Biased Observer

There reaches a point where something good becomes something not so good. Like Wang Zhen, I did a review of my bloglines subscriptions and cleaned house, removing some of the more popular blogs around town. Given that personal blogs take whichever path its owner so desires, there is little point in registering displeasure or whining about it. Don't like it? Then don't read it.

I actually had a rather long entry I was working on, talking about some of the recent developments in the local blogging community, in particular the rise in popularity of a Singapore-focused metablog as well as the upcoming bloggers' convention. However, the more I looked over it, the less I felt inclined to publish it. For one, I did not feel at liberty to critique a certain segment of bloggers simply because we hold different opinions of how blogging should present itself to the public. As some so tirelessly admonish to the detractors, if we so disagree with the premise, then we could jolly-well start our own metablog and publicity campaign. Neither of which is of any interest to me. So yes, it is put-up and shut-up. Never the best of ways to challenge an incumbent, but given that I have no intention of unseating them, there seems little point in picking a fight to inherit a mantle I have no interest in championing.

That aside, it's been a fascinating few months for the Singapore blogging community. It seems like an almost too perfect case study of Malcolm Gladwell's concept of the tipping point, triggered in large part by a certain defamation threat. Combine that with a few mildly inflated egos fanned by a press hungry to get in on the scene, and voila - suddenly there is a cadre of self-appointed blogging elders holding court. Grab the opportunity and run with it - nothing wrong with that really. Had a similar opportunity landed in my inbox I'd have declined, so I can hardly hold that against anyone.

What does concern me as a blogger, is that the dominant blogging culture right now centers around personalities, and not so much blogging. Of being seen, being in the papers, being linked by the elders, being part of a circle of coolness. Somewhere along the way, blogging fell by the wayside, a mere peripheral entity, and the focus became more about being associated with popular bloggers. It's like one gigantic meme.

My feelings towards this recent phenomenon are mine alone, and I don't expect readers to agree with this nor do I want anyone to take this as a push for certain entities to do things a different way. I've made that pretty clear.

Time is the best judge of things. Whether something is a mere fad or has legs for the long run. And even then, being a mere fad is not inherently a poorer destiny than a long running blog. Either serves a purpose, and as long as that purpose is aligned with the intent of the blogger, that's all that really matters.