Blogger is not a bad word. Don't let journalists convince you otherwise.

Last night I went to this event for local bloggers called Swagapalooza. It was specifically for bloggers. I introduced myself to a guy in a blazer while my friend Brock ran to get more taquitos. We exchanged names, I sipped my vodka and soda and asked, "Are you a blogger?"

His reply? "For lack of a better word."

Immediately, this guy made my shit list with a bullet.

"Actually, I am a journalist," he said with a straight face.

"Journalists can be bloggers and bloggers can be journalists," I told him, instead of punching him in the mouth.

"Not really," he countered. "You see, journalists report facts, and bloggers write opinion."

I sipped again my vodka and soda.

"Plenty of bloggers report without adding opinion, and film critics and columnists--journalists--write mainly opinion," I countered.

Soon after, Brock returned, and I told him about my conversation.

"Now I'm pissed," he said.

Brock is a professional blogger who excels at both reporting and opinion. He and other people who blog as a career have every reason to be pissed.

Blogger is not a bad word. Don't let journalists convince you otherwise.

Comments

[generic]

These fools confuse form with function and I'm getting tired of their thickness.

[Michael Procopio]

And we shouldn't let ourselves convince us otherwise, either.

I've had issues with the word-- not so much because of what I do or who I am, but because the word is awkward and reminds me of the French "blaguer", which is pronounced essentially the same way as "blogger" and means, roughly, "to joke". And that's part of the problem-- people not taking bloggers seriously.

But the word is here to stay.

I don't much care for what that guy said either. I think he sounds like a smug jerk (total b.s. about journalism v. blogging), but I might have to agree with his use of "for lack of a better word."

[brittney]

I hear you. I initially hated the word. I even hated the word blog at first. I called them weblogs instead FOREVER. (A word I still think should never have been shortened.)

But, what you said about it staying is the most important part. At this stage in the game, it isn't going anywhere. And the disdain people have for the word in this day and age is more likely attributed to the characterization of bloggers by established media writers.

[Matt Baume Mattymatt]

Ugh, self-hating bloggers are the worst of any self-hater.

It's like, dude, if you hate being a blogger so much, STOP WRITING A FUCKING BLOG.