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November 19, 2005

OSM Mania 

Hey, writing about the Open Source Media has sensibly increased my traffic (after the WP tempest in a toilet bowl), so why not continue to flog that horse?

Like many others, also this struggle is becoming a three-way one:

Side One - The True Believers: those who think that OSM will succeed because it has to, given that all the Good Guys are there. Examples: the OSM staff and (most) partners, and apparently a good number of LGFers.

Side Two - The Informed Critics: those criticizing (sometimes with caustic irony) the whole OSM policy, business plan (or lack thereof) and decisions in the face of the Trademark Cockup. Examples: SDB, Dennis The Peasant, Darth Misha.

Side Three - The Sneerers: those grilling and slinging mud at OSM because it's a nest of fascist racist neo-con zionists who deserve to suffer and fail. Examples: LGF Watch, LGF Quiz.

Of course these are rather broad generalizations, and there's a number of people that cannot be clearly placed into a precise set (Ann Althouse comes to mind). My take? If OSM does not change course, the Informed Critics will be proven right.

And what about the shockwaves through the blogosphere? There is a sort of idea that blogs are morally superior to the mainstream media. I think this is partly right, because many bloggers write only to express what they think, not with an eye always looking at the cash inflow and the other a how best to pander at some particular group. And usually bloggers are quite transparent regarding their eventual political agendas. Moreover, it is considered very bad manners on blogs to edit published posts and not respond to criticism or discovered errors.

But now OSM is behaving much more like a mainstream media than a blog. So I suppose that many now are thinking "So a pile of green is all it takes to turn these paladins of fairness, honesty and accountability into copies of what they once despised?" (also look at their very strict terms of use). Unless this is straightened quickly, it may have serious long-term consequences.

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