Unlike a lot of bloggers, I'm not really too bothered about personal accolades for this blog, nice though they are. I didn't even bother putting a stats counter on the blog for the first six months of it's existence as I thought that this was pretty irrelevant to the message. Having said that, they are fascinating and regular readers will know that occasionally I write blogs about the things which interest me that I find. The whole purpose of this blog is to promote interest in what is happening in Barnet. That's why there is a link to all the blogs I know about in Barnet.
I see blogging as an integral part of the local scene. I always try and promote new blogs and respect anyone who does the same. One of the blogs in the sidebar is to Finchlinks. The bloke who runs this blog hates my guts, because I had the audacity to criticise him and won't return the compliment, but hey ho so what. He's doing his bit. I am pleased to announce a new blog in Barnet - Mr Mustard - Don't know who he is but he's a welcome addition to the community.
Anyway, I thought it worth mentioning (not least due to the deluge of emails & texts on the subject) that the Guardian have posted a blog about Barnet Council and it's stupidity on their Comment is Free section - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/11/democracy-bloggers-tweeters-councils - Dave Hill who wrote the article mentions me a few times which is nice. I think Dave is spot on with his analysis. I have noted (with a little despair if truth is told) that a few Barnet bloggers have taken exception to his choice of blogs to feature on his blogroll. I've not spoken to Dave about who he chooses or why but, as he's a friend of this blog, there are a few points I have to make.
1. Dave has 33 listed blogs on his blogroll. There are 2 from Barnet - Me and DCMD which are probably the best established right and left leaning blogs in Barnet (most certainly were when Dave picked us). As there are 33 London Boroughs, Barnet as a Borough is 50% overrepresented. Even more so when you consider that blogs such as London Reconnections, Mayorwatch, London Shopfronts and London Cyclist are not Borough specific Hyperlocal blogs. Some such as Londonist are written by multiple people and cover a multitude of subjects.
2. Dave has been criticised for not having enough blogs written by girls in Barnet. As Barnet blogs are clearly overrepresented already this seems a bit unfair on Dave. He has some excellent blogs with female authors, notably London Shopfronts Stanmore politics and the Bird in the Bush. I've not been through all the blogs but these are one's I've checked out in the past.
I guess that Dave has a thankless task picking blogs. I'd personally put all of the Barnet blogs in my list (as you can see).I think we all have a part to play. Some blogs have all sorts of things listing their "blog rankings". I know from my stats, this blog does extremely well as a hyperlocal blog. The fact we get tens of thousands of hits a month and it seemingly increases every month is enough for me. I'd hate people to read my blog because it was "highly ranked". Many people find it via Dave Hills link. I hope they like it and I hope they visit the other blogs in the sidebar. That is enough accolades for me.
The real issue is the fact that national news providers such as the Guardian recognise that the stupidity of Barnet Council is a big story. The fact my name appears is actually totally irrelevant.
I see blogging as an integral part of the local scene. I always try and promote new blogs and respect anyone who does the same. One of the blogs in the sidebar is to Finchlinks. The bloke who runs this blog hates my guts, because I had the audacity to criticise him and won't return the compliment, but hey ho so what. He's doing his bit. I am pleased to announce a new blog in Barnet - Mr Mustard - Don't know who he is but he's a welcome addition to the community.
Anyway, I thought it worth mentioning (not least due to the deluge of emails & texts on the subject) that the Guardian have posted a blog about Barnet Council and it's stupidity on their Comment is Free section - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/11/democracy-bloggers-tweeters-councils - Dave Hill who wrote the article mentions me a few times which is nice. I think Dave is spot on with his analysis. I have noted (with a little despair if truth is told) that a few Barnet bloggers have taken exception to his choice of blogs to feature on his blogroll. I've not spoken to Dave about who he chooses or why but, as he's a friend of this blog, there are a few points I have to make.
1. Dave has 33 listed blogs on his blogroll. There are 2 from Barnet - Me and DCMD which are probably the best established right and left leaning blogs in Barnet (most certainly were when Dave picked us). As there are 33 London Boroughs, Barnet as a Borough is 50% overrepresented. Even more so when you consider that blogs such as London Reconnections, Mayorwatch, London Shopfronts and London Cyclist are not Borough specific Hyperlocal blogs. Some such as Londonist are written by multiple people and cover a multitude of subjects.
2. Dave has been criticised for not having enough blogs written by girls in Barnet. As Barnet blogs are clearly overrepresented already this seems a bit unfair on Dave. He has some excellent blogs with female authors, notably London Shopfronts Stanmore politics and the Bird in the Bush. I've not been through all the blogs but these are one's I've checked out in the past.
I guess that Dave has a thankless task picking blogs. I'd personally put all of the Barnet blogs in my list (as you can see).I think we all have a part to play. Some blogs have all sorts of things listing their "blog rankings". I know from my stats, this blog does extremely well as a hyperlocal blog. The fact we get tens of thousands of hits a month and it seemingly increases every month is enough for me. I'd hate people to read my blog because it was "highly ranked". Many people find it via Dave Hills link. I hope they like it and I hope they visit the other blogs in the sidebar. That is enough accolades for me.
The real issue is the fact that national news providers such as the Guardian recognise that the stupidity of Barnet Council is a big story. The fact my name appears is actually totally irrelevant.
10 comments:
I don't think the problem with Dave Hill was that he didn't pick Barnet women's (not girls') blogs but that when he picked 10 political blogs, 96.66666% were by blokes.
