Thursday, January 05, 2006
Naomi Watts
In my last post of 2005, I asked whether blogs are being read. Of course I meant Maltese blogs. Everyone knows that the best US, UK, French (and Iranian, and Iraqi) blogs have a massive following. But what about the Maltese scene?
When I started blogging last summer I thought that blogs could have a disproportionate impact in a small island like Malta. In fact, I often tell people who ask me why I do it that if I were anything but Maltese, I probably wouldn't bother. A fresh medium in a country crying out for new voices. But more importantly the very simple question of size.
In this angry interview (also reviewed by Xifer Vella), Mario l-Mulej told Malta Today that "if there is a voice, it can be isolated and put in a niche...If there are 20 such voices, they cannot isolate them. If there are 40, they cannot be ignored at all." He went on to lament that there is, however, no intellectual lobby while pointing out that the independent press (by which, I guess he meant Malta Today itself) is a pace setter in this respect. But il-Mulej, who I take it, owns a computer and is wired to the net, didn't mention the blogosphere AT ALL. We must ask why. Because he thinks it's a load of bollocks which doesn't even warrant a mention? Because he is not, in fact, aware of the scene? These two hypotheses don't convince me. After all, he mentioned a lot of other examples of "unfettered mediocrity" throughout the exchange and I can't believe that Christ Himself has not heard of the word "blog". So why? Of course, I bother asking the question at all because I do believe that there are 10 (maybe 15, cheers Toni) bloggers who're asking interesting questions, who write well (in whatever language) and who are seriously giving local journalists and writers a good run for their money.
During a night out in Brussels, Pierre assured me that Maltese blogs are being read and provided me with some convincing anecdotes. Positive gybexi points out that we are making an impact. Which brings me to Jacques. The man himself has (indirectly) admitted that his popularity is making him feel lonely. A bit like King Kong at the top of the Empire State Building (although Kong did have Naomi Watts for company)? Or Kim Jong Il's exquisite character in one of the best movies I watched in 2005? It's called Team America (go to clips, then film clips, then click on I'm so Lonely).
For now I'm enjoying the ride but do wonder from time to time whether our readership is less or more than that of Lehen is-Sewwa.
Let's see what 2006 has in store.
(in the meantime, I've decided to use 'Naomi Watts' as a title - that should attract a few hits!) ¶ 4:25 AM
In my last post of 2005, I asked whether blogs are being read. Of course I meant Maltese blogs. Everyone knows that the best US, UK, French (and Iranian, and Iraqi) blogs have a massive following. But what about the Maltese scene?
When I started blogging last summer I thought that blogs could have a disproportionate impact in a small island like Malta. In fact, I often tell people who ask me why I do it that if I were anything but Maltese, I probably wouldn't bother. A fresh medium in a country crying out for new voices. But more importantly the very simple question of size.
In this angry interview (also reviewed by Xifer Vella), Mario l-Mulej told Malta Today that "if there is a voice, it can be isolated and put in a niche...If there are 20 such voices, they cannot isolate them. If there are 40, they cannot be ignored at all." He went on to lament that there is, however, no intellectual lobby while pointing out that the independent press (by which, I guess he meant Malta Today itself) is a pace setter in this respect. But il-Mulej, who I take it, owns a computer and is wired to the net, didn't mention the blogosphere AT ALL. We must ask why. Because he thinks it's a load of bollocks which doesn't even warrant a mention? Because he is not, in fact, aware of the scene? These two hypotheses don't convince me. After all, he mentioned a lot of other examples of "unfettered mediocrity" throughout the exchange and I can't believe that Christ Himself has not heard of the word "blog". So why? Of course, I bother asking the question at all because I do believe that there are 10 (maybe 15, cheers Toni) bloggers who're asking interesting questions, who write well (in whatever language) and who are seriously giving local journalists and writers a good run for their money.
During a night out in Brussels, Pierre assured me that Maltese blogs are being read and provided me with some convincing anecdotes. Positive gybexi points out that we are making an impact. Which brings me to Jacques. The man himself has (indirectly) admitted that his popularity is making him feel lonely. A bit like King Kong at the top of the Empire State Building (although Kong did have Naomi Watts for company)? Or Kim Jong Il's exquisite character in one of the best movies I watched in 2005? It's called Team America (go to clips, then film clips, then click on I'm so Lonely).
