on the rise of trollblogs

I don't know Robert Scoble at all, other than meeting him and drooling over his tablet PC at Gnomedex a couple of years ago, but I read his blog pretty faithfully, even though he works for the Borg. He's a smart, insightful guy, and I read him for the same reason I read Seth Godin and Bruce Schneier: when I'm done with their blogs, I always feel smarter and more enlightened. These guys make me want to have a deeper understanding of the issues that affect all of us who make our livings on the Internets.

Over the weekend, Robert wrote a post about unsubscribing from memeorandum that really resonated with me. In his words:

Reading Dave Winer this morning made me realize I’m just falling down a dark hole. It’s the same hole I was in in the 1990s when I posted about 100,000 items on various newsgroups: in a group the writer is in control, not the reader.

I miss my RSS reading. Reading RSS makes me smarter, not snarkier. Why? Cause I choose who I’m going to read. Pick smart people to read and you’ll get smarter.

Hint, the smartest people in my RSS are usually the least snarky. Why? Cause they could give a f**k about all the traffic.

Why is all the snark going on? Cause everyone wants traffic. Why did I call this the John Dvorakification? Cause he figured out in the 1980s (yes, he’s been at this so long) that if you attack a community (particularly the Apple one) that everyone will get all up in arms and will start talking about the attack. That translates into traffic. Traffic = advertising dollars.

Trolling online is nothing new, but trolling to drive traffic to your blog and make money is definitely on the rise. I first noticed this new trend a few months ago when this guy obsessively attacked blogging.la for weeks, with copious links back to his own blog, where he did little more than bitch about what other people were doing. I'm sure it was a coincidence that the people he was complaining about all happened to be high-traffic blogs, right? I've also noticed a disturbing increase in blogs which try very hard to be sarcastic and acerbic, but just end up being cruel and mean . . . and of course draw a lot of links from the widely-read bloggers they target.

So why do these people do this? In a comment on Scoble's blog, reader billg said:

Ah, Grasshopper, you have learned the secret of Talk Radio. If you make half your audience Mad As Hell while the other half wear a self-congratulatory Ego-Boosting Smirk, then they’ll all tune in tomorrow.

An awful lot of blogs — especially political blogs — draw traffic this way. Their comment sections have all the attributes of a bar fight. Maybe we ought to christen them “Talks Blogs”.

Bloggers should never censor their opinions because they may be controversial; the whole point of this medium is that we all have the ability to express ourselves on a relatively equal footing, and we can learn a lot from each other when we disagree about things. But bloggers who stir up controversy where there is none, or intentionally attack other bloggers for the sake of generating traffic to their blog are just like UseNet trolls and should be plonked accordingly.

Scoble includes a few examples of people who make him feel smarter when he's done with thier blogs. I just cleaned out my bloglines subs, and I'd like to add a few new blogs. If you'd like to share a blogger who makes you feel smarter (not just someone you always agree with, or who you find entertaining, or who you want everyone to read just because. Try to be honest, please - they challenge you and make you feel smarter) when you're done reading, please leave it in the comments.

Comments

[Gwen]

I feel like I owe you after you linked to Re-Imagineering, which has become my new favorite blog.

Here are two bloggers who make me feel more thoughtful every time I read them:

Max Barry: http://www.maxbarry.com
Rob Rummel-Hudson: http://belovedmonsterandme.blogspot.com/

[peacecorn]

I don't know about feeling smarter, but they make me laugh.

Mimi Smartypants:

http://smartypants.diaryland.com

Patrick Hughes:

http://badnewshughes.blogspot.com/

[HighOnPoker]

Great post, Wil. I've noticed it to some extent in the poker blogging community. Start a controversy by talking smack about a particular blogger or entity, get people angry, get the angry people to comment about it on their own sites, increase traffic. I think part of the problem are the "reactors" and also the general mob mentality to protecting the attacked party. If people wrote the attacker off as expressing his opinion (and thereby not getting personally offended) they'd stop the cycle at the start. But I guess that is just part of group dynamics.

[Jon]

James Lileks - The Bleat

http://www.lileks.com/bleats/

[Pokerwolf]

Dispatches from the Culture Wars by Ed Brayton

[Mark J Musante]

Armed and Dangerous by Eric Raymond.

[Becky..Absent Minded Housewife]

Not widely read, but smart and thoughtful too.

http://vergeofthinking.blogspot.com/

[brendoman]

Let's see. Besides you, here are some blogs i can think of off the top of my head that I have to read every day:

Pesky Apostrophe: Mac is hilarious, very socially concsious, and isn't afraid to piss people off. My kind of gal.

[brendoman]

oops, here's some more:

Hippy Dave's Random Ravings: Yeah, I host him, but his blog is so superior to mine, it's nuts. He's a Liberal Christian with a lot to say about the death penalty, Darfur, poverty, and lots of other social issues. I wish more Christians could be this open minded.

Stupid Evil Bastard: Les is one of my heroes. Lots of great stuff here.

