how blogs are changing the way we read. me thinks we need new glasses and a more back-friendly chair after all the cyber-voyeurism! an excerpt:
It's way premature to say that literary blogs have supplanted the established media (just as it would be to say Drudge is a better news source than the networks' websites). But it's reasonable to call them old media's stealth competitors, because they draw a young and educated demographic that advertisers desire. Their audiences are not immense, but established blogs like Bookslut claim a respectable 3,000 hits a day.
I think this is amazing. I just dived into blogging/blog reading a month or so ago and am amazed at the energy, intelligence and ideas that are out there. and all from the comfort of your keyboard. i won't be surprized to hear a song down the line called 'bloggers killed the nyt book review.' (if you don't get it, its ok. its from an old 80s song.)
more from the same article:
Will literary bloggers eventually trump the traditional book reviewer? I think everyone spends far too much time fretting about the various media and their influences. Clearly, each has its own strengths and weaknesses. And in all cases, certain personalities emerge with more influence than others. In radio, it's the curmudgeon Don Imus who has the power to send books up the bestseller list. On television, it's the all-embracing Oprah. In newspapers, it is the cover of the New York Times Book Review that is said to influence book sales. The Internet surely will also eventually produce its own version of Imus, Oprah, and the NYTBR -- without necessarily diminishing the other media book-promoting stars.I, for one, am cheering on the literary bloggers. Books need all the support they can get.
this bookish bohemian couldn't agree more!
