Emily Gould, blog diva supreme, late of Gawker, appeared on the cover of the NY Times mag this weekend in a come-hither glam pose that may have been intended ironically, but nonetheless seemed to undercut her professed disenchantment with exposing herself online. Still, she'd probably cop to the contradiction, if this passage is any indication:
The will to blog is a complicated thing, somewhere between inspiration and compulsion. It can feel almost like a biological impulse. You see something, or an idea occurs to you, and you have to share it with the Internet as soon as possible. What I didn’t realize was that those ideas and that urgency — and the sense of self-importance that made me think anyone would be interested in hearing what went on in my head — could just disappear.
But that passage made me wonder: Is this what makes a successful blog click with readers? The sense of spontaneity, of observations recorded on the fly, particularly if they reveal something personal about the blogger? Do the same requirements apply to a news blog? Where some reflection (or at least some research) would seem to be required? Or is the quickest route to massive hits a recipe of snark, gossip, self-revelation and impassioned opinion? And if so, what's any of that got to do with news?
Just some questions I'm pondering as we make a concerted effort (have you noticed?) to post more on our respective CL blogs. Emily, by the way, drew 1216 comments, last count, on the NYTimes site.
This article appears in May 21-27, 2008.