No one will read this story.
Last week, Jericho Scott was the talk of the blogosphere. This week, he’s just another 10-year-old. In between, nothing much changed—except that a fresher piece of marginalia flashed across the front page of Google News, and we promptly forgot that we’d ever cared about Jericho in the first place.
No one will read this story.
And that’s precisely the problem.
I won’t pretend to have even a passing interest in the bylaws of the Liga Juvenil de Baseball of New Haven, CT. I don’t know how I’d rule, if the decision were mine to make; I don’t know whether the Battle of Jericho really does typify America’s inclination to coddle its kids. I do know, though, that it’s supremely ironic for a flock of Web-addicted adults with the collective attention span of a Tourette’s-stricken Tee-Baller to lecture anyone about physical or intellectual softness. I also know that irony is all too often a symptom of disease.
Self-empowerment is healthy.
Self-indulgence is not.
Unfortunately, your laptop doesn’t come with a filter to help you tell one from the other.
It would be silly to blame the Internet here. Technology is only ever a tool, a thing whose value depends on its use, and its users. We blog as we are. If the results are petty and pathological, we have no one to blame but ourselves, or whomever it was that made us what we’ve become.
It feels good to be right.
It feels better to be righteous.
In the 21st century, there’s a fine line between speaking your mind and just plain stroking your ego.
Pompous indignation is a dangerous drug. It starts with a casual rant atop a soapbox. Then a pastime becomes a habit, and a habit becomes a need. Pretty soon you’re typing fervidly into the void at three in the morning, desperate to tell a bunch of invisible strangers who live in a box about your own harrowing Little League experiences, and how they prepared you for life in a world where you’ve always got to play with the big kids before you’re ready—and where nobody cares except a bunch of invisible strangers who live in a box, who at least do you the courtesy of always being there to listen.
Too much time in cyberspace will leave a man feeling awful hollow, Bubba:
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but easy-to-use publishing software.
Because between the blogger and the blogged falls the Shadow.
And you're liable to lose more than just your voice if you get all your kicks from only just saying, is all...
Just Saying, Is All... | What the Jericho Scott Saga Says About Bloggers
Today's Must Reads
Track this Article on My B/R
Share This Article
About the Author Ryan Alberti (senior writer)
- 172 articles written
- 225 comments posted
- 231 fans
Want to write for Bleacher Report
We are a community of fans who write about sports. And we're growing.
6 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Dan Hoehne 10 months ago
I'm shocked that the blogging world has looked at your piece 116 times, and yet none had the cojones to write back.
Or is it the true self-awareness or humility that evades them?
I agree with you whole heartedly, and yet, at the same time, they are merely fashiniong themselves after the greater (meaning just larger and more seen by the masses) media.
What's hot today will get readers.
Continually following an old story while new 'hot' things are coming to light, will diminish the readership, drop the numbers.
I applaud your side, respect your take and know you are right, in a vacuum.
But in trying to continue to get readers, the latest is what is the greatest to write about.
I've toyed with posting an old column I wrote about the heroic admission of N.Y. Jet WR Lavernious Coles...and even though I still don't think the masses know the story, the fact that it is a couple years old makes me think that it will fall upon deaf ears, or blind eyes.
But you know, perhaps I've been inspired...look for it sometime.
Edit Comment Cancel
J.C. Hagan 10 months ago
This is also a problem I've noticed and I think you articulate it quite well here.
From a McLuhan-like perspective, the blogsphere has, for the first time in human history, given anyone a relatively cheap way of pronouncing their opinions to a large mass of potential readers without any way of discrediting them. Rejection is one of the most important processes in writing, whether it be from a publishing house, editor, or a critic, and that filter has been completely removed. In addition, provocation is the most inexpensive it's ever been by far.
What we're seeing is the result of said technology - each individual discovers the latest hot-button issue - often whatever the TV has told them is the hot button issue and not what is important - and writes a quick opinion, often confrontational, and posts it to their webpage hoping for increased traffic. It's the horrible offspring when social psychology, internet technology, and the 24-hour news cycle have a three-way.
Yeah, it is an ego trip - it's a way for people who don't have any traditional means of standing out from the crowd to stand out from the crowd. I remember when blogging first became big seeing a statistic that the rate of depression among bloggers was ridiculously high. Not surprised - I ran a sports blog for about 6 months during the most depressing period of my life. It's a way of attempting to gain popularity without any traditional risk.
There's definitely a "high" that comes with getting page views, and one quickly learns what gets pageviews. Thoughtful, articulate analysis? No. Flagrant anthill pissing? Yep. History? No. Current events? Yes. Got to feed the high, ya know?
Great article that makes - or should make - us all think. And the fact that it's been published 4 days and only has 185 page views and 2 comments, while Thomas Brown's 37-world uninformative inflammatory "article" has 700+ reads and 45+ comments after 7 days? Perfect.
Edit Comment Cancel
Ryan Alberti 10 months ago
You had me at "McLuhan"...
I think you're right about the importance of rejection/criticism, and the impact of its absence in the blogosphere. In a perfect world, every new writer would have a skeptical/centered JC Hagan to keep him in line. In this one, most folks get their feedback from their hit counts.
Speaking of traffic—I'm particularly pleased with the number of pageviews here. Performance art only works if the audience plays along, as they say...and sometimes the best way to make a point is by making it to no one at all. Thank goodness for the Internet.
Edit Comment Cancel
J.C. Hagan 10 months ago
I know, Ryan - I'm actually sorry I used so many high-hit words like "th*ee-way" or "p*ssing" which probably account for the additional 50 or so.
I'll just leave and let this die in the dust.
At least the internet is predictable enough to know this would happen.
Edit Comment Cancel
Saraswathi Siriginia 10 months ago
Amazing piece RA, you have raised an excellent point! Pop(ular) is something people en masse sign on for, while anything of substance misses the bus, most of the times.
Edit Comment Cancel
Saraswathi Siriginia 10 months ago
How in the world does one miss such a piece for 4 days!? My bad, I've joined the brigade.
Edit Comment Cancel
Leave a Comment
You must register to post a comment.