The other solution, in addition to adding authors, for lazy bloggers is using blockquotes. You read something in the media or on another blog, copy it with Control-C and then come to your own site and paste it with Control-V. Add a quick sentence like, "So-and-so said such-and-such," and you have instantly and almost effortlessly created a post.
I used to read Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic because he provided reasonably intelligent thinking from a conservative viewpoint, even if he did go a bit overboard with pet issues from time to time. But he devolved to one of those bloggers who merely adds brief comments to lengthy blockquotes, and I gave up on him.
The blog Balloon Juice has long been one of my favorites, but I've lost count of the number of authors John Cole has added, most of whom are about as interesting as watching paint dry. The comment threads tend to be highly entertaining, but Cole's posts, and increasingly all posts, are more and more consisting of brief comments tacked on to lengthy blockquotes.
Fortunately, as my favorites get tired and resort to cliche methods, new bloggers crop up. The Internet is a vast place. Maybe I'll get tired of doing this at some point too, but I hope I'll just quit writing when that happens, rather than resorting to hackery.
Hey Bill, thanks for adding me to your blogroll. I've finally gotten around to adding my own, so I gave you a link too.
ReplyDeleteI also like Balloon Juice, but can only keep up with a few multiple posts per day blogs. BJ is about it for me right now. There are some good posts in there and I don't mind scanning the home page to see what's interesting. The Confederate Party stuff is really good and lots of new content.
I aslo have sympathy for block quotes, although I strive to provide content as well. At first, I didn't want to do one sentence and blockquote either. But it's just too easy and I find the hurdle of new content prevents me from posting much, so I decided to relax a bit. Time constraints and all.
I also like a rolling list of blogs to check out, the internet is huge and the biggest problem is finding new worthies.
IMPORTANT - the newest update to Firefox breaks the embedded comments on Blogger. I had to post this from IE. You can switch comments to new page or new window and still get comments from it though. Another drag is that new Firefox also breaks the edit post pencil button and two wrenches edit gadgets. I hope they can fix this soon.
I think many bloggers will be more careful in using block quotes in the near future, at least without giving proper credit. I believe that one of the Las Vegas papers has filed a lawsuit against some bloggers for copyright infringement.
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