Missive One : Uphold The Weblog

(by the way, if you took this seriously, you're an idiot...)

BLOGMA 2001's initial aim is to circumvent a certain evil trend that has crept into our once-great weblogging culture: the "celebrity" blogger.

With the advent of tools that make writing and maintaining a weblog possible for anyone with rudimentary computer skills, the democratisation of the weblog is in full swing. This is a great and miraculous thing. However, with the increase in size of the weblogging constituency, it is inevitable that it will arouse the attention of the same corporate parasites that have successfully turned other artforms such as music, film, literature, radio and television into wastelands of the human spirit.

This campaign is targetted at the new bourgeoisie, who even now tag themselves the "A-list" and revel in the circlejerking vacuousness that marks their bilious output. This is an affront to every true weblogger who ever did the hard yards finding gems on the net that no-one else would think of searching for, and bringing them into the light. These decadents, however, have nothing better to do than talk about themselves, and whatever new status symbol they've acquired. Let's point out a prime example, shall we?

Kottke on the tenth of november: "I have completed my quest for a laptop bag. I decided on the Kensington SaddleBag. It has a padded compartment for my laptop, all sorts of neat pockets for Palms, phones, etc..."

Need I say more?

And of course every year they rush off to the SXSW conference in Austin, TX (of course the seat of the Texas Death Machine, George W Bush) and give themselves a good ol' pat on the back on how great their new media is. NEW Media? It's the same old shit, the equal of boy bands and action flicks and stupid game shows in A NEW FORMAT. It's All Shit! Merde! Merde! Merde! You're not fucking Jack Kerouac, you're just some bozoes with DSL connections and an penchant for buying soon-to-be-obsolete gadgets and appearing in pretentious periodicals, you superficial gits.

BLOGMA 2001 calls all true webloggers to rise up and overthrow the bourgeoisie. BLOGMA 2001 requires that the nascent culture of the celebrity blogger be utterly smashed before there is nothing else. BLOGMA 2001 demands a return to entries with good content and good links, not just endorsements of the latest PalmPilot. BLOGMA 2001 insists that the standard of weblogging return to the halcyon days of 1999.

And newbie bloggers, just because you might have only picked this up recently, that does not mean you can't be part of the revolution. Of course you can. There is a place for anyone who gives a damn. So give a damn, and do not fall to the temptation of linking to these parasites. They'll take your hits, oh yes, but don't expect them to return them, because they are scum. Yes, write about how you feel and what you've been experiencing and your response to the world around you. Don't be afraid of content. Don't afraid to comment on what everyone else is talking about. Don't be afraid to link to what you like. Don't be afraid to share your stories or your opinions or your jokes or your friends. But don't ever take the view that just because you aren't on the A-list you don't matter. Of course you matter. If you do it well, people will notice.

After the elite are ripped down from their pedestals, we will issue Missive Two.

-- BLOGMA2001 Committee, November 14 2000.

related: DOGMA 95, KillYrBlog.