Information explosion- aren’t we all reeling under it today. A host of platforms to voice, express and be heard, at long last freedom of expression has really become a reality considering the lousy state we were in the days of Doordarshan, Aakashwaani, a handful national newspapers. Today, there are blogs, tweets, social networking sites, MMSs, 24X7 news channels etc. etc.
Sometimes I think if we have gone overboard. Listening to Yanni is one thing and listening to Metallica quite another. It’s not only a question of how intrusive media has become, it is also of the quality of what gets churned out in media.
After having dwelled in blogospheres for almost 3-4 years, I have come to choose the blogs which I visit and the blogs I would rather stay away from.
While these views are personal and any brickbats on them are welcome, request readers to not take it personally.
So, here we go:
Blogs which start with “this is my first blog”
Now, obviously blogging is not something we grew up doing. We wrote miles and miles of essays on topics like “Nuclear weapons: Boon or bane”, “Global warming” and “Brain drain: why is India’s talent going west?” We read stories like “Jataka tales”, “Kalia the crow”. We went to elocution competitions to electrocute others with heavy topics like “India’s role in the cold war” and “Is India independent for real?”
But what the hell is this animal called Blogs. You get to create an account in some dot com site and then, type away to glory. Since, all we did was essaying, story writing and electrocuting, elements from these skills find their way into blogs. It doesn’t mean one should refrain from them but yeah, blogging is a wild animal and it really takes some time to domesticate it.
However, the biggest reason for blogging is to be known and that tendency throws up some interesting things in the blogs.
Sample this –
“Hey this is my first blog.
I hope I find a place here in this blogworld.
I am big fan of Mani Ratnam…….. < Setting the expectations that you are not just another pop corn and cola movie watcher but a follower of some serious artistic cinema>
……but I think his latest film is total **** < Now that’s the punch- it is definitely going to stir up controversy. With that kind of a statement, anyone is going to pitch in with their own comments.. What it ends with is a flurry of comments. Poor Mani, he wasted 3 years of his life making a movie to be thrashed like this in a first timer’s blog>
Well, I too was in that spot sometime back. Getting to see some comments on one’s blog is joy as though someone acknowledged your existence. However, being acknowledged is not enough for some first timers. So, they go on a commenting spree, sometimes, so much so that even the comments turn out to be longer than the actual blogs.
If all this was not enough, there was a first timer who put this as comment on one of my blogs
“XXX- Hey, nice blog but you know what I have just started blogging. You must come check my blog.- XXX. Blog****.com”
Sometimes I shudder at what lies in store for me if this continues. Maybe there will be a Don of bloggers. He would comment- “Hey mamu, better comment on my blog or I will make sure you don’t live another day!!!” – don’t you think it is possible in India?
Anyways, next category I dare not go near to is
The Pundits
Now these guys were born to be in the laboratories of some top notch university in California or Minnesotta or even NASA researching the latest genome or the breakthrough drug for AIDS or even putting man on Pluto, but for some unfortunate reason ended up in a company sweating it out from 9 am to 9 pm. They find it so hard to let go of their instincts that blogs and the blog readers happen to be their obvious prey. Their blogs range from intricate mathematical puzzles or Sudokus which even Aristotle would have shied away from. They post quizzes and discussions about the latest SOA based technologies. Phew!!!!!! And guess what, they find some kind of sadistic pleasure in proving wrong the answers given by the few who even attempt to comment.
With obvious lack of such intelligence, I prefer to stay away from them.
The “serial” (killer) bloggers
This is another category of people who got into a 9-9 job due to fate and not out of interest. These guys were born writers/ film makers/ theater performers etc. etc. They just can’t help but show their angst on the blogs. The blogs just don’t seem to end. They just go on and on in serial formats.
Blog 1- “Jai meets Jane”
Blog-2- “Jane meets Jai”
Blog 3- “Jane and Jai meet each other”
Blog 4- “Jane meets Jack”
Blog 5- “Jai meets Johnny”
Blog 6- “All 4 meet” < I am feeling dizzy. Mein kahan hoon!!!!>
Anyways, this category has its own set of takers, obviously other writer- director types who go through and comment on the character sketch, scene depth and imagination of the blogger.
I heard from someone that some leading directors follow blogs to get inspired for their new projects (Gautam Vasudev Menon is one for sure). So, who knows if it just clicked for these wannabes.
Lady bloggers
Now I don’t have anything against women or the blogs they write but just can’t help thinking twice visiting their blogs. Why? For various reasons, most important being the indiscriminate limelight they hog. Irrespective of the topic or content of their blogs, they get the top no. of hits for whatever reasons.
Its not only the envy of the limelight but also sometimes the comments they get. Sample this:
Lady blogs on “How pink is the sky”
Comments
XXX1- “yes, from one angle it does look pink.
XXX2: Very imaginative and creative blog.Which DC are you from? Are you the one who eats pink rice in a pink lunch box with a pink spoon?
XXX3 - “what a beautiful handwriting?”
If you think that sounded exaggerated, I suggest you start going through the comments.
Even if one finds the blog interesting, commenting on them is an exasperating task, because there is a long list of comments far longer than the blog itself. Interestingly the lady finds time to comment back on each of them. How gracious of her.
Well, that brings me to the end of this blog. I am sure this blog enlightened a few of you and enraged a few of you. For the enraged ones, I think its information explosion you should be blaming rather than me and for the enlightened I hope you had a hearty laugh reading this.
