I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been referred to in an article as a Microsoft employee. I’ve never, ever been employed by Microsoft (though I’ve done small amounts of contract work for them).
Journalists too often leap to the nearest conclusion at hand, based on their own experience and the mental templates they hold about how the world works. You took a real job? Well, then you must be a former blogger. You have the temerity to opine that something produced by Microsoft is pretty good? You must be one of their employees. Etc.
Journalists have not really engaged with the new world, by which I mean the way the world has changed in the last ten years. The Internet plus the growing availability of various technologies in turn make available a huge range of career and personal possibilities that don’t fit into the corporate "have a job with a big company" mold. I suspect that most journalists, with their general disdain for online competition, have not really pondered what those changes mean.
I’m trying to think of anyone who is a "former blogger". I’m sure there are some, but offhand I can’t think of one among the first rank blogging community. |
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Written By:
Billy Hollis
URL:
http://
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Sorry you had to find out this way, Jon. We’ve been meaning to tell you, but the right moment never came up. Wow, how very awkward, right?
Well, now that you know, you may as well hand in your blogging license peacefully. We don’t want to have to call security.
Good luck with your non-blogging activities. We truly wish you all the best.
/s/ The BlogosphereTM |
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Written By:
MichaelW
URL:
http://asecondhandconjecture.com
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We find it’s always better to fire people on a Friday. Studies have statistically shown that there’s less chance of an incident if you do it at the end of the week. |
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Written By:
ChrisB
URL:
http://
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Wishful thinking on their part, Jon. |
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Written By:
Joe Tobacco
URL:
http://cadillactight.wordpress.com
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According to wikipedia, you’ve stopped posting and other have taken your place. Apparently you’re the only one that doesn’t know you’ve stopped posting... |
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Written By:
CuseGuy
URL:
http://
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Crap, you actually had me worried.
I was afraid you’d ’done something’ like Dale and had been relegated to the annals of blogging history. |
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Written By:
looker
URL:
http://
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Billy, there is of course Steven Den Beste. And there have been some that have temporarily (like Rachel Lucas) or more permanently stopped blogging. I suspect, though, that "former blogger" is a particularly in-apt term, in that blogging is not an occupation for most bloggers, but a pastime. It would be like calling someone a former gamer.
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Written By:
Jeff Medcalf
URL:
http://www.caerdroia.org/blog
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We’re bring in some entry-level bloggers, farm some work out to Singapore, that’s the usual deal. |
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Written By:
Wulf
URL:
http://www.atlasblogged.com
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Billy, there is of course Steven Den Beste. I thought of Steven, but he’s still blogging. It’s just about anime instead of politics (mostly). I suspect, though, that "former blogger" is a particularly in-apt term, in that blogging is not an occupation for most bloggers, but a pastime. It would be like calling someone a former gamer. That sounds like a pretty good summation of what I was trying to get at. |
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Written By:
Billy Hollis
URL:
http://
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Hey, Jeff, I found one! At the bottom of the page:Arthur Chrenkoff is a retired blogger... But you have to wonder if he’ll stay retired, or pull a Michael Jordon on us at some point. |
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Written By:
Billy Hollis
URL:
http://
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Sorry, it was Dale and McQ what done it.
After Helen told you about how they took down the MSM, you really shoulda seen this coming. |
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Written By:
Terry
URL:
http://
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Hah, you rock wulf. |
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Written By:
ChrisB
URL:
http://
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Bah. I have a draft email from four days ago about that article, when I first caught it over memeorandum. I thought I had sent it out to you already, but apparently I didn’t hit "Send" properly. |
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Written By:
Bryan Pick
URL:
http://www.qando.net
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