I am not a nice person in general. I am nice to those that I care about and my friends but that’s where it stops. Done and dusted.
Why is it that we think the blogosphere is different? We as bloggers are all self serving. We all want hits, we all want money, we all just want and that’s the truth.
With this years blog awards we saw the turning of the tides. That was the beggining of the real age of the blogosphere. The truth is that we all kind of harbour jealousy towards someone else who blogs something first, who thinks of something new or who creates something that we didn’t think of. Then we shut our mouths, “praise” that person and keep deep seated rage towards them.
Take Mr Richard Catto for instance. I applaud him. Why? Because he is harsh and most of the time he is looking to be a mean guy and succeeds. I don’t particular like him but his honesty and brazen comments are appreciated. Many of them are out of line in my view but that’s my view.
When we don’t like something he says we pussy foot around the giant elephant standing in the sphere. What is that elephant? Fact is we all dislike someone, if not many people, most of the time. But in the blogosphere we try not to. This is not real. This is not the way the world works.
Justin and I had a discussion about the “community” that we call the blogosphere. It is not much of a community if we are honest. At an extreme push there are 200-300 bloggers (real people) who are extremely active and entrenched in the local blog scene. That’s it. It is impossible for us to take a liking to all 300 of these people. It wouldn’t happen in real life so why would it happen online?
It doesn’t. And if you think that it does you are still living in the old bubble of local-blogosphere 1.0. We are now in version 2.0 of the local space. This space is not so pleasant as Jon Cherry discovered when he organised the blog awards this year. Unfortunately the events disdain was directed at him and he became the scape-goat.
Now things have changed. People are talking a big game and others are responding with even bigger talk. I almost got sued, which was not pleasant either. Bolton Deventer existed for a week or two and then dissapeared. But we all still pussy foot around and act like it’s OK and we are happy and “Hahahaha he got us”. Fuckem. He didn’t get me, I didn’t link to him, didn’t blog about him (until now) and commented a couple of times. I refuse to take that shit again. I wont do it.
I’ll tell you why I wont do it, because if this space was larger people like Deventer, Mclaren, me and my blog would all be lost in space. Because we are a small, new and fresh sphere we are trying to be pleasant and entertain every notion and partake in every conversation that pops up. If this space were bigger I would be an insipid blip on the blog-radar. In fact, I think I am an irrelevant voice in the grand scheme of things and so are many other bloggers who just don’t see it the same way.
Ego is an issue. Many people don’t like that about our little local blog space. I love it. I love the game, I love the hype and I love the big talk. Why? Because it’s the closest thing to reality that I can experience online. Egos are real, competition is real and disagreements are real to. Let’s embrace it, get pissed off and move on.
Why does every little incident have to be turned in to a massive ordeal that everyone partakes in and get’s riled up about? Why do we even entertain the bullshit and give the likes of Deventer hits?
Paul Jacobson 4:51 pm on October 17, 2007 Permalink
Jeez, I thought I have rants of note. I have nothing compared to you today dude …
Nic 5:00 pm on October 17, 2007 Permalink
Hahahaha, fair enough Paul.
It’s been brewing for a while and you can’t be surprised that it’s come out!!
robert 7:33 pm on October 17, 2007 Permalink
Nic,
Good post.
As someone who does not live and blog in SA I can only say I find SA Bloggers different. There is still a certain naivity and siege mentality in there that keeps you sticking within the narrow boundaries of the SAFEER blogging fishbowl.
This is my personal observation which is not to be construed as bad, instead it is limiting and holdong back on moving those boundaries out to the other spheres.
Like the 1000+ young Namibians who flocked to Facebook but do not blog. They too remain within the boundaries of Namibian society, friendships and social structures.
Some people do try to break out. Maybe to be recognised, perhaps to stir up kak. But they do break the mould of what we define as acceptable blogging behaviour.
Some do blast through to other spheres and succeed in generating good traction and forming robust bonds there too. Others don’t and stick to local spheres and try to become the overnight main oke. But in there ill-conceived plans, they succeed only in annoying the crap out of the very people they are trying to impress and snare up in their contact lists. You know this only too well.
Please do not stop caring a shit. You must because you are a big fishie in the local sphere and you must set an example of what blogging sans borders is about.
Go check my site. See the photo of the old rickety doors with French writing on it on the left door? See what is written on the rightside door? Yes – “iScatterlings sans borders”.
This is where we SAFFERS and Namibians need to aim for.Let’s break through and join the SA local sphere to other international shperes. Lets make the bubble bigger instead of watching it deflate in its gradual demise.
Keep blogging. Rise above it all. Be the best.
Nic 10:46 pm on October 17, 2007 Permalink
Hey Robert,
Thanks for the comment. Just so you know, I appreciate your involvement on this blog!!
My intention was not to insinuate that I intend on stopping my blog addiction. That wont ever happen. But I think you hit the nail on the head with growing the bubble. We need more characters in the sphere!
