Tuesday, September 21, 2010


This site is annoying. In the FAQ, it states: "We live in a culture where advertisers directly influence and in some cases control and create the culture at large. Honesty of the writing is affected when corporate interests are paying the bills." Note that the owl has closed its eyes.

Blogging is not the creation of culture. There is no knowledge in shorthand observations and accumulated links. Instead blogs feed consumption by always pointing outward, toward more images, books, feelings, and ideas. Maybe some readers dig deep through these signals and come to appreciate new forms of art - but then, it's not the blog that's doing the work. Indeed, blogs are essentially one-person advertising agencies, who prove the value and intelligence of an author by recommending the right things.

Anyway, most corporations are far too clever to advertise on low-rent blogs. It seems that pyramid schemes and discount clothing retailers buy more Google Ads than anything on the NYSE.

If you don't want your blog to enable consumption, delete it. And if your blog is meant to display family photos or other private content, no one is there to look at the ads in the first place.

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