When Bloggers Attack (Each Other)
- Scribbled on May 6th, 2007 by Derrick Schommer
- Filed in Off Topic, Stooge Weekend Review
As odd as it sounds, the trends lately seem to revolve around bloggers fighting bloggers in a battle of…words. One blogger posts something about their experiences in the industry, in our case gaming, and another blogger interprets what they said. Then anger at the miscommunication occur and both blogs sling trash at each other.
Gamestooge isn’t considered a “top game blog” or “news site” so we’ve not been targeted (that I know of) as any sites aggression. Sure, we get people posting comments that are very flame-related but I simply don’t choose to accept them if they’ve got no point but to yell at someone or use chains of foul language.
But what’s with all the hate and aggression? My guess, developers, reporters, journalists and bloggers are very emotional about our industry because at their core, they’re gamers too. We all want top quality game releases across all genres of gaming on all platforms of gaming. Blogging makes it easy to get our point across (for right or wrong).
However, blogging is text and text can be mis-understood or not bring fourth the sarcasm in our voices or can make a comical statement sound like a serious one. I guess it comes with the territory, if you create games you’ll have critics and if you write blogs you’ll have to write about your feelings to some level.
My feelings are simple, I just wish all the big site blogs could all work together as a whole to report the state of the industry as a single awesome entity instead of battling each other. Alas, ad revenue and traffic numbers will cloud our judgment on how we should feel toward each other. Not to mention good old fashion competition!
May 6th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
I’m a little disappointed with the blogosphere these days. The flame wars aside, there are too many blogs, too many choices, too many repeated articles and too many links to sites with links to sites. Often I just want a simple solution like one good place for news and direct links the newsworthy article.
I fully understand that 99.99% of bloggers are amateurs. Still, there seems to be basic ethics missing in they’re methods.
May 6th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Yep, pretty much. Blogging is the trendy thing to do, and it’s fun. Plus, if you’re good, people see your stuff.
However, with the good comes the bad
May 6th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
I’m not an agressive sort, but some of those big blogs have bloggers that are full of themselves.
May 6th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Any examples, Derrick?
May 6th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
A good example:
http://criminalcrackdown.blogspot.com/
And the response: http://www.joystiq.com/2007/05/02/jaffe-swears-off-blogging-was-it-something-we-said/
A few others exist, but I don’t have historical links for them offhand.
May 6th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
The thing is, you should name them anyway.
May 7th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Kat:
Anyone who writes has a massive ego because you’re saying “hey, what I say is important enough for you to listen to!”
Amateurs in general and bloggers in particular tend to be the most egocentric in their “work” because they’re not getting paid for what they do. The blog is what makes them feel important and it’s the domain over which they have control. Once you start getting paid for writing, though, your perception changes from “I’m important and under appreciated!” to “this is my job and, really, it’s just like any other job.” You stop being as full of yourself because the validation is in the form of money.
Also, the past few decades have given people the mistaken belief that they are somehow important and the preponderance of absurd and generally useless web 2.0 gadgets only bolster that misconception. Case in point: No, I don’t want to listen to your podcast because you’re boring. See also: No, I don’t want to go to your MySpace page because I, and everyone else in the world, have also been through puberty.
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