Will Emily Gould ever grow up? Will the 'blogosphere'?

Blogging is not just for self-obsessed twentysomethings. And it is not just for political partisans. But the mainstream media does not know this yet. The long, long piece in the May 25 New York Times Magazine by blogger Emily Gould detailing the travails that befell her very publically blogged life seemed like it would never end. Our take can be summed up in this quote, from author Eric Hoffer:

"If a society is to preseve its stability and a degree of continuity, it must know how to keep its adolescents from imposing their tastes, attitudes, values, and fantasies on everyday life."

We found the quote in "The Death of the Grown-Up" by Diana West. A stunning work that would seem to apply nicely to much of the "blogosphere."

Blogging is currently known by its groupies (see above), and by its loud partisans. Instead of by its potential to be a tool to build coalitions and achieve something of value far beyond its current incarnation.

Municipalist exists in fact to make this case: That the Emily Goulds of the world have every right to blog and blog and blog, about their boyfriends and breakups and tatoos. But someday, soon we believe, "blogging" and the "blogosphere" will mean something completely new. It will mean problem solving and coalition building. It won't mean ranting, and pointless anonymous comments, etc. And it won't mean Emily Gould.

[Update to this post here. Then here.]

Comments

[CK]

"But someday, soon we believe, "blogging" and the "blogosphere" will mean something completely new. It will mean problem solving and coalition building."

It already is doing this--many communities are already making change, bettering each other and bolstering one another.

But that Gould owes me an hour of my life back due to the time I spent reading her never-ending article about her, her and, um, don't forget, her. What's disturbing is that the NYT ran it.

Funny that she acts as if she's changed. I guess she doesn't see the obvious (that she's unfortunately learned next to nothing, which seems the real crime). Unfortunately NYMag is right, most NYT readers will once again infer that we (as in "bloggers like that Gould chick" do nothing productive.) Sigh ;-).

Here's the link to the NYMag piece--which will take you all of 5 minutes, not 5 years, to read!

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/05/emily_gould_shamelessly_plugs.html

[Best Parent Ever]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.