Richard Catto 8:00 am on October 18, 2007 Permalink
“We as bloggers are all self serving. We all want hits, we all want money, we all just want and that’s the truth.”
That is exactly 100% correct, and I just made the same point in my latest posting – a followup to the muti debacle I wrote about yesterday.
Vincent Maher 11:29 am on October 18, 2007 Permalink
@Nic: you are a git. All you’ve been talking about for the last 2 weeks is Bolton Deventer, in your spare time you pursue the idealism of the SA Rocks site, deep inside you want to be a nice guy – so quit pretending you got all hardcore all of a sudden.
You need to come to terms with your soft side and the fact that it hurts you when people submit their own sites on Muti, or create Fake Net Sites (F-N-S).
Nic 11:35 am on October 18, 2007 Permalink
HAHAHAHAHA – F-N-S, awesome vin, just awesome.
And to a point I agree with you. But so what? What’s your point?
You telling me that dickheads can’t have good days and good people can’t be dickheads?
There is nothing “macho” about this post, it’s a vent, a rant and my opinion. It does piss me off when people submit their own shit on muti too much. I have no problem with relevant, good posts being submitted occasionally, but it pisses me off. And the unfortunate thing is that our community is so small that if someone (me) didn’t say something then all we’d have on muti is people who submit their own shit and don’t actual participate in the site.
What’s the point in that? So I speak up. And I like to speak up, ill be the first to admit that. So be it. But at some point you gotta wonder why everyone gets so hurt by people speaking up? Get over it.
Vincent Maher 11:42 am on October 18, 2007 Permalink
Look Nic, you are entitled to your opinion but enough about you, let’s talk about me.
I submit my own site to Muti, that’s how I get it seen. I also shmaak my own posts, and I post links to posts I wrote in other people’s comments.
Now, what you’re saying is that while I am lying in bed with my glock pointed at the door waiting for you to burst in wearing your sheriffs uniform, I should feel GUILTY??
Come one dude, get real.
Nic 11:45 am on October 18, 2007 Permalink
No Vince, Im not asking you to feel shit-all to be honest. I don’t give a crap what you feel while you do what you do, glock or not.
I am wearing a bulletproof vest and as much as you are within your rights to self submit, I am within my rights to call you out (or whoever) on their EXCESSIVE self-submissions.
I also like to get my shit seen sometimes. So what are you saying? Every single post that I write I should submit to muti? wouldn’t that piss you off? Or would you laugh it off and carry on? What if every active blogger in the country (all few hundred of us) did the same? Would it make you happy and muti better?
Richard Catto 11:59 am on October 18, 2007 Permalink
I don’t give a rat’s ass if you submit each and every single post you write to every social networking site there is.
I don’t have a problem browsing a list of posts and picking out what is interesting and what is not.
That is what is known as SURFING THE WEB.
If a post is mere comment spam crap that we get, then there should be a way for people to report the article and the person as a spammer.
But self submission of posts per se should not be regarded as spam. It is the quality of the content that determines that.
Vincent Maher 12:00 pm on October 18, 2007 Permalink
Actually, no it wouldn’t piss me off if everyone submitted their own stuff because that’s why people vote in the what’s new section.
It strikes me that every time people look at someone like Bolton shooting up the HOT section because he has a few fake accounts set up it pisses them off because it shows just how weak the system is with small numbers.
Frankly, making the registration process a little harder to crack, with a bit of email verification and so on might help too. What do you expect people to do when you allow them to register endless accounts and vote again and again?
In fact this whole debate is based on offended idealism – the people who are upset thought that people would use the system in a benign fashion when there is actually no evidence that people do this in the real world in the absence of the threat of punishment or disadvantage.
So at the end of it all I think the users of Muti need to lose the attitude and get on with voting, or change the way the system works.
Nic 12:09 pm on October 18, 2007 Permalink
You know what Vin… I agree with you actually.
Screw this shit for a joke. I think I might just start self submitting and see where it takes me… to everything, everywhere.
I still think that excessive self promotion of random and invaluable shit is irrating, pointless and overboard, but it happens. I will still speak out against EXCESSIVE submission cause lets be honest I am a dick and that pisses me off so i will say so. But I see your point.
Vincent Maher 12:16 pm on October 18, 2007 Permalink
wwaahhh haaa ha
SheBee 2:36 pm on October 18, 2007 Permalink
Jaysus. What ever happened to just blogging?
No offence, but you big fishes scare the crap out of me!
Neville Newey 3:21 pm on October 18, 2007 Permalink
Nic I hope you dont mind, I am pasting a comment I made on Richard Catto’s site here as I feel its pertinent to this thread:
Richard
It seems that you (and a few others) still don’t get the point about self submissions. I have always said, and continue to say, that self submission is okay as long as its not repeated self submission of all your posts. (Go back and read all my comments on muti if you dont believe me, I have been saying it from the start) Why is the distinction so difficult to understand?
