Lowest Common Denominator Syndrome
Well, I lost at Battle of the Blogs… again. I’m not surprised though. I’ve come up with a pretty plausible theory why I appear to suck so badly. It has to do with LCDS, or ‘Lowest Common Denominator Syndrome’.
You see, blogging might have started as another form of nerd outlet a few years ago. And probably only other nerds read most of them. Today the situation is quite different, anyone and everyone can and does have a blog. The most populous still appears to be the ‘online journal’, where one’s thoughts and daily activities are shared with every living person on the planet who can access a web browser. I’ve already written on this subject before, but it still chafes the balls a bit.
You see, I believe the problem is the same one that has affected day time television for years. You have to appeal to the lowest common denominator. This is the same reason I can never find a single intelligent program on television during the week if I’m ever home sick from work. The hours from 9am to 3pm on weekdays are reserved for the housewife bunch. The Soap Operas, the talk shows, the television shopping networks… I really don’t need to defend myself here.
So now, on to the analogy of LCDS working its way over to the blogosphere. You can see by the picture above that I lost to a popular online journal blog titled: “Mommy’s Busy, Take a Number“. Now, I have absolutely nothing against the writer of this blog. I really don’t. But I do have to question why her daily anecdotes are really that popular with the “blogging community”. I believe its because that is all the blogging community has become, and they want to read more of the same stuff they themselves write: “The Daily Life of a Working Mother”.
That’s great and all, and I’d fight to the death (ok, maybe just to my first flesh wound) for free speech, but you’d think that a medium with such potential for the sharing of ideas would be a lot less hung up on cutesy template designs, crappy memes, what the children are doing this second, or stories about how awful their boss is.
I think this cute little picture that I’ve seen on WAY too many blogs sums it right up. (Side Note: I got a cute little message saying “Don’t even think about stealing my stuff!” when I right-clicked on it…) They may be watching us, and Oprah, and Days of Our Lives, and Ricki Lake, and Trading Spaces, but at least my shit’s original… biatches!
Oh, there is one great thing about people that take themselves too seriously… they make great fodder for parody.
[tags]rant, commentary, humor, funny, blogging, battle of the blogs[/tags]
I lose to the mafia all the time. I could care less.
I have a blog, but I loathe to call it a “mommyblog”.
But is it?
Mojo-I am so sorry your balls are chafed. Maybe I can help kiss your boo boos? Thanks for the link…I guess I owe you a favor now. What kind of favor would you like?
I agree that anyone is free to write about anything they wish. However, it is alarming how many people find it entertaining to read about the daily nothingness of another person. I myself like blogs that are humorous, different & entertaining. But maybe we are in the minority?
Laurie: Don’t listen to my dumb ass. And yours isn’t a “mommy blog”… I quite enjoy reading it.
Ann: Hmmm… a favor huh? I’m gonna have to think about this one.
Jane: I guess we are in the minority… maybe that’s what is so frustrating. It would probably be a lot easier to swallow if the ‘majority’ were humorous, different, and entertaining.
Give ‘em hell, Mojo! I have never tried giving BOTB a try since I figure I would probably get my ass whipped by someone that I would find to have a peice of shit blog but more people would want to know the level of soreness that breastfeeding gives to some poor mommy. It is not that I am against mommys, just those blogs where that is the only damn thing they talk about. So keep on giving ‘em hell. I might join y’all but I would probably get thrown out pdq.
You’re right. You are doing something original here.
One thing I’ve noticed about the BotB voters is that they vary depending on the time of the day. And typically, the people who battle are the people who vote.
For example, if I see a lot of religious conservatives battling, I’ll wait until later that day to compete. It’s not that I have anything against conservatives, I just figure a lot of them may not like what I write about (alcohol, sex, etc.)
The funny thing is…the housewife mafia doesn’t really exist! :) The housewife mafia was made up as a JOKE when everybody started whining about something that wasn’t real. The Battle of the Blogs is a fun thing for exchange of credits…credits that are worth not a whole heck of a lot really. I am a mommy…I am not a housewife. I blog about whatever tickles my fancy at the moment. for those that find it to be drivel..click away. It’s easy.
Angie: While I think it doesn’t exist in an ‘organized sense’, it is most definitely a sociological phenomenon. Yes, there isn’t a defined group that decided to go out and vote for their specific type of blog.
But the trend (and there IS a trend), for blogs that don’t really have anything unique or interesting to say to routinely beat blogs that do have those qualities is pretty suspect.
Seriously, I have nothing against anyone writing whatever tickles their fancy… but jesus people, you have a brain, USE IT! You only limit yourself when you buy into this cutesy, ‘everything is explained in anecdotes’ framework. So please, keep writing whatever you want… but as a fellow blogger, I urge you to try and do something different than the ’status quo’.
Or not… after all, this whole post originated from me being such a sore loser.
jj: Thanks, I guess that’s the one thing I do hope out of this whole thing, is if I’m at least being original. And I know exactly what you mean about who is participating in voting at the time. But I’m a lazy shmuck and hate to try and wait til I think I actually have a chance.
I am almost glad to lose. In all honesty, I usually accept challenges when I have something particularly foul on my site, to force people to look at it. Is that wrong? Oh well.
Wrong? Hell no… I love it.