P.S. I don't go on about it.
Move over lads and ladies, it appears that Twatman has his own blog; chalk one up for free speech and independent thought ho ho ho!
http://robertrams.wordpress.com/
You go for it Rambo, don't worry what the grown ups think!
Vicki,
Stanmore politics is written by a woman. Harrow has a 100% female representation. This blog isn't exclusively male, I've had some great guest posts from women.
As to links from here, if you look at the links here I've got you, Ainlivia, Mrs Angry, Heavenly Healer & MsMarmitelover which are all female written blogs as well as the Londonist which has a female editor.
Ny criteria, they are all interesting or relevant. I will put a link on somewhere to Ramsarse and at some point Mr Mustard when I get round to it.
I don't think you go on. I just thought the criticism of Dave was a bit off the mark. He's done a lot to promote blogging
No, sorry Rog: you're wrong - most of the blogs featured on that site are by blokes, and you may not see this as you are, er a bloke, but political blogging is dominated by an old style boys club attitude - blame Guido if you like. Dave Hill has even featured for months a male Barnet blogger on his list who was no longer blogging, rather than, say Vicki, who does so much to contribute and has had some great scoops. Why? It doesn't signify in the end: the blogging world is not filtered through the judgement of Dave Hill. I get picked up (blogwise) by allsorts of weird and wonderful links these days & don't give a monkeys, except that it is amusingly typical of an old school view of women and politics. No one is including you in this criticism, and I don't think such attitudes prevail in your mind at all. Welcome to Mr Mustard - and I know who he is but I'm not telling. And now I have to check out another new boy blogger, Mr Ramsbottom.
Mrs Angry,
I suspect that any omissions are due to the fact Dave doesn't spend as long poring over the minutae of barnet politics as we do.
Surely for balance he should have Mrs T's blog as his female Barnet representative. It's on the right and written by a girlie
If only the delightful Mrs T would blog more often, I might agree with you. But then getting your good lady wife on Mr Hill's blogroll would be a step too far, even for you boys' club
bloggers, I feel.
I've looked at Robert Rams bottom. It's an unsavoury experience. I think the best thing is if we look away and stare out of the window, and he might stop.
Rog,
This...
"One of the blogs in the sidebar is to Finchlinks. The bloke who runs this blog hates my guts, because I had the audacity to criticise him and won't return the compliment.."
... is just paranoid bollocks. I don't 'hate your guts' or anything like it. I'm critical of the 'attack blog' approach to local politics and used Barnet Eye as the obvious example (I live in the borough) in a wider blog-post about 'Hyperlocal' blogs in general.
Our exchanges that followed were, I thought, knockabout and filled with a few misunderstandings, but was nothing more than 'robust' by the blogosphere's standards.
As I think you know, I'm no fan / apologist / supporter of Barnet Council's political leadership. I just think that trusted conversational spaces are more important than partisan political point-scoring, that's all. There's not even a political bonus to it either, as - sadly - local elections tend to be largely decided on national issues and polling swings.
This is some distance from personal hatred, I think you'll agree? And yes, I demonstrated by pathological hatred of you very clearly by linking to you in the sidebar of Finchlinks ;-)
btw, I hope to put more effort into that shortly - been a bit busy lately.
Paulie,
You are quite correct to state that I've no idea whether you hate my guts or not. I trust you've come across the phrase "figure of speech". I used it to illustrate a point, given the fact that you've subjected this blog to harsh criticism, which started our conversation.
I quite liked the concept of Finchlinks and think it's a real wasted opportunity - and by that I just mean you've not developed it. I also think with things like the Library review & the Arts Depot funding, there is clearly issues to be discussed.
I don't regard this blog as "partisan point scoring". I regard it as a focal point for opposition to a completely useless council. I happen to believe it has made a difference and done something far more useful than you give it credit for.
The beauty of blogs is that there isn't a central authority licensing them. If like mine, lots of people enjoy them, that's great.
I believe people are capable of making their own minds up. I do suspect that you have a latent pathological hatred of my blog as you seem unable of writing anything about it without criticising it. Not paranoia, just an observation. To me that is a good thing as I'd prefer a negative reaction to no reaction at all.
BTW I think it's a shame that you haven't updated your links to include other Barnet blogs - Mrs Angry, Mr Reasonable etc. I can live without a link, but I think that it's a shame for your readers who might want to know a bit about the area
"I do suspect that you have a latent pathological hatred of my blog as you seem unable of writing anything about it without criticising it. "
There you go again! 'Pathological hatred' *facepalm*. I've only mentioned your blog - I think - once (outside of our exchanges that arose from that mention). It's not that I'm *against* what you're doing either - it's just I'm in favour of more of the hyperlocal sites that are being driven by the Talk About Local project and other such ventures.
http://talkaboutlocal.org.uk
I think they're a good thing as long as they are primarily there to foster a conversation rather than acheive *any* political outcome. Blogs that are strongly driven by any individual tend not to do that.
Finally, as I said, I've been busy with other things and I'm keen to get a few people working with me on Finchlinks (to avoid the 'single driver' problem) which is why I've not done as much as I intended to on the site - hoping to fix that soon. The absense of links to other sites is a simple ommission on my part - nothing else. I *do* have a link to yours in the 'seen elsewhere' section but I've not put one in the links (ommission - not snub) which I'll fix shortly. I'll look at those other sites and probably link to them as well.
Methinks you protest too much
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