The Blogosphere’s collective ego was bruised yesterday when Joseph Rago penned a rather poignant, if misguided, column about blogs and their contribution to society, the written word, civic discourse, etc.
Read Rago’s column.

Then note the reaction.
The best being QandO.

The letter I sent yesterday to Rago and to the WSJ:

Dear Editor:

Joseph Rago’s criticism of bloggers ["The Blog Mob," Dec. 20] for hastening the “decay” of the written word is completely misplaced, though understandably so.

The blog is to writing what the point-and-shoot camera is to photography. While the one is serious and thoughtful, the other is spontaneous and playful. In the one we look for insight, in the other we look for a memory or a connection. In the one permanence, the other temporality.

But the snap-shot hasn’t debased the photographic arts. If anything, it has brought them down to earth, opening non-traditional routes to the profession and giving faces to the crowd. Most importantly, the snap-shot has become its own phenomenon, with meaning and relevance unique to its form.

Likewise, the notion that blogs could put an end to the whole profession of journalism is patently absurd, delusional bloggers notwithstanding. But the technology is serving to keep professional journalists grounded and mindful of an audience that not too long ago had no face.

But even if there were no Mainstream Media, people would still blog because at root it is an expression of our natural drive to communicate and connect. So in a very important sense, blogging is something new that must be judged apart from its genealogy. It may not be high art, but that doesn’t make it devoid of cultural value.