Sometimes I think if we have gone overboard. Listening to Yanni is one thing and listening to Metallica quite another. It’s not only a question of how intrusive media has become, it is also of the quality of what gets churned out in media.
After having dwelled in blogospheres for almost 3-4 years, I have come to choose the blogs which I visit and the blogs I would rather stay away from.
While these views are personal and any brickbats on them are welcome, request readers to not take it personally.
So, here we go:
Blogs which start with “this is my first blog”
Now, obviously blogging is not something we grew up doing. We wrote miles and miles of essays on topics like “Nuclear weapons: Boon or bane”, “Global warming” and “Brain drain: why is India’s talent going west?” We read stories like “Jataka tales”, “Kalia the crow”. We went to elocution competitions to electrocute others with heavy topics like “India’s role in the cold war” and “Is India independent for real?”
But what the hell is this animal called Blogs. You get to create an account in some dot com site and then, type away to glory. Since, all we did was essaying, story writing and electrocuting, elements from these skills find their way into blogs. It doesn’t mean one should refrain from them but yeah, blogging is a wild animal and it really takes some time to domesticate it.
However, the biggest reason for blogging is to be known and that tendency throws up some interesting things in the blogs.
Sample this –
“Hey this is my first blog
I hope I find a place here in this blogworld
I am big fan of Mani Ratnam…….. < Setting the expectations that you are not just another pop corn and cola movie watcher but a follower of some serious artistic cinema>
……but I think his latest film is total **** < Now that’s the punch- it is definitely going to stir up controversy. With that kind of a statement, anyone is going to pitch in with their own comments.. What it ends with is a flurry of comments. Poor Mani, he wasted 3 years of his life making a movie to be thrashed like this in a first timer’s blog>
Well, I too was in that spot sometime back. Getting to see some comments on one’s blog is joy as though someone acknowledged your existence. However, being acknowledged is not enough for some first timers. So, they go on a commenting spree, sometimes, so much so that even the comments turn out to be longer than the actual blogs.
If all this was not enough, there was a first timer who put this as comment on one of my blogs
“XXX- Hey, nice blog but you know what I have just started blogging. You must come check my blog.- XXX. Blog****.com”
Sometimes I shudder at what lies in store for me if this continues. Maybe there will be a Don of bloggers. He would comment- “Hey mamu, better comment on my blog or I will make sure you don’t live another day!!!” – don’t you think it is possible in India?
Anyways, next category I dare not go near to is
The Pundits
Now these guys were born to be in the laboratories of some top notch university in California or Minnesotta or even NASA researching the latest genome or the breakthrough drug for AIDS or even putting man on Pluto, but for some unfortunate reason ended up in a company sweating it out from 9 am to 9 pm. They find it so hard to let go of their instincts that blogs and the blog readers happen to be their obvious prey. Their blogs range from intricate mathematical puzzles or Sudokus which even Aristotle would have shied away from. They post quizzes and discussions about the latest SOA based technologies. Phew!!!!!! And guess what, they find some kind of sadistic pleasure in proving wrong the answers given by the few who even attempt to comment.
With obvious lack of such intelligence, I prefer to stay away from them.
The “serial” (killer) bloggers
This is another category of people who got into a 9-9 job due to fate and not out of interest. These guys were born writers/ film makers/ theater performers etc. etc. They just can’t help but show their angst on the blogs. The blogs just don’t seem to end. They just go on and on in serial formats.
Blog 1- “Jai meets Jane”
Blog-2- “Jane meets Jai”
Blog 3- “Jane and Jai meet each other”
Blog 4- “Jane meets Jack”
Blog 5- “Jai meets Johnny”
Blog 6- “All 4 meet” < I am feeling dizzy. Mein kahan hoon!!!!>
Anyways, this category has its own set of takers, obviously other writer- director types who go through and comment on the character sketch, scene depth and imagination of the blogger.
I heard from someone that some leading directors follow blogs to get inspired for their new projects (Gautam Vasudev Menon is one for sure). So, who knows if it just clicked for these wannabes.
Lady bloggers
Now I don’t have anything against women or the blogs they write but just can’t help thinking twice visiting their blogs. Why? For various reasons, most important being the indiscriminate limelight they hog. Irrespective of the topic or content of their blogs, they get the top no. of hits for whatever reasons.
Its not only the envy of the limelight but also sometimes the comments they get. Sample this:
Lady blogs on “How pink is the sky”
Comments
XXX1- “yes, from one angle it does look pink
XXX2: Very imaginative and creative blog.
XXX3 - “what a beautiful handwriting?”
If you think that sounded exaggerated, I suggest you start going through the comments.
Even if one finds the blog interesting, commenting on them is an exasperating task, because there is a long list of comments far longer than the blog itself. Interestingly the lady finds time to comment back on each of them. How gracious of her.
Well, that brings me to the end of this blog. I am sure this blog enlightened a few of you and enraged a few of you. For the enraged ones, I think its information explosion you should be blaming rather than me and for the enlightened I hope you had a hearty laugh reading this.
Comments
The last part is completely true.
If some good looking girl puts up her profile pic, and then writes, "Baa baa black sheep". There surely would be at least 100 comments for that, the worst being "Hey.. Very creative post!!"!!!!!!!