The theory behind the blogulator is this: I was wishing for a ruthlessly efficient way to grade political/cultural blogs, such that no link to a no-'count writer would be followed, and the discovery of worthwhile new poli/culti blogs would be facilitated. As Fleck put it, a way to sort out the adults from the feces-flingers, site unseen. I have noted that good blogs, no matter which way they swing, share a "tone" that contrasts with the distinct tones of both stupid-left and stupid-right blogs. It is not at all a matter of the worthwhile blogs being always moderate, calm, all sweetness and light, and lacking in strongly expressed opinion. Rather, it strikes me this way: the less worthwhile a lefty blog is, the more it takes on a recognizable tone of foot-stamping shrill petulance; the vapid righty blog will tend more and more to blustering thuggishness. (My hat is off to those geniuses who contrive to be shrilly thuggish and blusteringly petulant all at once. I can think of one or two I've come across in the past that fulfill those criteria; send me any examples you can think of, if you will, just for my amusement.) Sadly, they don't all start out that way. Over the last couple of years I've removed one or two from bookmarks and blogroll: "funny, I don't remember this site being so heavy on upper case letters and voodoo curses...")
So, my mission is first to demonstrate that the above perception accurately reflects reality, and then to find some means of detecting tone via keyword, content, whatever. There may be a matter of filtering the non-partisan annoyances, such as the scat of the righteous earnest who believe with all their innocent hearts that people disagree with or criticize them only because people have missed their point (which they, with fingers firmly in ears, will reiterate for those hapless people interminably). I suspect a well-constructed Tone Master would root them out too, though.
...the meandering above constitutes what they call "displacement activity"; that is, it is an indication that I have many dull duties to which I should be attending. First, more coffee. Now, where did I put that Cabela's catalogue? Ooooh, silk long johns...oooh, expensive beautiful gore-tex hiking boots that I have no earthly need for this year...ooooh, camo nighties....Camo nighties? OK, that's it. Back to work.
Interesting idea. Like a Slashdot rating system for the blogroll? Not sure it would work: too many modes in the distribution of political opinions. Maybe it's worth trying and seeing what happens.
Posted by: Jonathan on November 12, 2003
"Geniuses who contrive to be shrilly thuggish and blusteringly petulant all at once" are more likely to be found on usenet.
Posted by: Joseph Hertzlinger on November 16, 2003
Mmm. Then what to be done about those who are thought thuggish merely by people who themselves simply get shrill about one or two topics? Richard Bennett makes people very angry now and then when certain hotbuttons come up, but not all that often. Certain other bloggers get very angry at certain topics, but are otherwise quite moderate. And we all have bad times now and then. Then of course there is the always-ugly "mass delinking" phenomenon where a once-popular blogger says something that makes one person angry, and results in the "I used to like this person but I don't anymore because she said X and I'll never read her again!" and a chorus of "me toos!" comes cascading out of otherwise-sensible people.
Seems like it'd take an awfully sophisticated algorithm to me. ;-)
Posted by: Dean Esmay on November 16, 2003
Joseph - right you are. But I think there's a case to be made for the Usenetification of the blogosphere. Probably an inevitable consequence of size.
Dean - what about 'em? The mighty blogulator will chew though whole blogs and rate overall content. Of course there are people who are perfectly nice and reasonable, but not particularly intelligent or interesting. We're on our own for winnowing those for the time being.
Bennett has curry recipes. That always gets an asshole a free pass.
Thanks for reminding me to tell the blogulator to reject any blogger who vulgarly indulges in loud, puerile public de-linking. Thy blogroll is between thee and thy god, citizen.
Posted by: Moira on November 16, 2003
"Bennett has curry recipes. That always gets an asshole a free pass."
. . . trying . .. very hard . . .not ... . .to. . . . .comment.. .
Posted by: Jonathan on November 17, 2003
Fascinating concept - I would like to see the algorithm for this, once you get it sketched out.
Posted by: King of Fools on November 21, 2003
Why automate what can be done, in a reasonably effective way, by humans? A blog could be set up with a small, select panel of judges consisting of both right and left leaning bloggers.
They could take recommendations through email, check the sites out, and post them as a permanent "reference blog." If the tone of one of the recommended blogs began to change they could be "downgraded" or removed entirely from the list.
I'd be interested in helping to set up such a blog if there are any takers...
Posted by: J.P. Carter on November 21, 2003
YOU DO NOT MOCK GEDE LEGBA, SKINNY WHITE GIRL! IT SHAKE THE GRIS GRIS, PUT DE PEPPER IN DE RUM, SPIT DE FIRE, BARON SAMADAE COME! DAMBALLA STRIKE YOU, ERZULI DRY YOU BELOW, YOU SPEAK BAD OF DE LOA, INTO DE DARK YOU GO! AIEEEE!
The elegant odure of vibrant and vituperative voodoo vitriol is apparently wasted on some people.
dammit.
Posted by: John Iceknife on January 13, 2004