Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Gripe ho

I was getting a little testy today as I read my way through the Times and Telegraph online. The first irritating episode was reading that 99.999999% of all blogs are not worth reading, and I can't remember where I read it but if I find it again, I'll post the link. It was made by some big time journalist and it made me very cross.

What does he mean by 'worth reading'? According to what criteria? His? The majority of blogs are written for a small audience, sometimes just a family. They are worth reading by that community of readers and have no aspirations for global fame. Are they thus, by definition, 'worthless'? Just because most writers don't write for millions it doesn't mean their blogs are 'not worth reading'.

Just because a blog is written by a big time journalist doesn't make it 'worth reading' either. Look at what has become of the Telegraph blogs since Colin Randall left. Most rarely inspire comments, and when they do, the numbers often hover under 5. How would they fare out of the rarified atmosphere of the online journal, in the cut and thrust of the blogosphere?

That was gripe #1. The second comes from one of those blogs, the one by Lila Das Gupta. Now, I'm sure she's a lovely lady and she means well, but really. The arrogance of it. She's undertaking an experiment not to go shopping for a whole year and write about her horrific experiences. Oh my goodness, what a trial! The poor thing, how will she survive?

I made a rather caustic comment on her blog to the effect that what she is describing as a gung-ho lifestyle experiment describes my life, so big deal. Only, at the end of her traumatic year, she'll have saved up a lovely lot of dosh to pay off her mortgage or go out for a mega shop while the rest of us on a tight budget continue not to go shopping.

But, wow, is it like really possible not to go shopping??? Pah.

7 comments:

  1. Yes, I read that article too - must have been in the Telly. As you say, Sarah, who is to decide whether a blog is worth reading or not? If you don't like a particular blog, you don't read it. I have personally read blogs from people that do it solely for the pleasure, and some of them are better-written and more interesting than those of journalists (apart from a couple of 'real' reporters on the Telly, for example, the rest of their stuff is in full 'Dear Diary' mode).

    I, too, posted a comment on Lila das Gupta's blog. My heart bleeds for her and her family - what sacrifice. Imagine having to borrow an iron from your neighbour! And 'trying not to fly too much'. Oh dear, oh dear. Bet she still shops in Waitrose or Sainsbury's though!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lila should try living on a restricted food budget too for extra points in her ground-breaking research.

    When my ex-h, eldest who was 2 and I lived in Dallas for a year back in 1999, we lived on $50 a week for food. Try that one Lila!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh dear - she has just written another blog about her new found life. It's so damn PC, I'm getting quite angry!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think she was feeling got at...

    ReplyDelete
  5. where do you look to read this nut case's blog....has she also givn up Guerlain and Kurt Geiger.....MY GOD, how will the poor dear survive -no Harrods, no Lillywhites, no Liberty's...no Philps for silver either....heavens heavens is she actually going to use PUBLIC TRANSPORT???????

    Girls please explain how I can get to read this jerks stuff - in french they say a hearty laugh is as good for you as a steak!!!!!

    And....I don't often get round to buying steak!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Go to the Daily Telegraph online, ng, and then click on Telegraph blogs. Don't forget a secondhand Kleenex before reading her blog - it brings tears to your eyes!

    ReplyDelete
  7. ng, in the blog, you just need to click where it's green and written Lila das Gupta. That's a direct link.

    She's now saying that she appreciates that many people live on a tight budget, but that her experiment is making a lot of self-indulgent peope think that perhaps there is a different way, and that if ONE person doesn't throw out a sofa to buy a new one thanks to her blog, she'll be happy.

    Awww. Cute. She's showing the self-obsessed middle classes that they too can lead a different life and be all smug about it too. Isn't it touching?

    ReplyDelete

Comments are bienvenue.