maybe this is just the first time we’ve all heard from this many different people on such a level playing field? If it’s got two columns, reasonably formatted text and an RSS feed, a person’s blog has the potential to be listened to. And evidently if you’ve noticed a trend, there are lots of people who think there are lots of things wrong – or who at least want to talk about some things that could be wrong – so just because you don’t think there’s anything worth ‘bitching’ about, should you chastise those who do?
Posted on April 3, 2005 01:34 PM | #
15. Kyle said:
I haven’t seen any more bitching in the blogsphere lately than I usually have. I think those that are being bitched at tend to take things more personally than they really are.
Why not take a look in your own backyard: here or here. I could go on, but that would be a bit pointless.
Now, don’t take this personally - that’s just what it is to be human. We all whine, bitch, and complain. It’s just that we don’t ever think we do it until someone else’s bitching bothers us.
Posted on April 3, 2005 02:31 PM | #
16. Keith said:
Adam – Heh. Now that I think about it, I’m not at all surprised to hear you pipe up here. But, to be quite honest, your posts weren’t on my mind when I wrote this.
But I can see how the title might have lead you down that road. I chose it because I knew it’d make people read–bitching=clicking=reading. If there is one thing I know how to do, content-wise, it’s title my posts.
But, yeah, you do have the “tone” I suppose. You’re part of the “hey look at me!” crowd. :0)
(Before you take offense, it’s a joke, but I don’t see your stuff as “discussion, question raising, arguing and answer seeking” at all. My guess is that is your intent, but it doesn’t read that way to me.)
And, I’m not really “chastising” anyone, I do find it funny that a few of the comments here are so defensive. If you want to bitch, do so. I’m not saying not to do it, heck I bitch about stuff, just wondering why it seems like so many people seem to be fighting and such recently is all. I’m a bit concerned, as there are many newcomers to our little ‘sphere but don’t think it’s really “wrong” or anything.
As well, no one can “make” you feel bad about anything. A lesson I learned along time ago, you’re responsible for your own feelings. I certainly wasn’t trying to make you feel bad at all and I don’t see how you could read into that with my comments. I was trying to shed some light on something I honestly felt you didn’t know jack shit about – SXSW. I didn’t think you were being an ass, or overly bitchy or anything, at least not at first, just a bit misguided. Don’t knock it ‘till you tried it and all that…
I found your posts fairly entertaining. I didn’t agree with most of it, but I’d not begrudge you the right to talk about whatever you want on your site.
For those of you who want examples, I guess I’ll go there and say the Wordpress thing and all that went along with it is what really hammered this home. But those seemed like the latest of many negative posts I’ve read recently.
I think it’s because I’ve been reading sites I never used to read. Most of the sites I’ve been on have been really positive and well, I don’t mind mixing it up, I guess it’ll just take some getting used to.
Having said that. There are many posts (Adam’s included, aside from that first) that I’ve been tending to skip because they’re just not what I care to read. The nice thing about RSS, etc. is that I can usually gauge a post right away and determine if it’s something I want to follow up on. I’ve been skipping all kinds of posts in the last too weeks because they’ve seemed to be people complaining about something…For example, I’d have skipped this post for damn sure! ;)
Evidently there are many people who enjoy this stuff, and I’ve got no problem at all with that. Whatever you do, don’t let anything I’ve got to say influence what you write. I’m damn near clueless at times, as this post so clearly points out, when it comes to choosing topics to write about.
Posted on April 3, 2005 02:44 PM | #
17. Keith said:
Kyle – Good point. I guess posts like those aren’t so much what I’m talking about. You’ll notice I’m not bitching at anyone really. I’m pointing out things I don’t like on the Web. Many of my posts are about that. As well, with some, I try and offer some kind of solution. Thus making an attempt at positivity.
But yeah, sometimes I just bitch. I’m not holding myself out of this stuff, not at all.
What really got me to think about this was all the personal attacks that I’m noticing. The bitching and complaining about other people that seem more common. And, yeah, I’m sure if you dig hard enough you’ll find an example of me doing that too! I’m a hypocrite just like everyone else. I realize I didn’t make that clear it was about “people”, but I didn’t want to get down into the whole thing myself and offer examples. And really, like I said, I’m not really against it, just worried about the impression it may have on newcomers.
I love all y’all. ;)
I complain about the Web all the f’n time and will continue to do so. My hope is to educate and solve problems, but I realize how, due to my lack of skill with words, it doesn’t always come out like that.
What I try not to do is make it personal. Unless someone really deserves it. Heh. ;)
Posted on April 3, 2005 02:55 PM | #
18. Jan said:
I agree with you Keith. And I’m glad you clairfied yourself in the comments as I thought you were joining the “bitch train” yourself for a second. But now that I re-read your post I see that you seem more curious than furious.
