BlogProfit

On a recent visit to Elwyn Jenkins' MicroDoc News I discovered the ProBlog Bloglogue, which takes an active role in advocating for weblogs. Jenkins is one of the Bloggers involved in the effort, which seems to have coalesced around criticism from Andrew Orlowski of the Register, among others. The group includes Tim Swanson, Richard Giles, Michael Fagan, Stephen Dulaney and Roland Piquepaille.

I'm all for a site that can articulate the positive contributions of weblogs, and their potential as communication tools. This group seems to be doing this well, and creating a useful resource in the process. But Blogging doesn't need an organized defense. There will always be critics and those who just don't understand why weblogs have captured the public imagination. Orlowski's notoriety is itself a validation of the power of weblogs and nanopublishing. He strikes me as a professional controversialist who has been handed a bigger megaphone with links from Bloggers he has pissed off. It's working so well that he has no reason to rethink his positions or alter course. Every Orlowski link on ProBlogs.org serves to validate Orlowski's cynical modus operandi. Remember the old chestnut about why you shouldn't mud wrestle with a pig: you both get muddy, and the pig likes it.