Blogger wars flare up again

The blogger wars are flaring up again. We were discussing recently the concept of blogging as a technology of the self, but we should probably not expect this to be taken unchallenged.

In fact with blogger wars between bloggers and the mainstream media, there is often a resistance to blogging, and a challenge to its authority.

This was evidenced recently by comments dropped off on a blog by a writer for the New Yorker. A blogger had criticized a recent story in the magazine, and the writer of the story came by the blog and fired back with some pretty strong language.

Aside from being wildy entertaining, it’s an incredibly fascinating study in criticism and the meta-dialogue that has now been made possible by the Internet. Not only can Wilson challenge Colapinto’s article publicly, but he can go and challenge her right back — unfiltered, unrestrained, and unedited by David Remnick‘s magic pen. It’s New Media, pure and simple — and that is precisely what is driving Colipinto batty. Who is this person who dares to criticize him? Some….blogger? Oh, no no no no no. Colapinto offered the world a glimpse into the star-stalked world of Paul McCartney and “[y]ou, instead, wanted an essay on the subject. And that’s why you’re a blogger and not a writer.”

So this story is a just a little waystation on the way to this new landscape of blogging, isn’t it?