Here is my point again: If you are a new blogger or have a new site its fine to self post it as a way of introducing the site or yourself. Even if you are a known blogger, and you feel you are making an unusally strong point, such as your post here Richard, and noone else has posted it then its fine to post it. What is NOT acceptable is to post each and every one of your items over and over again and NEVER post anything to any one else’s site. This is just plain selfish.
Regards
Nic 3:34 pm on October 18, 2007 Permalink
Thanks Neville, I don’t mind at all. To be honest Im not really even sure how this became a thread about muti (I think it was Vincents doing)!
Nic 4:16 pm on October 18, 2007 Permalink
@SheBee – Wow, not sure if you meant it, but that was deep!!
Guy McLaren 4:38 pm on October 18, 2007 Permalink
Neville, Its pretty obvious you make statements without thinking along with my self submissions, I submitted other peoples stuff. IMHO MUTI is full of idiots sadly including the management.
Vincent Maher 6:28 pm on October 18, 2007 Permalink
SheeBee what did you mean by that, we’re just regular geezers surfing the net-sites that Google made available to us from its Blog-Roll
robert 10:50 pm on October 18, 2007 Permalink
OK I wannabe hardcore too. How do you do that?!
Oh and Guy – up yours!
Nic 11:02 pm on October 18, 2007 Permalink
@Guy Wow, very aggressive. Too bad.
@Vin net-sites, that will forever make me laugh. Too good.
@ Robert hahaha, hardcore, methinks not!!
Chris M 11:27 pm on October 18, 2007 Permalink
Great post – I love nothing more than reading a real down to earth post.
Big up!
Nic 7:40 am on October 19, 2007 Permalink
thanks chris!!! Glad someone feels me.
Vincent Maher 7:46 am on October 19, 2007 Permalink
You guys suck
SheBee 9:44 am on October 19, 2007 Permalink
Actually, I did mean it. So I hope that wasn’t sarcastic.
It’s intimidating going through the more popular blogs (bigger fishes), it almost makes me want to keep my little readershipbase to a minimum because I really don’t want all the shit that comes with being well known around here.
I blog as an outlet, comedic relief and generally use it as an all round though processer, some bloggers have lost that and its become a media frenzy to be the most arrogant/macho/popular/most read/biggest dick weilding writer out there.
I don’t want a dick. I like being just me. And I hope it stays that way, no matter how many readers come to my blog.
SheBee 9:46 am on October 19, 2007 Permalink
thought*
dammit. where’s the edit button?
Richard Catto 10:43 am on October 19, 2007 Permalink
SheBee, if you register with Nic’s site and then login before you comment, you will be able to edit your own comments.
Nic 11:07 am on October 19, 2007 Permalink
Hahaha, thanks for that Richard!
SheBee 11:50 am on October 19, 2007 Permalink
Testing testing. Should I make a fuck up?
SheBee 11:54 am on October 19, 2007 Permalink
Fantastical.
Nic 12:01 pm on October 19, 2007 Permalink
So it worked then?
robert 6:50 pm on October 19, 2007 Permalink
What do I have to do to qualify to be hardcore?
I wanna be hardcore.
Does swearing at random bloggers help? I can do that.
Do I have swear badly at them? I can do that too.
Then do I say sorry? No? Oh! But I can do that so well.
robert 6:50 pm on October 19, 2007 Permalink
Oh and Vince – up yours!
Guy McLaren 3:47 pm on October 20, 2007 Permalink
@Robert swearing I have found offends people, mainly the ones that I call onanists don’t like it.
@nic that wasn’t aggressive bud, it was a statement of opinion, I reread and suddenly realised you said my blog would dissappear in a bigger world. I disagree. I know your blog has the potential to be bigger, not unlike mine. See in every pond I have entered I have had followers, peers and people who hated my guts. But in every pond that I entered I contributed. I have left many ponds due to boredom, I have left ponds because the ethos did not suit me. Only once was I removed from a pond before I got known or made any friends. That was MUTI. You guys attacked like rabid dogs before you knew anything about me at all. Sadly, that gave me the perception that that pond is full of morons. very little has been done to dissuade me.
Amazing that an unknown blog like mine could cause that much animosity, yet become one of the known blogs in weeks. Maybe there is something to be said for being a wicked self promoting spammer after all. Your perception not mine.
I wonder how many of my regular readers including you and grantssi actually believe that my blog is just spam. If that is what it is why do you waste as much time visiting it. I ask these questions as research not to bring animosity but to understand.
robert 3:50 pm on October 21, 2007 Permalink
Guy,
Onanists don’t like it? Where are they? Point me in the right direction. C’mon I want to swear big style and see the impact. C’mon Guy where are they…?
10 surefire ways to show you’re a TOP Blogger at Media In Africa Blog Solutions 10:10 am on April 15, 2008 Permalink
[...] your own content. If you don’t like doing that, ask a fellow blogger. They can’t wait to submit your blog post even if it’s probably not worth the effort, because [...]