Those Lazy Snark Blogs
Posted on March 21, 2006
Darren Rowse at ProBlogger has posted a response to a recent post by Scobleizer. Scobleizer's post discussed a new crop of A-list blogs that is more negative and acts like a lynch mob and "only tears down people and ideas but never puts new ideas, new products, new tools, out there to attack."
Rowse disagrees with Scoble that the new A-list blogs do not put out new ideas but he does see some rising negativity in the blogosphere.
While there has always been arguments, fights, flame wars and snarkyness in the wider blogging community I wonder if it's gone to new levels in the last year. Perhaps it is just me or the types of bloggers that I've been reading lately (and it could well be) - but I've noticed a significant increase in the mob mentality among some bloggers of late. Link baiting with 'attack' and/or 'shock' tactics has been used quite successfully by some bloggers to build their own profile with little (if no) regard for the impact that these strategies have upon those around them.In his post which analyzes the negativity in the blogosphere Rowse also gives some advice that bloggers (especially newbies) should read. He warns bloggers that "what comes around goes around."
individual's rep - bloggers wanting to build a reputation on the back of attack need to be ready for the consequences of their own actions. For starters - 'what comes around goes around' and an attacking blogger can expect those they target (and their friends) to fight back and for their own blogging to come under intense scrutiny. Secondly blogs tend to attract readers that are like their bloggers and an attack blog can become a pretty negative and cynical place. Lastly - the web has a very long memory. Your written word becomes a permanent part of the web and can (and will) be used against you at a later time if you are not careful.Mark Wade blogs about one of the comments to ProBlogger's post made by Brainshrub that says "personal attacks and snark are for lazy bloggers." This is true. It is easier to write something mean and snarky than to actually take the time to think about something. It also takes more time to write a critical post without sounding mean -- this can be especially difficult because it is often hard to understand the tone of a blog post.
Blogging is difficult enough that even a careful blogger who is generally positive will occasionally post something that someone takes offense to. However, blogs that are consistently and intentionally negative will eventually not be read by many. Unfortunately, blogs don't have snark ratings and there is no snark filter so it may take a while to filter out the genuine trolls.