This is the kind of thing that makes me want to stop doing this (blogging). It's why I stopped in the first place--not this specific article, of course, but the whole analyze it to death mentality. Any time anyone does anything, it has to turn into a competition. And then someone has to write a book (many books) about it. Not about the writing, though, of course, but how to be popular, how to get people to link to you, how to become one of the "A list" yourself.

I joined a mailing list recently that was made up of a group of people who wrote weblogs about a certain topic; I thought it would be interesting, and most of people involved were interesting. But I unsubscribed as soon as a thread started up about the "big names." Specifically, there was a discussion about whether or not people should be admitted to the list if they had a weblog name similar to a name that one of the "big names" had already chosen, i.e., if someone who wanted to join the list (or webring, I guess it was) had apparently copied someone else's title, they should be ostracized.

It's the same reason I never participated in the online journal community, why I don't attend the conventions or get-togethers. I suppose it's why, when I asked to be a part of the journalers' NaNoWriMo ring, I was met with a "Gasp! Willa?? Can this be true?" kind of reaction. I did, at first (participate in the community), but in the same kind of situation, I joined a mailing list, and watched in horrid fascination as it turned into a gossiping session about other online journalers. I found myself obsessively searching for my own name, to see if anyone was gossiping about me, and that's when I stopped and unsubscribed.

Maybe they think I think I'm too good for them. It's not that. It's that once you get enmeshed in the competition for hits, in worrying about who does what to whom, it becomes a popularity contest and the writing takes second place. Suddenly, it's not about the writing anymore, or providing information or entertainment, but about the "popular kids." Popularity for popularity's sake. Get other people to link to you, mention the "big names" in your own blog so that they might deign to visit you, and thus link to you, too. The "A list." The "big names." Spare me.

I love to write. I love to create websites that are pretty to look at; I like to collect information and present it in an attractive, interesting way. The fact that I have a certain kind of website doesn't mean that I want to belong to any kind of "community;" other people do, and that's great. But it's why I get fed up with it periodically.

When things are especially stressful at work, one of the guys I work with will occasionally remind us, "We're just making websites, people!"

Link from Boing Boing.