For now I'm enjoying the ride but do wonder from time to time whether our readership is less or more than that of Lehen is-Sewwa.
Let's see what 2006 has in store.
(in the meantime, I've decided to use 'Naomi Watts' as a title - that should attract a few hits!) ¶ 4:25 AM
Comments:
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Heheheh I like your cunning plan for world domination (or just an increase in hits on your stat counter)...
Here is my take on the point you raise. I suspect we are being visited more than we are being read. :)
Here is my take on the point you raise. I suspect we are being visited more than we are being read. :)
The background - My cunning plan was hatched during a dinner at Gandhi Tandoori in St. Paul's Bay (IM Beck moment). My mate Zico (mentioned in the Paris post) was the co-conspirator. And I think it works!
"Visited more than read". Do you mean someone follows a link and then doesn't bother? That will certainly happen when people follow the Naomi Watts link and find Kim's ugly mug...
So is there a real readership at all?
"Visited more than read". Do you mean someone follows a link and then doesn't bother? That will certainly happen when people follow the Naomi Watts link and find Kim's ugly mug...
So is there a real readership at all?
I'm really getting into your question about readership now David. Seriously!
I could easily engage with it casually, but I have a feeling it merits more than that. So, more later...perhaps as an entry on my own blog.
I could easily engage with it casually, but I have a feeling it merits more than that. So, more later...perhaps as an entry on my own blog.
I think that non-bloggers don't really bother reading blogs because they may see them as a waste of time. Also, the more 'popular' blogs are those that deal with current affairs and that may appeal to the general public, but not everyone writes in their blogs to express their opinions about what's happening in Iraq, or whether the latest govt. decision makes sense. Some people just like having their space on the net where they can write about their thoughts, travels and other tales. Often these ppl are put-down for the trivialities that they write. However, I do think that blogs will boom in their own right, even in the Maltese blogosphere.
Hehe, they should have called that interview "The Passion of the Christ".
Sharon is right (am I really saying this?). We're very much in the same situation as the Maltese papers: our readership is less than our viewership.
Sharon is right (am I really saying this?). We're very much in the same situation as the Maltese papers: our readership is less than our viewership.
Disclaimer: The following rant is not aimed towards any blogger in particular. Similar opinions have been discussed by quite a few bloggers over the past months.
But, who cares? If anyone of the Maltese bloggers thinks he will ever be doing the Maltese nation a favour by publishing his thoughts (however brilliant they may be), he should seriously consider whether blogging is for him. Why not join The Times? You'll get a greater readership that way.
Why is everyone expecting the bloggers to become national heroes? What's so special about the blogosphere? Why should it be so special?
I believe there's only one ingredient for the blogosphere to move on: to let it evolve on its own merits, without the need of any mention by Mario Azzopardi, IM Beck or whoever.
Getting rid of all the narcissism related with blogging would also help.
As for the notion that a great blog has to deal with current political affairs as its primary issue, I am sorry to say but anyone with such a belief is myopic, to say the least.
Has it ever crossed anyone's mind that, maybe, the foreign blogospheres have gained their importance simply because there is generally no sense of unity between the bloggers of the same country? What stand out are thus the individual blogs that truly deserve it, and not a whole cluster of blogs that rest on their laurels by relaying that "we are part of the [insert country] blogosphere, we're the latest trend to hit the country, and we rock!"?
But, who cares? If anyone of the Maltese bloggers thinks he will ever be doing the Maltese nation a favour by publishing his thoughts (however brilliant they may be), he should seriously consider whether blogging is for him. Why not join The Times? You'll get a greater readership that way.
Why is everyone expecting the bloggers to become national heroes? What's so special about the blogosphere? Why should it be so special?
I believe there's only one ingredient for the blogosphere to move on: to let it evolve on its own merits, without the need of any mention by Mario Azzopardi, IM Beck or whoever.
Getting rid of all the narcissism related with blogging would also help.
As for the notion that a great blog has to deal with current political affairs as its primary issue, I am sorry to say but anyone with such a belief is myopic, to say the least.
