carpe decorum

Numbers and Truth are Not Synonymous

Numbers are lovely descriptors of things, but they do have limits and have to be judged wisely. If I state I have $100 in my checking account, obviously I can withdraw up to that amount. Unless I have overdraft protection. But does that mean I'm wealthy, poor or simply keep my money elsewhere? Knowing the checking account balance is not sufficient to answer that question. Just so, knowing how many people blog and how that number changes is interesting. But it doesn't reveal the implications of that growing number for society or for business. It may turn out that people blog rather than send one email to many recipients.. It may turn out to foster revolutions. Or it may be just another way to pass gossip. Or all of the above. Burningbird ponders all this, in writing an interesting bit about Bill Thompson's BBC article on google rankings and weblogs:

When it comes to world news and opinion, he or she who gets the most links, wins in the world of weblogging. Those with the pareto charts and your esoteric algorithims of popularity tend to prove this out. According to the charts, rather than a new form of connectivity, we're really just another instance typical of medieval community: with the indifferent, smug supremacy of the elite at the top and rule by the mob at the bottom (we know about the viablity of mob rule for fair and ethical treatment of either person or subject).

Within this view, occasionally the mob and the elite might join forces, briefly, and we might help with a story, such as Trent Lott and his big mouth. For the most part, though, we're a bunch of editorialists without much concern for research, fact checking, or accuracy. That's okay, though, because I didn't start writing this to become yet another journalist-wanna be. Nor an elite. Nor part of a mob.

Excellent points all. I would add that it might be worth thinking about blogs as a modern version of the pamphlet. |Pamphlets were used to denouce the powers that be, to spread salacious rumors, to support a party in power, to provide the loyal opposition with a voice, and to challenge the whole political system. Hardly epitomes of modern journalistic standards, pamphlets arguably were to incite people to join a side in an argument more than argue a case dispassionately. But both are possible, certainly. Blogs today appear to be filling a gap in the opinions voiced for many people, especially given the limited range of the views in the media. Which is to say, blogs may play a political role when an issue resonates with enough people. But not inevitably or necessarily.