Blogcritics is a unique gestalt of writers, readers, and commenters and today, as we mark the receipt of our 500,000th comment, we celebrate a fabulous landmark of interactivity, real social networking if you like. The core of the Blogcritics culture is obviously made up of the almost 2,000 registered writers who have posted over 62,000 diverse articles here but there is also a large and growing band of unregistered regulars who post comments with a frequency, style, and wit that leaves me wondering why they don't have a blog of their own.
Blogcritics comes out of the blogging milieu and having a dialogue, crude or sophisticated, is as natural as breathing. We are not the mainstream media but something far newer, braver, and more aspirational. That requires courage, honesty, and a willingness to tolerate the views of people with whom one may not necessarily agree, rather like modern democracy itself. As with all opinions boldly stated, others also like to offer their views. That can be considered a type of participatory democracy in action and, through the dialectic process, a greater understanding can be gained by all.
Blogcritics is all about writing, a skill that is becoming ever more challenged in our fast-paced soundbite world. Unlike most other destinations, virtual or actual, Blogcritics even has its own "writer's academy", where talented but technically challenged pipsqueaks are polished and pointed in the right direction. One of the other distinguishing things about BC, something that makes it very different from old school mainstream media, is that we're all available, contactable, and interactive. We have some great writers and personalities here, both on the editorial side and the vital wider writer community; it's great, thrilling actually, to see them actually interact, through the comments, with our readers. The articles posted on Blogcritics, although complete in themselves, are like the opening remarks in a conversation; sometimes formal, often irreverent, rarely dull.
If you want to shoot the schnizzle about your favourite new band, game, TV show, sport or movie or get seriously political over the hot button issues of the day, THIS is the place to come.
"The comments are what make Blogcritics a community." - Eric Berlin, Executive Producer
"Have I said recently how I see comments as the heart or psyche of BC? No? Well, I see the comments as..." - Christopher Rose, Comments Editor
"I take comments moderately seriously." - Dave Nalle, Politics Editor
I suspect some people round here thought I got the short end of the stick when I accepted the role of Blogcritics' Comments Editor but to my way of thinking I got the better end of the deal. The comments are the heart of BC, a wild, after-the-storm river; wide, deep and dark, glistening with fabulous flotsam and jetsam. I love the way that everybody at Blogcritics is held instantly accountable for their words. Writers, commenters, and editors alike are paraded, praised or pelted with tomatoes as the issues of the day are picked over in thoughtful detail. Great articles can attract equally great derision, praise or worst fate of all, be ignored.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
No comment.
2 - Christopher Rose
Droll as ever, Ruvy! Thanks for your contributions to the grand total.
3 - Andy Marsh
CR - there's probably more than a half million...how many have you deleted???
4 - REMF
Hey Chris,
Where'd ya find the picture of Mick Jagger?
5 - Christopher Rose
Andy - there are actually half a million comments on the site, we don't count deleted ones. Thanks for your contributions too.
REMF - you're not the first to notice the resemblance, thanks for that - and your contributions!
6 - Dr Dreadful
Who was #500,000? Was it me?? Is there a prize?!?! Yippee!!!!!
...
(Methinks perhaps I made my coffee a little strong this morning...)
7 - gonzo marx
ok..so you counted up my comments finally....what about everybody else?
Excelsior?
8 - Christopher Rose
gonzo - your comments are certainly a significant portion of the total, possibly half a million words? Thanks for all your input, it's great to have you back on the site after your little break!
9 - gonzo marx
thanks Chris..still ambivalent about a few things, but ya know me..the quixotic nature just encourages this monkey on my back
good luck to you keeping up with all of it, you do great at a very thankless job
for Christopher aka alienboy
Excelsior?
10 - Christopher Rose
Quixotic, eh? "Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic without regard to practicality; capricious; impulsive."
What can I say? Oh, I know! "Everybody's got something to hide except for me and my monkey."
11 - gonzo marx
heh..
c'mon, ya gotta give points for Irony when i not only self describe as quixotic, but link to RHCP's "Knock me down" in the same comment...
fucking philistines i tell ya
/ducks
Excelsior?
12 - Andy Marsh
CR - you have a monkey?
13 - Glen Boyd
So do people like Rubberneck/Mookey from my Neil Young article last year or that crazy Virgin Mary lady from Barger's articles get a booby prize for the assist?
Seriously though, an awesome milestone...
-Glen
14 - Christopher Rose
gonzo - I'm not sure US rock can carry irony!
Andy, yes, and I like to spank it! LOL!!
Glen, Mookey and Mary are boobies. Rimshot!
15 - Christopher Rose
Wooh, I see my galactic overlord has switched this from Culture to Sci/Tech. I always get that wrong!
16 - gonzo marx
"gonzo - I'm not sure US rock can carry irony!"
oh really?
heh
sometimes it appears that vital signs get missed...
"an ounce of perception, a pound of obscure...
heh
"contemplate that, upon the Tree of Woe" - Thulsa Doom
Excelsior?
17 - Christopher Rose
Er, gonzo, neither Alanis nor Rush are from the US ...nor ironic. Ironic, huh?
18 - gonzo marx
i knew ya would catch the canuck bit..
hence my using them...ironic indeed...here's yer leg back, it came off whilst pulling on it
but i digress...
Excelsior?
19 - Christopher Rose
True confession: I can't stand either artist, one's smug and not half as interesting as they think, the other is yet more N American old rock sludge. Sorry!
20 - Dr Dreadful
Chris, I agree with you about Morrisette (whiny and irritating, and so are her lyrics!) but you're totally wrong about Ian Rush. He's from Wales, not Canada, and while Wales is largely made out of very old rock, I wouldn't exactly call it sludge. I can't understand you being so down on such a prolific goalscorer, even if he couldn't play a note!
/chtongueeek/
21 - Eric Berlin
Half a million, who could believe it?
The comments and commenters and conversations on Blogcritics give it the life and fabric and vibrancy of a great and unique community. Viva la comments and here's to half a million more !
22 - Christopher Rose
Doc D: I had the misfortune to live in Wales for a few years and hated it! Largely cos I was one of six English kids in the midst of 1,000 Welshies whose main school hobby was fighting English kids.
As for Rushy, he played for those perpetual losers at Anfield, unlike the better taffs such as Ryan Giggs and Mark Hughes who played for the awesome majesty that is Manchester United!
23 - Dave Nalle
hey, how do we access the list we used to have of who has how many comments? Am I number one yet? Shouldn't that get me or whoever did the most out of those half-million some sort of prize?
Anyone want to start a pool on when we'll hit a million?
Dave
24 - Christopher Rose
Dave, I believe the Leaderboard is what you are referring to. You need to put some work in to regain the Number 1 spot...
25 - Dr Dreadful
Chris, I love Wales. It's my spiritual home. Wales 1000, England 6 sounds like a reasonable rugby score to me.
Without wishing to be an apologist for Liverpool FC (they were the team everyone loved to hate before Man U became the team everyone loves to hate), it's not insignificant that Ian Rush's departure from Anfield coincided with the end of Liverpool's dominance of the English game.
I defend Rush because at the end of his career he played (albeit briefly) for my team, Newcastle. For the same reason, I will of course bash anyone who feels the need to badmouth John Barnes on this thread or any other. Grr.