Thought of the day: Internet intellectualism

by Kakofonous

I am disappointed that the new wave of intellectuals (think Andrew Sullivan, Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias) has chosen the blog, at least as it is presently conceived, as a primary medium. I don't blame them, though: there was no other choice. Print is dying, and, unless esteemed publications like the Washington Post or the Atlantic (the homes of Klein and Sullivan, respectively) wish to market their columnists through Twitter or Facebook, hosting a blog is the only legitimate way to disseminate opinion online. For independent commentators like Yglesias, the blog is simply the most practical means of reaching the public: it's fast, it's easy, it's visible. However, the blog format demands short, topical posts delivered on an hourly basis, at least. While we certainly should take advantage of the speed that Internet publishing offers, it must not be at the expense of losing cherished elements of the intellectual past like the essay. The Internet speeds up communication, not the speed of thought. Bloggers cannot be expected to produce nuggets of brilliance every hour on the hour. They must balance their day-to-day output with longer, more nuanced pieces removed from the so-called "lifestream." The intellectual's place in society is not merely to blather on in public about the people and events of the times. It is to provide unique, unconventional insight, to remember the past and scrutinize the present. This is a tall order, one that blogging can't fill in its current form. So I ask the bloggers—even, I suppose, those on this site—to remember that the blog cannot become the intellectual's sole means of reaching the public. Hard criticism and informed commentary don't appear overnight, much less over Twitter.

This pseudo-rant was inspired in part by Jon Meacham's recent appearance on the Daily Show.

Update: I just found an article from Dædalus that speaks somewhat to what I said above. It's called "The case for wisdom journalism–and for journalists surrendering the pursuit of news." You can find it here; worth a read, though lengthy.