• Profile logout login

#shepherdjohnson#blogging

Gawker

Share Cancel
   
Upload an image | Add an image URL
×

logging in
  • FAQ. Include # before tag:
  • #tips,
  • #stalker,
  • #opencaption,
  • #internalmemos,
  • etc.

New York, 11:51 AM
Thu Dec 10
59 posts in the last 24 hours

Team

Tip Your Editors:

Tipline: 646-214-8138

Editor-in-Chief:
Gabriel Snyder |

West Coast Editor:
Richard Rushfield |

Contributing Editors:

Valleywag:
Ryan Tate |

Media:
Hamilton Nolan |

Politics:
Alex Pareene |

Investigations:
John Cook |

Entertainment:
Brian Moylan |

Nights:
Adrian Chen |
Azaria Jagger |
Ravi Somaiya |

Weekends:
Foster Kamer |

Video Editor:
Richard Blakeley |

SUBSCRIBE TO Gawker RSS

New: Breaking news and daily top stories via email
4260 Subscribers
Gawker
  • Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.
    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of HelenofPeel HelenofPeel
    11/12/09

    In reply to The Huffington Post Unveils Its New Local Strategy: Unpaid Bloggers
    Let's face it, HuffPo is sensationalist journalism with a leftward slant, versus Drudge being sensationalist with a rightward wingnut slant.

    They both are awful. #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    Novaload promoted this comment HelenofPeel was starred HelenofPeel was unstarred
    Image of Adah Adah
    11/12/09

    @HelenofPeel: I would promote that if I could. #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    Novaload promoted this comment Adah was starred Adah was unstarred
    Image of Novaload Novaload
    11/12/09

    @Adah: I can! #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    Novaload was starred Novaload was unstarred
    Image of Btwbfdimho Btwbfdimho
    11/11/09

    In reply to The Huffington Post Unveils Its New Local Strategy: Unpaid Bloggers
    Wow, where did you get that pic of Nidal Hasan? #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    Btwbfdimho was starred Btwbfdimho was unstarred
    Image of Novaload Novaload
    11/11/09

    In reply to The Huffington Post Unveils Its New Local Strategy: Unpaid Bloggers
    HuffPo will never work until it stops censoring comments so much; the sameness makes it as boring as the comments on, oh, CuteOverload, for example. It's become more about boobs and provocative titles and giving hacks of every kind a chance to "post" their inane comments or flog their latest book/product/agenda. #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    Novaload was starred Novaload was unstarred
    Image of Nigerian Business Executive Nigerian Business Executive
    11/11/09

    @Novaload: I am proud to have been banned from HuffPo for calling Alec Baldwin a douche! #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    Novaload promoted this comment Nigerian Business Executive was starred Nigerian Business Executive was unstarred
    Image of Novaload Novaload
    11/11/09

    @Nigerian Business Executive: OMG, I went after him, Jamie Lee Curtis, Maria Shriver, and the feel-good fake doctors of everything promoting their books and tapes. I didn't get banned, they just refused to approve the comments, so it became a challenge to me to find the key flag words. Apparent "fatuous pinheaded fame whore hack" is a no-no, but that's just my working hypothesis. #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    Novaload was starred Novaload was unstarred
    Image of Maryscary Maryscary
    11/11/09

    @Novaload: There are comments on Cute Overload?
    Edit: Yes, and there's currently a raging controversy about whether human babies should be allowed!
     Reply
    Novaload promoted this comment Edited by Maryscary at 11/11/09 9:27 PM Maryscary was starred Maryscary was unstarred
    Image of Novaload Novaload
    11/12/09

    @Maryscary: OMG yes. But it's a cult, wherein you are only allowed to say "OMG!" and "Oh, my head will asplode from teh qute!" and they exchange sunshine tofu recipes and give each other imaginary cookies-- and if you say anything that strikes anyone negatively you are a terrible, terrible person. It's notorious for requiring that the rear end be kissed of the Megan and her henchman, Theo. I know this because of painful experience with a cousin. They also had a huge argument over whether people's faces should ever be included. #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    Novaload was starred Novaload was unstarred
    Image of triplethreat triplethreat
    11/12/09

    @Novaload: Except for when people go crazy saying "That toy has a sequin on it that COULD HAVE KILLED THAT CAT. Turn the owner in!" #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    triplethreat was starred triplethreat was unstarred
    Image of Novaload Novaload
    11/12/09

