Maybe it's the PMS talking, but it just takes about two clicks for me to link from something interesting to something mean-spirited in the blogosphere. Yesterday I happened across a reference to Naomi Wolf's conversion to Christianity (or whatever it was) and in trying to find the full story I found many threads opining that liberals and feminists could never be Christians except for opportunistic reasons -- in very nasty language that I don't care to repeat.
Today I happened across an old account of the Coretta Scott King memorial -- you'd think they'd performed live flayings of babies based on the intensity of the comments.
I don't mean to pick on what are obviously conservative commentors. Frankly, I've abandoned reading the Daily Kos or even my local party blog because all they do is bring me down with snarky comments about political opponents -- I don't dare read the comments thread, where the nastiest stuff lies. Reading the letters/comments sections of Salon can depress me for an entire day, at least.
Here's what I wonder: Does the writing process involved with blogging (shooting from the hip, etc.) necessarily foster lazy thinking? (Particularly of the "tar all with the same brush" variety? ) And aren't there consequences if our public debate shifts more and more into the realm of this lazy thinking?
Blogs also don't talk about news or ideas most of the time -- they talk about other people talking about news or ideas. Isn't there a serious "telephone game" effect going on? That's how I end up clicking around on the net a lot, trying to verify a tidbit I found on one site, only to find that every reference to a "fact" references some other blog that references another blog in a big circle of dubious accuracy.
Now this probably is the PMS talking, but boy the whole thing brings me down and makes me despair even more for the future of informed, well-reasoned discussion of public issues. (That is, even more than I did 5 or 6 years ago, or 10 years ago -- well, basically back at least as far as 1994 and the Gingrich Revolution.)
Maybe I'm just more sensitive than other people about this kind of stuff (I'm one of those who's heard the "you're too sensitive" since I can remember understanding speech), and this rough-and-tumble is nothing new or dangerous. Who was it that put out the false rumor that his political opponent had died? Thomas Jefferson or John Adams, someone like that. (Look it up!)
Just seems a shame that sensitive folk like myself have to be shoved out of public discussions because no one can be bothered to mind their manners.
Thus ends the whine (for today)
Technorati Tags: Kaffeeklatsch
Where people feel very strongly about things and there are no external controls things can get very heated, even downright rude. Those are not the kind of blogs I would waste my time reading. Life's too full of snark without going online and looking for it too!