8 Bit Joystick: Jake posts a lot about video games and other geeky things but also about politics.

And finally, Kevin Smith, even though he's horrible about keeping it updated. His journals make soda come out of my nose on a regular basis.

[Constant Irritant]

I owe you for "Primer," but the best I can do is Neil Gaiman's Journal http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/
Of course, you probably already read it...

[davidrupp]

http://headrush.typepad.com -- Kathy Sierra rules!

[Jacob Metcalf]

Damn you Brendoman. Now I'll have to get off my ass and update my site now that Wil might be checking it out.

[Klobetime]

If you are interested in how software gets created, try Michael Coté at People Over Process.

[Randy]

Funny thing that he realizes this after reading Dave Winer... that man has got an ego the size of the two Dakotas, when it comes to "geek-related" items... JM2C of course... I just find it ironic.

[Dave]

Yea...I agree with Jacob.

Now the pressure is on.

But Wil...hope you like it!

Random Ravings

[Cathy]

Being a law student I read a lot of law blogs. Some are really good at giving insight into legal issues that the mainstream press generally misses, but for the most part not in a way that requires a law degree to understand. (At least I don't *think* so, but then, I'm 5/6ths the way to having mine so it's hard to filter out what I know now from what I used to know...)

Some good ones in particular:
http://www.concurringopinions.com/
http://www.theconglomerate.org/
http://www.discourse.net/
http://lawandpolitics.blogspot.com/
http://www.volokh.com/

Some of them have a slightly political bent, but nothing too onerous or snarky. All but the 4th are written by law professors, and all but the 3rd and 4th are group blogs. I like these blogs in particular because they are pretty well-written and I find I enjoy the personality of their authors.

[darval]

Alec Saunders’ personal soapbox on World Events, Canadian Politics, and the Technology Business. Ingredients include a little wine, and a lot of VoIP.

http://saunderslog.com/

I always enjoy seeing Alec's spin on things.

[Liz]

Hm. Well, I make a conscious effort to fill my Bloglines with a diverse group of blogs. Not just voices that are just like mine, you know?

So in that spirit, may I suggest Modestly Yours? It is a well-written and thought-provoking group blog. They welcome conversation, and even when I totally disagree a post, they always present an interesting voice and opinion to think about.

[anj]

One of the blogs I frequent is Major K. A soilders POV from Iraq, although he is home now. I dont feel smarter after reading him, but I certainly dont feel any dumber.
Waiter Rant is always good for some entertaining reading. Not guaranteed to improve IQ, but will make you smile.

[Anna]

If you're into librarian or writer blogs, Karen G. Schneider's Free Range Librarian always makes me feel smarter. Blog of a Bookslut has a bit of snark, but in a good way.

[Liz]

Oh, and you probably read this one, but I think "Be Frank" bears mentioning. :)

[aliented]

Ahhh that´s what I need to do to get more than 3 readers.....

BitchPhD
(http://bitchphd.blogspot.com)
is a great one for lefties, women´s rights and academic type issues.

Atmospheric Harmonies for Lone Voice
(http://atmosphericharmoniesforloners.blogspot.com)
is a fantastically written theatre critic that lets me put a small foot back into the Melbourne theatre scene and feel all cultural.

Finally, Twelve Two Two Fondue
(http://12tutufondue.blogspot.com)
for wonderful writing that makes me go "God damn it I suck."

[Ryan]

BitchPhD is a fun blog. :D

I run a liberal, North Dakota-focused blog called the Flickertail Journal. Every now and then I cherrypick a post from one of the two big conservative blogs and critique it.

I like to highlight the offensive nature of some of those posts (calling transgendered people "freaks," etc.). North Dakota gets a bad rap as a backwater, intolerant hole in the ground because of people like that and it's really unfortunate.

I care about my state a lot (I'm even running for a seat in the state legislature) and I want people to know many North Dakotans do have values that include respect for everyone, even if they are different.

[Eclipse]

I have nothing but smart asses and people that make me laugh in my Bloglines "people" feed.

I don't visit blogs that make me think or make me feel smarter. That's what my books (and Discovery Channel) are for.

To me, blogs are for sheer fun and goofing off and the distinct possiblility that projectile coke snot will run another $300 monitor.

That said, my blog, Diary of a Fat Man (http://spaces.msn.com/fatblog), will make you feel smarter, but just because I write on a third grade level and you can feel vastly superior.

Two blogs that make me feel dumb, because they are so funny that I am utterly jealous are: www.pamie.com and www.bobofett.com.

[Shane Nickerson]

If you have the patience to get into some truly great writing, I'd give Lorianne DiSabato a chance.

http://www.hoardedordinaries.com/

She is an English Professor at Keene State College (my alma mater), and echoes Thoreau in her subject matter and tone, but with a thoroughly modern--and female--point of view. It is a weblog filled with remarkable writing that always leaves me feeling a bit like a kid trying at an adult game with my own writing.