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When a mainstream news magazine selects top blogs, it seems reasonable to expect that the article would have good things to say about each. When I first read Time's intro, I thought the "nothing" bit was a mostly-harmless throwaway line:
From millions of blogs about nothing, we've selected the 25 best about something...
I posted numbers and categories, and wasn't paying too much attention to the text. In fact, I didn't bother to click through to every page. It annoys me to no end that most "old school" publications split articles across several pages just to increase page views and advertising dollars. What they don't seem to realize: that costs them readers. Like me. And like Aaron Schiff of 26econ.com:
Nevermind the fact that the list is highly subjective and excludes many great blogs. The problem is that the 25 different blogs are spread out on 25 freakin pages, plus an intro page. That's 26 clicks to view a boring list of blogs, most of which everybody knows about already.
(In case that's too mild, Valleywag has a stronger language from Fark's Drew Curtis.)
Anyway, back to the list. Once I read some of the coverage around the blogosphere (e.g. from Blog Tipz), it became clear that Time used the article as an excuse to bash bloggers. Here's a rundown. (emphasis added in all cases)
(BTW, thanks to Susan for clicking through all 25 pages so I didn't have to.)
Sometimes, life throws so many problems at you at once that you just want some quick and dirty solutions. That's what makes Lifehacker one of the few truly — gasp — useful blogs on the net.
While the typical blog is written by one person wearing sweatpants reclaimed from the hamper, Metafilter lets any user — regardless of what they're wearing — contribute links and brief commentary highlighting interesting stuff he or she finds on the web.
think of it as the Wal-Mart of sustainability, if you can imagine Wal Mart being sustainable...One word of warning: steel yourself for plenty of guest appearances on the blog from eco-stars like Bono. Try to think of it as a form of recycling.
Why are so many blogs attached to mainstream newspapers so freakin' lame? Maybe because the blogs wouldn't have been written in the first place if some frazzled managing editor weren't demanding it because his boss told him to.
(I can't resist a paraphrase: "Why are my descriptions of supposedly top blogs so freakin' lame? Maybe because I wouldn't have written this piece in the first place...")
The blogosphere is overloaded with folks that write about pretty much whatever pops into their head at the keyboard. What makes Radosh.net stand out is that the guy at the keyboard — Daniel Radosh — knows how to write.
(Speaking of knowing how to write, isn't it "folks who" not "folks that"?)
But since the vast majority of blog traffic comes from people sitting in their cubicles looking for diversion, BoingBoing is the rare blog that delivers exactly what its customers want. The blog has only a handful of regular contributors, and sometimes it can read like a cult of personality—with some particularly annoying personalities.
TechCrunch is the quintessential insider blog: people read it because they believe other people read it and don't want to be left behind.
Most Overrated Blogs:
Since McNichol is so negative on "top" blogs, I'm sure it's too much to expect thoughtful analysis here.
Reading Slashdot these days is like visiting the IT guy at work. He's infuriatingly smug and cares passionately about stuff you don't care about, and views your lack of interest as further confirmation of his intellectual superiority.
(Hmm; looks like projection to me. McNichol clearly feels intellectually superior to bloggers.)
Verdict: too much technology. Hardly any art. And lose the fruity name.
That doesn't even make sense. Last word goes to Kevin Doyle of Teckh, from a comment on the Digital Inspiration blog:
Is there such a thing as too much technology for a technology blog? STUPID!
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