I don’t read many blogs, I don’t have a blog and I try to keep from getting upset by blogs, but you are right. Many blogs seem way to personal in their accusations and conversations. Matt from Wordpress got treated by some people like he commited a captial crime, and there were still people who thought he got off easy.
That is too much.
He’s a person and while it’s ok for people to get mad at him, acting like he’s killed your cat is just more than I can handle. And this from professionals?
Bloggers need to realize that there are many people who don’t blog who read this stuff and think the lot of you are crazy. Your sites reflect on each other’s whether you like it or not and, well, a few bad apples give the rest a bad name.
Also, for the record, I never see your posts as complaining at all. You state a problem, open a discussion and try to solve it. I enjoy how you get mad, think about it, and try and offer a solution or throw it to the community. It’s one of the reasons I read your site. Don’t change.
Posted on April 3, 2005 03:04 PM | #
19. B. Adam said:
Keith: Oh, so now you’re saying the things I write aren’t ‘important’ enough for you to talk about on your own high-and-mighty blog?! You are such a frickin’ jerkoff!!
Hehe, at least I think I’m funny :)
In the end I think we’re just coming at it from two different sides. I see the eruption over the Wordpress issue as a decent sign that something went wrong. Sure, lots (and lots) of people overreacted, but they felt like they had a reason to. It’s probably a good thing to listen to, try to learn something with and then move on from.
As far as me personally, in the near future I am going to try and foster more discussion, name less names and balance my complaining with my doing. I’m not a pessimist in my day-to-day living and I don’t want to come across as one in the stuff I write.
Posted on April 3, 2005 04:01 PM | #
20. Kyle said:
I got my head thinking and I have more to say…
One thing to note here Kieth is that you’ve been blessed with high traffic and readership. A lot of those blogs bitching and whining are the same joining topsites and spamming their links everywhere they can find it. A lot of people are obsessed with how many people read their blog and find it some kind of crazy contest in popularity.
The point coming here, is that coming from someone in their shoes - it’s near impossible to start some real discussion or stir up anything if they’re nice and polite. Now, the second they start name-bashing and whining and bitching - then you’ve got something. Can you remember that post bashing Scrivs? Do you remember the ‘instant-celebrity’ status he got?
My point is (as the reason I agree with Adam on his original post - on his blog) is that the ‘elite’ in the web standards group tends to think it’s just as easy for anyone to start discussion or spread a new idea. But, in reality - it’s not - it’s only easy for the ‘elite’.
I’ve grown past that childish phase, and at this point I could care less who does and does not read my blog (I’ve actually taken all stats out) - but there are tons of people like that out there, and I can kind of see where they’re coming from. If I wrote a post about why I think 90% of IA departments fail - I might get one or two comments. If you did it, you’d probably get a backlink from Zeldman, Moll, CSSBeauty, SvN and about 50-75 comments. Now - what you have is discussion - what I have is dust in the wind. Now, if I write a post about “Kieth Robinson is a retarded chimpanzee” I might get some kind of response going :)
Posted on April 3, 2005 05:04 PM | #
21. Joel said:
I think it might just be the time of year that we’re in.
It’s tax time. The balls-in-vice-right-before-finals time for Post-secondary people. Famous people are dropping dead.
I know that people in my blog circles have been acting nuts since about late February.
I haven’t talked to anyone who has had a good week this previous one, yet.
Ironically, here I am, whining and bitching, i guess. 8D
But I really, really think it’s just that time of the year where everyone’s lost a few marbles but still ready to fling poo.
They’ll forget in a week or so, and probably wonder what came over them.
Posted on April 3, 2005 05:55 PM | #
22. Keith said:
Adam – I’m glad to hear it and I’ll be happy to read those and join in the discussion. Seriously, I don’t think your a pessimist. And yeah, as far as the WP issue, something did go wrong, no doubt. But Matt isn’t evil…made a dumb move, but not evil.
Kyle – I think you’re right to a degree. But I don’t have as high a readership as you may think and most of my high traffic comes from Google. Not that it matters much – a good post is a good post. I read all sorts of people that wouldn’t be considered “elite” (whatever that means) and frankly, most of it isn’t all that interesting. At Digital Web we actually went out of our way to find good content from people who weren’t well known. Many times it turns out these people either couldn’t write well or didn’t put the effort in.
You don’t necessarily get traffic from being controversial. Good content can win out in the end. To be honest, I think most people aren’t willing to work hard enough. It takes an enormous amount of effort. You have to write well, on topics people care about. You have to network…
As well, I think Scrivs got most of his traffic from working hard and writing well and if you read him, he has some good things to say. He’s got more business acumen than most people I know, and that’s why I read most of his stuff. I don’t read it all though…that whole “I hate Scrivs” or whatever was a very small blip on my radar.