    @triplethreat: Yes, yes! Those are called 'nuffers' there--If I recall right. "That's enough with the poor kitties who are posed precariously on a piano! That's enough of wet kitties" yadda yadda yadda. I know it's evil, but I sometimes wish 4chan would go after them.
     Reply
    Edited by Novaload at 11/12/09 10:53 AM Novaload was starred Novaload was unstarred
    Image of triplethreat triplethreat
    11/12/09

    @Novaload: Nuffers! Everything is cute! #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    triplethreat was starred triplethreat was unstarred
    Image of Magister Magister
    11/11/09

    In reply to The Huffington Post Unveils Its New Local Strategy: Unpaid Bloggers
    So, if any of us had bothered to answer the ad and if we made the cut, we could be getting a Huffington Post?
     Reply
    Edited by Magister at 11/11/09 8:06 PM Magister was starred Magister was unstarred
    Image of jodru jodru
    11/11/09

    In reply to The Huffington Post Unveils Its New Local Strategy: Unpaid Bloggers
    People who miss Geocities can get their fix of bad design at Huffington Post. The place looks more and more like Homer's Web Page by the day! #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    Novaload promoted this comment jodru was starred jodru was unstarred
    Image of vitajex vitajex
    11/11/09

    In reply to The Huffington Post Unveils Its New Local Strategy: Unpaid Bloggers
    Everybody knows you can't feed journalists because then they'll just continue to hang around, digging up your garden and criticizing the sloppy syntax in your shopping lists. #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    Novaload promoted this comment vitajex was starred vitajex was unstarred
    Image of TheBusinessGuy TheBusinessGuy
    11/11/09

    In reply to The Huffington Post Unveils Its New Local Strategy: Unpaid Bloggers
    I have a friend since high school whose late mother was a best-selling writer and whose father was his wife's business manager. Years ago, while still a whelp, I placed an article in a highly local newspaper, an article I wasn't paid for but that gave me experience and a small platform. When I proudly told my friend's parents about this, her father gravely said, "You're a writer when you get paid for it." #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    TheBusinessGuy was starred TheBusinessGuy was unstarred
    Image of TheSometimesWhy TheSometimesWhy
    11/11/09

    @TheBusinessGuy: As a Greek-American writer, I offer my very distant relative Homer to refute your statement, TBG. Then again, you are TheBusinessGuy--what else are you going to posit?

    Your post brings up an interesting debate. Next time you're in L.A., first rounds on me... #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    TheSometimesWhy was starred TheSometimesWhy was unstarred
    Image of TheBusinessGuy TheBusinessGuy
    11/11/09

    @TheSometimesWhy: I didn't say I agreed with it. But I will take the round, and thanks. #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    TheBusinessGuy was starred TheBusinessGuy was unstarred
    Image of TheSometimesWhy TheSometimesWhy
    11/11/09

    @TheBusinessGuy: You didn't. As someone whose income is falling more steadily than a pair of cosmetically enhanced breasts, the whole "when is a writer a writer" debate takes on renewed meaning. It is a touchy subject, as my Mother would say.

    Anyway, you're welcome. Keep up the great posts... #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    TheSometimesWhy was starred TheSometimesWhy was unstarred
    Image of TheBusinessGuy TheBusinessGuy
    11/11/09

    @TheSometimesWhy: Hey, some of my best friends, etc., etc., etc. Thanks for the kind words, which I return in kind. And good luck! #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    TheBusinessGuy was starred TheBusinessGuy was unstarred
    Image of raincoaster raincoaster
    11/11/09

    @TheBusinessGuy: You're a writer when you don't need other people to tell you if you're a writer or not. #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    raincoaster was starred raincoaster was unstarred
    Image of TheBusinessGuy TheBusinessGuy
    11/11/09

    @raincoaster: I like that. But what about all of those people who think they can write poetry? #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    TheBusinessGuy was starred TheBusinessGuy was unstarred
    Image of Spy from the Land of Rainpeople Spy from the Land of Rainpeople
    11/12/09

    @TheBusinessGuy: when you get paid for it. Interesting hypothesis.

    The other one that I've heard is that you cannot tell during your own life whether you are a writer or a copywriter. Only your thombstone will tell the truth on that question. #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    raincoaster promoted this comment Spy from the Land of Rainpeople was starred Spy from the Land of Rainpeople was unstarred
    Image of Spy from the Land of Rainpeople Spy from the Land of Rainpeople
    11/12/09

    @raincoaster: Please retract your statement above. You've clearly forgotten about graphomaniacs.

