The blogosphere has come of age

I think I have to mention this post from Stuart Sharpe.

So the additional scrutiny which blogging can provide is giving our politicians palpitations - that's exactly as it should be!

But Graham Jones calls the suggestion that blogging is dying 'tosh' and that a lot of the anti-blogging feeling going around is the market rationalising itself as the number of 'active' blogs reduces and the cream rises to the surface.

He says, "the negativity about blogging is actually causing an increase in quality, not a reduction, because people are polarising to those blogs which are useful, beneficial and interesting."

I agree, but I'd also add that a smaller number of blogs are consolidating their hold at the top having benefitted from penetrating a wider consciousness and are therefore squeezing the rest of the struggling proles who wish to participate into exploring the prospects of more marginal territory.

On the political side of things I too have noticed a fall-off in the volume of articles from my own monitoring site of the local Berkshire blogosphere (one more plug), maybe it's burnout after the elections or silly-season while everybody hops off for some spiritual refreshment to Glastonbury and Wimbledon, or maybe people are realising what we write needs to be relevant and worthwhile - it can be immediate or it can be considered, but it has to be different and better to what you can find elsewhere.

It doesn't really matter as there are still just as many issues as there ever were, it's just that we've got to be more rigorous and innovative in the ways we cover them.