So, bloggers are self-absorbed and narcissy... narsa... narcotic... narsil... self-involved, according to Ye Auncient Webbe Gooroo John Dvorak, speaking to us (or at least, the crowd at Gnomedex, as well as to the two or three persons who still brave the thickets of pop-up ads to read his columns) from his vast store of wisdom gathered over the decades. As to that I say, yay us. So we are only interested in ourselves, and have big egos, and so on and so forth, and this is supposed to drive us into what, a pool of introspective guilt? At least we are honest about our egotism, unlike people who would actually type the following with apparent sincerity in the comments to Tom Bridge's post:
If blogging isn't self-absorbed or self-aggrandizing, what is it? Is it selfless? Is it a public service? Are the lives of the poor enhanced, are the sick healed, is the world a better place? Come on!
Oh please, you care so much about the poor and the sick. Give me a break.
(Via A Small Victory.)
Posted by Andrea Harris at July 28, 2003 10:04 PMWell, jeez, Andrea -- if there's one person whose opinion you can trust in identifying narcissism and self-involvement, it's gotta be John Dvorak.
And didn't he just come off a stint as sidebar blogger on BoingBoing?
Posted by: *** Dave at July 28, 2003 at 11:35 PMI suppose Meryl's, Lair's, and Michele's recent blogathon is another example of such narcissism. I'll take such self-absoption any day over the maunderings of a pompous twit.
Posted by: Michael Lonie at July 29, 2003 at 12:59 AMDidn't expressing one's opinion used to be considered a good thing in a democracy? Or is that only when Bill Maher does it?
Posted by: Paul Zrimsek at July 29, 2003 at 12:12 PMJohn Dvorak is still alive? I thought he died about ten years ago.
Posted by: Mike at July 29, 2003 at 03:35 PMHe feels threatened. Bloggers often work for free and produce more interesting columns.
Posted by: ruprecht at July 29, 2003 at 05:42 PM"If blogging isn't self-absorbed or self-aggrandizing, what is it? Is it selfless? Is it a public service? Are the lives of the poor enhanced, are the sick healed, is the world a better place?" Certainly these are genuine and very important concerns. But if the author of these comments truly believes that all activity must in some way address these causes then he must adhere to it. If he spends time with his family, he must stop immediately! The lives of the poor are not enhanced! If he goes to the movie or out to dinner, he must cease and desist now! The sick will not be healed! If he engages in any recreational activities or has a hobby, he must give it up now! How is the world made a better place with him enjoying such foolishness? Since he must be about to embark on a crusade to cure the world's ills I can only pray that he will give it more thought than when he posted such a foolish statement!
Posted by: Percy Veer at July 30, 2003 at 10:37 AM