Has it ever crossed anyone's mind that, maybe, the foreign blogospheres have gained their importance simply because there is generally no sense of unity between the bloggers of the same country? What stand out are thus the individual blogs that truly deserve it, and not a whole cluster of blogs that rest on their laurels by relaying that "we are part of the [insert country] blogosphere, we're the latest trend to hit the country, and we rock!"?
I went to a very interesting conference about blogging a couple of months ago at the Reuters HQ in London and I was impressed by how seriously the traditional media has taken this whole phenomenon as a global news-gathering resource. Perhaps in small part it is the Maltese bloggers apparent inability to affect their own national agenda the same way that other grass roots activists have done via the net all over the western world that has incited so much disaffection.
But I think that on the models of many bloggers across the world, it should be the very cheapened currency of partisan politics that constitutes some bloggers' impetus to use this resource as a rallying point for concrete initiatives. As the only realistic third choice out there seems to be AD, I am surprised, if not disappointed, that that party has not undertaken the role of coordinating the disaffected voices with access to the Internet. Nobody is under any illusion that blogging is a popularity contest, and nor should it be. I think that part of the reason that the bien pensants of the Maltese blogosphere are losing heart is that there is no collective purpose, no shared sense of aim, little collective feeling at all, in fact.
On a more concrete note, I would urge anyone with a sense initiative (which excludes me from the start) to appeal to mainstream Maltese media to pay more attention to this forum of expression. Imagine if I.M. Beck, say, started his own blog and advertised its existence on his silly column. Imagine, God forbid, Alfred Sant had an official blog on the MLP web site, with a section for moderated comment. How about a Lou Bondi and Peppi Azzopardi blog. I admit that I am cringing with horror as I write these words, but these are things that would make a difference I am sure.
If you look at the opinion pages of the Times, you will see that any Tom, Dick and Harry prepared to write a longer-than-usual letter to the editor will be published as a opinion article writer proper. There is no better reason for this than those same people's exhibitionism, and yet those are the pages that supposedly set the tone for much of what passes for national debate in Malta. I have just started my blog, which is effectively a form of therapy that stops me from flinging my laptop out of the window every day I read the Times, with the specific aim of structuring my understanding of all that is wrong in Maltese politics and public debate today. The blogosphere represents, can represent, in my view, an alternative to the mediocrity that Mario whathisname was banging on about. To be honest, I flipped the page when I got to the article, because the car crash horror of The Times letters page never ceases to fascinate me, but reading my own views read back to myself? Why would I want to do that?
But I think that on the models of many bloggers across the world, it should be the very cheapened currency of partisan politics that constitutes some bloggers' impetus to use this resource as a rallying point for concrete initiatives. As the only realistic third choice out there seems to be AD, I am surprised, if not disappointed, that that party has not undertaken the role of coordinating the disaffected voices with access to the Internet. Nobody is under any illusion that blogging is a popularity contest, and nor should it be. I think that part of the reason that the bien pensants of the Maltese blogosphere are losing heart is that there is no collective purpose, no shared sense of aim, little collective feeling at all, in fact.
On a more concrete note, I would urge anyone with a sense initiative (which excludes me from the start) to appeal to mainstream Maltese media to pay more attention to this forum of expression. Imagine if I.M. Beck, say, started his own blog and advertised its existence on his silly column. Imagine, God forbid, Alfred Sant had an official blog on the MLP web site, with a section for moderated comment. How about a Lou Bondi and Peppi Azzopardi blog. I admit that I am cringing with horror as I write these words, but these are things that would make a difference I am sure.
If you look at the opinion pages of the Times, you will see that any Tom, Dick and Harry prepared to write a longer-than-usual letter to the editor will be published as a opinion article writer proper. There is no better reason for this than those same people's exhibitionism, and yet those are the pages that supposedly set the tone for much of what passes for national debate in Malta. I have just started my blog, which is effectively a form of therapy that stops me from flinging my laptop out of the window every day I read the Times, with the specific aim of structuring my understanding of all that is wrong in Maltese politics and public debate today. The blogosphere represents, can represent, in my view, an alternative to the mediocrity that Mario whathisname was banging on about. To be honest, I flipped the page when I got to the article, because the car crash horror of The Times letters page never ceases to fascinate me, but reading my own views read back to myself? Why would I want to do that?
Cheers for the feedback ladies and gents. Will mull over all the ideas and wait for Toni's take on things.
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