Posted on April 3, 2005 06:56 PM | #
23. Scrivs said:
Well since this isn’t really on subject what I meant by not innovating on content is that you can’t write content in any new way. Good content is good content. It’s not like innovating in design or code. That’s what I meant. Nothing complicated. Hope that explains it better.
——–
Well I now read the other comments. The ‘i hate scrivs’ post might have gotten the guy some ‘instant celebrity’ status, but how long did that last? Maybe I haven’t been reading the right blogs, but I haven’t noticed anymore links to his site showing me great content. Not bashing the guy, but just showing that just because you write something controversial doesn’t mean people will like you or continue to read you.
I guess the niches I have been reading have been all helpful and postive. The web community at large doesn’t really speak as often as it used to and the whole negative Wordpress fiasco was understood for it being handled the way it was.
I know I have had too many moments of speaking negatively about things and that has been part of my ‘brand’ now so to speak, which I admit is not something I enjoy, but I brought upon myself. Damn I could write for ever on this as Keith has done in his comments, but I will let the Doctor handle the rest since he seems to be doing such a good job.
Posted on April 3, 2005 07:15 PM | #
24. Keith said:
Scrivs – Thanks for the clairification. I get what you mean now. good content is good content. True dat.
Posted on April 3, 2005 07:29 PM | #
25. François said:
The French blogosphere is quite calm at the moment, just to let you know about other spheres. We don’t have social security getting privatized here, or at least not to the US extent ;)
My own readings, 70% English 30% French.
Posted on April 3, 2005 08:20 PM | #
26. François said:
Sorry, bad linking. Enjoy new correct link here.
Posted on April 3, 2005 08:22 PM | #
27. Britt said:
Damn, I wish I could have come up with that “I hate Scrivs” post. I coulda made a name for myself. Guess I’ll just have to apply to the 9rules network instead.
Posted on April 3, 2005 11:00 PM | #
28. Vitaly Friedman said:
I haven’t realized such a development so far… German bloggers seem to be as calm, serious and restrained as they always were…
Posted on April 4, 2005 01:12 AM | #
29. Michael Ward said:
I don’t know what to comment about. So, I will just say that my cousin doesn’t likes any of the images on this page. She told me about this website. She says it’s rubbish.
:D
On a more serious note, what bitchiness? Only noticed the Wordpress nonsense… but having said that, I can’t be a serious blog reader - I keep up-to-date using the Live bookmarks in Firefox.
Posted on April 4, 2005 03:34 AM | #
30. Jeremy Keith said:
Clearly, the blogosphere needs the occasional bitchslap.
Posted on April 4, 2005 05:23 PM | #
31. Yvonne Adams said:
I noticed the level of bitchiness increasing right after SXSW/Etech, to the the degree I contemplated posting with the title “Skipping Whinercon”.
Whenever conference season is in full force, it seems the perceptions of elitism abound. Just because people are excited, you get a large number posting information that makes those not in attendance feel “left out.”
Bah. I’ve yet to attend a conference that is “elite”, simply because I can’t afford the $1500 plus vendor showcases.
Some of those that feel “victimized” by the ability of others to enjoy themselves seem to take great pleasure in knocking them down when they screw up.
The news media and tabloids do it with politicians and entertainers - why should we be surprised when it happens with popular web personas?
Posted on April 4, 2005 05:33 PM | #
32. Tommy said:
I have noticed what you were talking about Keith. I’ll use two examples, w/o linking to a site. They are easy enough to find. WordPress spamming and Google’s Toolbar AutoLink. These are just two recent examples where people were not only “bitching,” but also down right mean.
You actually inspired me to write a long post about this yesterday.
Good review and comment on a topic is good. There should actually be more of that. And conflict isn’t a bad thing. But I notice personal attacks and posts that people say about other people I doubt they’d say if they were face-to-face.
And that is how I decide if I am going to post something critical of someone, or even my own company. “Would I have the guts to say the same thing face-to-face?” If I say no or even maybe, I hit delete.
I’ll end w/ what I thought was the thesis of your post, that most of our fellow citizens don’t read blogs. If they are introduced to blogs and they see negative content 24/7, are they going to come back? I think not. But that is just my opinion.
Posted on April 4, 2005 05:54 PM | #
33. Kev said:
The worst time to be a blogger was last Autumn when US election season was in full swing. In fact, it was a bad time to be part of any online community. The flame wars were occassionaly entertaining but, to me, its no surprise that it was around this time that the Britpack rose to prominence.
Posted on April 4, 2005 10:59 PM | #
34. Mike P. said:
I’m not sure I’d call it “bitchin’ in a post”, but check out the hate in the comments over at a 37 signals post about Ajax.
Yikes.
Posted on April 6, 2005 07:16 AM | #
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