Webliminalblog

Blog, Understanding the Information Reformation that's Changing Your World

Hugh Hewitt a successful commentator and blogger put this book together in 2004-2005 to explain the relation of blogs to main steam media (MSM) and to advise readers about the need to create and manage blogs. The book is a quick read and informative regardless of whether the reader is familiar with the effect and nature of blogs.

I don't agree with his political beliefs and preferences, he lacks an appreciation of and doesn't demonstrate an understanding of the underlying technology, and he writes Internet with a lower case i (even when including quotations where it is properly written with an upper case I), but you can't argue with his points of views developed through substantial experience and influence. Here are some memorable quotes:

"The old information monopoly has an enormous ability to decide where and when news would be "news." That gatekeeping function is gone, and blogs have rushed in to decide for themselves what matters. The episodes detailed earlier were the first few rounds of conflict between MSM and bloggers. What is coming soon -- perhaps even in the summer of 2005 -- are clashes between competing blog camps. The perfect interblog storm is brewing and will break when the next Supreme Court nominee is sent from the White House to the presidency." (Isn't this a typo? Shouldn't that last word be Congress?)

"If you are a leader , then you ought to be blogging, and the folks you lead ought to be reading that blog."

"The key rules of blogging success and significance are these:

• Post often
• Link freely
• Be generous in praise and attribution
• Don't be long-winded too often, if at all. Brevity is the soul of blogging when you are getting started
• Paragraphs are your friend
• Profanity loses audiences
• Avoid feuds and flame wars
• At least at the start, skip the comments sections. You end up with the problems of nuts if you are any good
• Keep the title short and easy to remember so that it is easy to recall and type into the space at the top of the page.

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