Gino Cosme commented on his blog last week that the blogopticon chart by Vanity Fair is ‘an awesome idea’. I agree. It’s often hard to tell whether a blog is based on news or opinion. VF’s blog chart basically divides America’s most widely-read blogs based on politics, the media and celeb gossip into four basic segments: scurrilous news; scurrilous opinion; earnest news; and earnest opinion. This makes it easy for the American public to determine whether the blogs they read contain a grain of truth, or whether they should simply be laughed off as an entertaining read.
The SA online audience is new, yet growing day-by-day – as is the SA blogosphere. However, most of the people I know stick to the ‘safe’, well-known online versions of established newspapers (Mail & Guardian, The Times) for their daily news fix, as they simply don’t trust the newer up-and-comers. I think it’s time for the SA blogosphere to adopt a similar ‘blog segmentation’ guide to help the audience discover new talented bloggers who cut through the cowpat and deliver the truth. Any takers?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: blogopticon chart, blogosphere, Gino Cosme, Mail & Guardian, SA online audience, The Times, Vanity Fair
I couldn’t agree with you more! This said, there is opportunity for other traditional media outlets to help set the road for using the blogosphere as a news and information sharing platform. Watch the space – the next few months are going to see many traditional media participants beyond the two you mention, which will be a good thing. After all, once traditional media starts supporting the medium then the audience for same will start growing significantly.
Exciting times!