    This isn't a jab about your writing in general, just about the single above sentence. It is just wrong. #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    raincoaster promoted this comment Spy from the Land of Rainpeople was starred Spy from the Land of Rainpeople was unstarred
    Image of raincoaster raincoaster
    11/12/09

    @TheBusinessGuy: Nobody said they were GOOD writers. #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    raincoaster was starred raincoaster was unstarred
    Image of raincoaster raincoaster
    11/12/09

    @Spy from the Land of Rainpeople: Nope, I just expanded on it. You can be a writer without being a talented writer, same as you can be a dreadful actor, an appallingly bad painter, a really clumsy dancer. #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    raincoaster was starred raincoaster was unstarred
    Image of raincoaster raincoaster
    11/12/09

    @raincoaster: After all, we need those kinds of people in the industry to make US look good. #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    raincoaster was starred raincoaster was unstarred
    Image of atlasspanked atlasspanked
    11/12/09

    @raincoaster: "You haven't seen enough to be a writer." --Wolf Larsen, The Sea Wolf, by Jack London #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    raincoaster promoted this comment atlasspanked was starred atlasspanked was unstarred
    Image of raincoaster raincoaster
    11/12/09

    @atlasspanked: That'll school that uppity Emily Dickinson. #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    raincoaster was starred raincoaster was unstarred
    Image of Go Like Hell Machine Go Like Hell Machine
    11/11/09

    In reply to The Huffington Post Unveils Its New Local Strategy: Unpaid Bloggers
    As a resident of Denver, I must say that Denver's Huff Post is tedious, annoying and awful. #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    Gabriel Snyder promoted this comment Go Like Hell Machine was starred Go Like Hell Machine was unstarred
    Image of MissNormaDesmond MissNormaDesmond
    11/11/09

    @Go Like Hell Machine: Oh, great, just what L.A. needs, more tedious, annoying, awful things. #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    MissNormaDesmond was starred MissNormaDesmond was unstarred
    Image of Go Like Hell Machine Go Like Hell Machine
    11/11/09

    @MissNormaDesmond: Oh, come on, you mean Los Angeles doesn't need more of its' obnoxious cliches documented? #huffingtonpost
     Reply
    Go Like Hell Machine was starred Go Like Hell Machine was unstarred
    Image of celery celery
    08/20/09

    In reply to Flickr Deletes Obama Caricature
    It's simple. We stand for no censorship, unless we don't like the image. But in that case, it's not censorship, it's common sense.

    Was that convincing? Would it help if I stood in front of a billowing American flag?
     Reply
    Edited by celery at 08/20/09 3:20 AM celery was starred celery was unstarred
    Image of Baroness Baroness
    08/19/09

    In reply to Flickr Deletes Obama Caricature
    Oh, glad that you admit there's no need to chalk it up to "political favoritism", whatever the hell that means.

    It's a hideous image, graphical violence done to Obama's face, simultaneously scarring and disfiguring him in Photoshop and making a mocking commentary on his race by putting him in Joker whiteface.

    What does this have to do with his politics? Tell me. This image has been brandished at Town Halls with the word "Socialist" underneath it. Please explain that to me. Because it makes no fucking sense. The Joker is a socialist?

    Boo hoo for you. Flickr deleted links to a godawful, degrading, yes racist picture some 20 year old Palestinian with no social skills spent 5 hours, defacing Obama's image. What's your problem with this? You can't get enough of this brilliant satire? It's artistic expression to you? It's a really cool picture to you?

    Satire ought to have a point. Obama is the Joker? I seriously don't get it- no one does. It makes no sense, is not funny, and ultimately is some kid degrading Obama's face in a dehumanizing way. That right wing sites adopted as some sort of wit. That you're now defending.
    Oh, is that censorship?

    Tell us what's so fucking great about this nasty piece of work. One damned redeeming point about it.
     Reply
    Baroness was starred Baroness was unstarred
    Image of SpyMagician SpyMagician
    08/19/09

    @Baroness: I'd usually say that something like this should stay up to avoid the chilling effect of censorship, but it’s so hateful that it deserves the treatment it got.

