![]() ![]() However, there is a shared pride in the sphere of influence that each maintains. ![]() There are cliques of bloggers based on politics." Downing says most bloggers "don't necessarily have much in common except that they are given the chance to write about what they want to write about". "You do have a sense of groups: this group is bitchy and this blogger doesn't like that blogger. Next week it is more likely to be the Australian Idol poll, which would benefit Sam Downing.įrom his Newcastle base, Downing, 21, writes about pop culture, deconstructing Australian Idol, Big Brother and Days of Our Lives.ĭowning recognises a loose hierarchy among Australian bloggers. This week the federal poll is the most popular topic. Anyone can start their own blog and anyone can be a writer." Some of the best sites "are from those that don't write professionally", says Blair. The whole thing is a growing, living organism."Īlthough Blair is a graduate of the traditional press, there are no such prerequisites. The more points of view are expressed, the more blogs that appear supporting those views. "Conflict is central to healthy blogging. "It's creating literally countless micro communities, based around political and cultural voices which are unique or gripping. "It's not a monolithic community," Crawford says. A popular online writer attracts readers who respond by creating their own forums, perhaps drawing readers away from the original. Kate Crawford, a media lecturer at the University of Sydney, compares the process to the division of cells. As the dotcommers quickly learnt, competition is only a click away on the internet. With tens of thousands of contemporaries around the world, Blair and Henderson-Hau represent a return to the pre-commercial internet era, which emphasised the exchange of ideas, not credit card numbers.īut they know that tomorrow they may be forgotten, their popularity usurped by another blogger or even by a loyal reader who peels off and starts his or her own online rant. "I wrote an article for the Heckler about my parents and Dad got really angry," he said. He makes no money from his website and lives with his parents, who do not know he is a "blogger" or web logger. He even earns about $800 a month from advertising. He is an experienced, conservative political commentator who some days draws more than 20,000 readers to his website. People expect you to deliver."īlair, 39, is top dog among the new Australian digerati. "I guess that's the price you pay for being on the A-list. "TIM Blair's blog has been sadly rather boring and worn out of late," said one commentator recently on a website called Dogfightatbankstown. Call them bloggers, writers, ranters, online diarists or digerati - they are ambitious, witty, informed commentators with fanatical followers and even groupies. The one thing they have in common is that they write whatever they think and post it on the web. There are thousands in Australia, and while their numbers are constantly shifting, only a dozen or so may pull big audiences at any one time. They are not shy about slagging each other off and resentment can be enduring. Sometimes fights break out between the groups or individuals. And though many talk to each other every day, they rarely meet. They organise themselves into cliques or groups - often around political leanings. Their parents do not know what they do in their bedrooms all day. Many live with mum and dad, and survive off the dole or savings. The new digerati are young, penniless and smart. But there is a new and very different crop of influential onliners to replace them. They were the new business leaders, tearing up business textbooks and launching business models with names like B2B and B2C.Īnd they wrote, at length, about how to make money on the internet on websites and in magazines such as Cluetrain Manifesto, Fast Company and Red Herring. They were magnets for money, teaching corporate dinosaurs a lesson or two about the new economy. ![]() Remember the digerati? They were young, rich and full of big visions for small start-ups. ![]()
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