The New Gatekeepers
Apr 22, 2005
Nice article on the 'new gatekeepers' of the blogging world - the so-called 'A-list' bloggers who draw thousands of readers and dozens of links every day. The big spike, as I characterized them in a recent presentation, these gatekeepers instantiate the very properties of the mainstream they are supposedly displacing - appearance over substance, mutual reinforcement, polarization, and herd mentality. No real improvement, in other words, and if A-list blogger Clay Shirky is to be believed, no real alternative either, as the network dynamic that produces a big spike is pretty much unavoidable. Or is it? This author reaches much the same conclusion I do: "If gatekeepers are not desired, than the alternative is aggregated ratings... In theory, the best content shouldn't need influential gatekeepers to push it along." Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four - and Part Five is forthcoming.
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