    If it were a piece of graf on the street, it would have been tagged over in hours.
     Reply
    SpyMagician was starred SpyMagician was unstarred
    Image of Perhaps Not Perhaps Not
    08/20/09

    @Baroness: Nothing's great about it. It's vile and hateful. It should still be allowed to anyone who wants a copy, if for no other reason than that we'll know who they are. The first amendment protects the Klan, Stormfront.com, Fred Phelps and Benny Hinn the same way it protects Robert Mapplethorpe and Karen Finley. There's no reasonable way this image can be considered incitement to violence or child pornography, so it falls under the same protections. Is that a wonderful thing? Actually, I think it is.
     Reply
    Perhaps Not was starred Perhaps Not was unstarred
    Image of ErasmusLucage ErasmusLucage
    07/21/09

    In reply to Was Blogging Just a Fad?
    Re: the whole exaggerated patricide thing, it's also worth noting how obviously parasitic a lot of new media still is. Like, the killer thing with Twitter is being able to discuss, in real-time, something that a large number of people are watching -- i.e. a big, centralized, media event (real, fictional, whatever), preferably on TV. And, moreover, non-TiVo'd, real-time TV that hasn't been Balkanized by satellite/cable.
     Reply
    Nick Denton promoted this comment ErasmusLucage was starred ErasmusLucage was unstarred
    Image of Edward Lionheart Edward Lionheart
    07/20/09

    In reply to Was Blogging Just a Fad?
    Does Mr. Rosenberg deal with the issue of people with really vulnerable egos who blog, especially when they blog for larger entities and have no control over commenters? I'm not thinking of any person in particular coughLeeSiegelcough but actually beyond the specific cases is there transformation of normal person into paranoid monster?
     Reply
    Edward Lionheart was starred Edward Lionheart was unstarred
    Image of scottros scottros
    07/20/09

    @Edward Lionheart: The case of Lee Siegel receives some attention in SAY EVERYTHING. I found his story remarkable -- not only for his original failure (sockpuppetry in comments) but for his choice, afterwards, to write an entire book attacking the Web for its failings while refusing to examine his own fall.

    As for those with vulnerable egos who blog for "larger entities" -- we're talking about a very small number of people here, yes? If one is lucky enough to have a job writing/blogging for a "large entity" I guess I'd say, one should be able to take the sniping of trolls and anonymous cowards. They're the people who have nothing better to do than waste time writing abusive comments, while the blogger is actually a writer with a paycheck. That should help soothe the ego. When I have been in that situation, for instance as a writer at Salon, I'd try to learn from the criticisms of substance and just ignore the idiots.

    Also, we do keep getting better at moderation and tools that make it easier. This conversation here would be very different without Gawker's new system, for instance...
     Reply
    scottros was starred scottros was unstarred
    Image of TroisFilles TroisFilles
    07/20/09

    In reply to Was Blogging Just a Fad?
    Blogging is to Facebook as Wives are to (insert answer here.)
     Reply
    Nick Denton promoted this comment TroisFilles was starred TroisFilles was unstarred
    Image of Aaron Altman Aaron Altman
    07/20/09

    In reply to Was Blogging Just a Fad?
    Scott - Your take, please, on Tumblr? I don't think - though I could be wrong - there's a more creative blogging platform out there: witness the recent book deals reported here at Gawker. It's easy to use, with the only shortcoming - that I can see - being that most of the people reading a Tumblr are probably doing it through the "Dashboard" feature, rather than going directly to a "Tumblelog." Thanks in advance.
     Reply
    Aaron Altman was starred Aaron Altman was unstarred
    Image of scottros scottros
    07/20/09

    @Aaron Altman: From what I've seen Tumblr is indeed a great (and evolving) halfway point between traditional blogging and Twitter-style "micro-blogs." I don't see a lot of links *into* Tumblelogs from the folks I pay attention to. Maybe my crowd isn't onto what's special about them. Or is there something about them that doesn't invite inbound links?
     Reply
    scottros was starred scottros was unstarred
    Image of Aaron Altman Aaron Altman
    07/20/09

    @scottros: No, one can link to Tumblr just as easily as any other blog. And there's a diverse crowd on there, from Gawkerers current and former (Pareene, Natasha VC and Maggie Shnayerson), to musicians and actors (Pete Yorn, Katy Perry, Justine Bateman et al) and dolts like me and others in the commenter milieu. And heaven knows, we link to plenty of stuff from outside Tumblr: perhaps it's just not as "go-to" yet as a resource as I think it will be soon.
     Reply
    Aaron Altman was starred Aaron Altman was unstarred
    Image of Nick Denton Nick Denton
    07/20/09

