One word explains both the growth of
partisan blogs and my inability to get much traction in this new
medium.
Validation.
Validation is what we seek in the
blogosphere. We read things we wish to agree with. We go into a
fantasy world where other people are like us, and we stay there as
long as we need to in order to gain courage to face the crises around
us.
This should not be a surprise. In fact,
it’s what has happened with every new medium in our past, in every
run-up to a political crisis.
What do you think the Beverly
Hillbillies, Gilligan’s Island and Green Acres were all about? They
were TV fantasies, which parents of the time rushed to for
validation. The same was true for the sitcoms of early 1930s radio,
such as Amos & Andy and (later) the Jack Benny Show. They sold a
fantasy in which there was plenty to eat and problems were solved in
20 minutes.
The history of the 1890s was written by
newspapers that gave readers, not the truth, but fantasies – the
Spanish-American War was a newspaper-driven fantasy. And the
ideological newspapers of the 1850s also sold fantasy, for those
seeking validation of their own views.
This is the way we deal with a world of
excess, and of approaching crisis. We look for something we can nod
our heads to. We don’t want to be challenged. We’re not there for a
good argument. Reality, political or otherwise, gives us a headache.
We look for refuge.
But here is a second, equally important
point. This search for a new medium, and this healthful search for
validation, also heralds a permanent change in our media consumption,
a generational change. The coming generation will be as comfortable
with the Internet as its parents were with TV, and as their parents
were with radio.
If you want to make a permanent name
for yourself, in other words, this is the place to do it. And now is
the time. Look at how the crew of Star Trek is still making a living
from that fantasy, 40 years on.
Just don’t challenge people, as I do.
That would be a mistake. The audience seeking challenge in a new
medium is always a small, niche audience.
I’m glad to have you here.
