Sheer number of bloggers dilutes their value

Most bloggers do not follow the same rigor as journalists accountable to a newspaper which has some editorial oversight and liability.

That’s not to say that blogs and bloggers cannot provide valuable, timely and important information. However, FINDING that information in the sea of noise is very difficult.

I know the urge and trend is to bemoan the Big, Bad, Media companies, but the truth is that there are economies of information scale that are yet to be addressed in blogger communities.

• disproportional and artificial influence of A-Listers
• mob think and cross-posting
• difficulty in finding primary sources
• most blogging is NOT real-time reporting, it’s real-time interpreting. So much interpretation leads to limited fact-checking and research
• very noisy channels leads to limits on diversity as individuals go to the same “trusted” sources time and again

There are monopoly, editorial, and trust issues with large media outlets. When there are mistakes at media companies, people get fired. Nobody cares when a blogger lies.

What happens when the two meet? Fascinating juxtaposition, that.

Who Let the Blogs Out? Legal Experts Offer Tips on Avoiding Trouble:

But with all the excitement and potential for new readers and financial invigoration, something else is rippling: growing unease about the dangers of blogs — especially legal liabilities in the land of the free and perhaps overly brave.

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