    @Aaron Altman: Tumblr definitely seems to have a niche -- but it seems much more prominent among East Coast creatives than among geeks on the West Coast. And it's lost a lot of buzz to Twitter -- even though Tumblr does different things and provides a much more seamless publishing service. Maybe we're seeing a balkanization of blog platforms -- with Tumblr retaining a position in New York in much the way that Friendster has held off Facebook in a few Southeast Asian countries.
     Reply
    Nick Denton was starred Nick Denton was unstarred
    Image of Aaron Altman Aaron Altman
    07/20/09

    @Nick Denton: Hmmm. Tumblr breaks down users by country: I'd be curious to know if Karp et al would share numbers to see how users break down nationwide. I gather that "Tumblarity" is one tool they're using to get their users to keep active - I wonder, too, if they would say. Still, smaller staff than Twitter, fewer (apparent) headaches - no Google docs stuff in the hands of TechCrunch, yet! - and they've raised capital, and no one is really bugging them about what their next steps are. I'd rather go the Tumblr route than the Twitter one - I get the feeling, perhaps a naive one, that Tumblr will do better than Twitter and its one-billion-user aspirations.
     Reply
    Aaron Altman was starred Aaron Altman was unstarred
    Image of scottros scottros
    07/20/09

    @Nick Denton: Interesting, didn't know that. The balkanization has been underway for a long time, I think. One of my arguments in SAY EVERYTHING is that all references to " *the* blogosphere" are suspect. Everyone thinks their own corner of the universe is *the* blogosphere, but the "sphere" is a lot bigger than any one person can really see.
     Reply
    scottros was starred scottros was unstarred
    Image of badasscat badasscat
    07/20/09

    In reply to Was Blogging Just a Fad?
    I agree with this post, however to me - as a blogger for the last 8 years - it all seems pretty obvious. Honestly, I think people set their sights alternately way too high or way too low for blogging as a "medium". Because first of all, it is not a medium. It is simply a platform. The medium is the writing, or the video, or whatever the content of the blog actually is. And the relevance of that depends on what's being said and who is saying it. And that's no different than anything else.

    I never used my blog to message things to my friends, and I never saw it as some revolutionary new form of media either. I use it now the same way as I always did - as a way to express myself, about various things, when I feel like it. I'm actually amazed when I check my stats and see that I have a few regular readers at this point, because my stuff is so random (but hopefully more in-depth than the "bad hair day today!" stuff that some people used to blog about but have now taken to twitter or facebook).

    I do use the social networking sites for BS stuff that I don't feel has any permanence. That's what they're good for. I don't feel like this is replacing blogs in any way, though. Blogs were never very good at that kind of thing, or at least I always considered it kind of a misuse of the platform to have all these permanent pages out there just talking a bunch of nonsense.
     Reply
    badasscat was starred badasscat was unstarred
    Image of scottros scottros
    07/20/09

    @badasscat: Precisely. We used email for *everything* back in the day because we could, but at some point it became less useful for most things. But now it has a specific place; we know what it's best for. Same with blogs.

    Your description -- "as a way to express myself about various things when I feel like it" -- is exactly what I wrote SAY EVERYTHING about. For so many of us it's just not about getting thousands of readers or pumping up revenue.
     Reply
    scottros was starred scottros was unstarred
    Earlier discussions Other discussions Show all discussions Show featured discussions only Start a new discussion

Login

Enter your username and password.

Please enter a username.
Please enter your password.
logging in
Login via Facebook | Sign Up | Forgot Password?

Reset Password

Please enter your email address to have your password reset.

Please enter your email address.
Please enter a valid email address.
requesting password reset

Register

Registering will give you a user profile and the ability to add other users as friends. To become a commenter, however, you need to audition.

Want to know more? Consult the Comment FAQ and legal terms.

Please enter a username.
Please enter a password.
Please confirm your password.
Passwords are not identical.
Please enter a valid email address.
registration sent, waiting for reply

Submit Your Comment

You don't need to login to comment. Just enter your email address below.

See how your address will be displayed in the Comment FAQ.

Please enter a valid email address.
Please enter a valid email address.
logging in

Login with your Facebook or Gawker account.

Sign up here.



  • Archives
  • About
  • Advertising
  • Legal
  • Help
  • Report a Bug
  • FAQ
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.