My take on blogs – Part I: The Golden Age
We’re living in the “Golden Age” of blogs right now. Blogs are the current buzz around the internet and should remain that way throughout 2005. I think we’ll see 2004 go down in history as “The Year of the Blog“.
What really makes it a golden age for blogs is the fact that traditional news media (newspapers, radio & TV) are to everyone’s surprise, taking blogs seriously. At just about every major news outlet’s website, you’ll find something to do with blogs. On the radio, they’ll often ask “What are they saying on the blogosphere?” and bloggers are occasionally featured on live TV news casts voicing their opinions and speaking on behalf of the blogosphere.
But in reality, the traditional news media aren’t taking bloggers seriously, they’re just patronizing us. They know the blogger “fad” will soon pass but untill then, they need to pretend to take us seriously or else feel the wrath of the blogosphere. As I recall, tradtional media didn’t embrace the internet fast enough, I guess they never thought people would turn to the internet for news – but they won’t make that same mistake twice with blogs.
Although it may appear that traditional news media love us bloggers, the real truth is – they hate us. Bloggers don’t have to abide to the same rules and regulations as traditional media which gives them an unfair advantage. However, this may all soon change. There is currently legislation being proposed in the U.S. government to make bloggers just as “responsible” as the professional media. The unfair advantage is that bloggers don’t have the money to spend on lawyers to defend themselves against multi-million dollar libel lawsuits. After a few bloggers get hit, that will be the quick death to blogging (at least, a quick death to interesting blogs).
So enjoy the golden age wild west of the blogosphere while you can, cause I’m not sure how long it will last. Once the U.S. government gets involved, the honeymoon will be over – and European politicians will soon after follow suit.
