Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Blog Wars rage in Humboldt County cyberspace! Who holds the high ground?

  As I sipped my coffee this morning while surfing the local blog community I was surprised to see a war being waged.

  WatchPaul's, Rose, was out to expose the Humboldt Herald's Heraldo for his/her use of censorship.

  Rose's repeat volley of an October 2008 thread about Heraldo's habit of suppressing sentences that don't serve his/her needs, greeted visitors of her blog today.

  Apparently, there was a reason to shake Heraldo's cool (thread back by popular demand).

  When I see this type of Internet warfare I can't help cringing. Yes, it makes for a good read, and that's what all blogger's strive for.

  My blog averages about 350 viewers a day, but only a small fraction ever make a comment, and the majority are either national or international visitors. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong.

  Then again, all blogs are not alike. I'm learning this slowly, and it really makes me wonder what each's purpose really is. I suspect that there are people who use blogs to further their own political agenda under the guise of something else.

   Local blogs (as in the area we live in) seem to be very vibrant with news that newspapers couldn't possible come up with. There's some excellent blogs here in Humboldt - and that includes both WatchPaul and Heraldo.

  I'm constantly amazed at the information both come up with. Sometimes I think both blogs have a legion of reporters cruising the highways and byways. If you really want a blog about this area's history (written by someone who grew up here) then check out Ernie's Place.  

  For those who love beautiful photos we have the Redheaded Blackbelt, aka Kym's blog. Another great local photography is Jack Durhham, whose website Rambling Jack's Laboratory is a bike-guided tour through Northern Humboldt. For a Southern Humboldt  insider's viewpoints, we have Erick Kirk's blog SoHum Parlance II.

  By my third cup of coffee, I realized that I didn't have a local blog. Yea, I live here, but you would hardly know it by viewing my posts. I've already admitted -from my 1st post last July- that I'm using my blog to shamelessly promote my newspaper column - As It Stands.

  Now, I'm feeling kinda lonely locally. Maybe I should make more of an effort to get local readership. Yesterday's post about my grandchildren and other family members was probably the closest I've come to commenting on anything local.

  Perhaps I ought to join Humboldt County's Blog Wars. Then again, I would probably get sliced-and-diced by the experienced bloggers out there right now!

  As It Stands, I think I'll just get breakfast now, and stop worrying about the state of my blog.

image via Google Images

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Local is a state of mind.

Kind of like the old Stevenson quote:

"There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.”

Even if your blog promotes your newspaper column or you write about something local, Dave's Blog Central still gives readers a glimpse into the North Coast's vibrancy, whether it's Heraldo or Watchpaul or whatever.

Readers can choose to read what they want.

As for local blog wars, go for it, but I agree with your view. Why waste the time?

I've tried to reshape my blogs, with only one of four I've decided on after several evolutions and devolutions as "local."

Rose said...

I get alot of emails from people claiming their comments have been censored, blocked or deleted from heraldo's on a regular basis.

So rather than ignore them I put up a standing post for people to put those comments on.

The original post went over 200 comments - and Blogger has some issues when comments go over 200, so some comments don't show up for people who are posting - in fact the post a comment box disappeared.

So I created a second standing post.

Blog war? Maybe. More just a curiousity.

Now if you really want to see a war - look at heraldo's post trying to rein back in the genie heraldo/Ken Miller let out of the bottle. link here LOL

Rose said...

Moderated comments???? Man, why do all the lefty blogs have moderation. LOL

ImBlogCrazy said...

My comment on censorship:

I think there's a difference between "moderating a comment" and censoring one. Granted, it's a fine line, but we all know where it's it.

A curiousity? Hmmmm....and then you direct me to Heraldo's site...Hmmmm...nope... there's no blog wars going on around here.

I admit it makes for interesting reading.

Rose said...

That particular thread surely does!

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