yeah, it is, like, epidemic-y?
― scott seward, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 17:37 (eleven years ago) link
To the extent I have a writerly voice, it's definitely been heavily infected by DFW and Vollman and the median aesthetic of McSweeney's Quarterly Concern
― my god i only have 2 useless beyblade (silby), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 17:38 (eleven years ago) link
this thread is making me self conscious
― 30 percent off all gold everything at Trinidad James Avery (m bison), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 17:38 (eleven years ago) link
m bise ur voice is that of a carmine thai dictator
― 乒乓, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 17:39 (eleven years ago) link
i certainly mimic internetisms when i'm on ilx. when in rome and all that. but the blogification of just about everything in print is way annoying. or is it? i dunno. lol.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 17:40 (eleven years ago) link
lagoon have u ever considered that u are the origin of the faux-naif bloggy voice
― flopson, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 17:40 (eleven years ago) link
which era vollman and what do you see as the distinguishing characteristics? the more overt tics of his voice are such a high-wire style to pull off, i feel. although his more short, declarative, narrative stuff i think works pretty well and is easy to draw inspiration from...
― s.clover, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 17:42 (eleven years ago) link
idk that blog voice is any more annoying than the classic authoritative newsie woosie objectivism, kind just points to that a default voice is always gonna be kinda hacky, great writing will always transcend that but its asking alot for any newspaper piece or blog post to be great
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 17:43 (eleven years ago) link
― flopson, Wednesday, March 13, 2013 1:40 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
http://thelayzmen.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/billy-joel-we-didnt-start-the-7023-1233002619-0.jpg
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 17:44 (eleven years ago) link
THIS MY BLØG
― 乒乓, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 17:46 (eleven years ago) link
the mere fact that you are acutely aware of the origin of your style affectations is a sign that you are using/attempting to use the bloggy voice/a voice.
this reminds me of the proliferation of noise board (bored/borad) language that i could see spreading all over ilx when i first got here. it was weird, but kinda fun to watch from the sidelines. write like that now and you would seem pretty out of it, no?
i also like to define this voice by who doesn't use it and also who aspires to use it and, i dunno, kinda fails.
― and that sounds like a gong-concert (La Lechera), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 17:47 (eleven years ago) link
"And they act like because they use math, their “science” is more sciencey than sociology or whatever"
It should be fairly obvious that Pareene chose this tone because the column was discussing a study by economists of why more economists are not heads of state and he wished to convey the equivalent of a 15 year old saying "well, duh".
― Aimless, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 17:47 (eleven years ago) link
noise voice > bloggy voice, rip
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 17:48 (eleven years ago) link
t/s: faux-naif bloggy voice v. posting so friggan much and still having no discernible posting style or personality?
― 乒乓, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 17:49 (eleven years ago) link
"the mere fact that you are acutely aware of the origin of your style affectations is a sign that you are using/attempting to use the bloggy voice/a voice"
not a modern think afaik, and not a negative thing either?
anxiety of influence ahoy.
― s.clover, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 17:49 (eleven years ago) link
vollmann is not on the right track i don't think because lacks the practiced distance from the subject, lacks the aw shucks vibe when referencing academic shit, and he's a deeply sincere guy. (buyt in conversation he actually talks like some of the caricatures of bloggers in this thread).dfw is closer but probably not quite there.
eggers/mcsweeneys i think had a huge influence on this voice.
― dylannn, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 17:58 (eleven years ago) link
― 乒乓, Wednesday, March 13, 2013 1:49 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
occurs to me posting so friggin much and still having no discernible posting style or personality is kinda the voice of the tumblr literati tao lin et al, i think there was discussion of that around here somewhere
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 17:59 (eleven years ago) link
I don't really distinguish between typing on the internet and saying things out loud. typing feels more naturally really.
― C: (crüt), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:00 (eleven years ago) link
dfw is think is for sure an antecedent, he was obvs more passionate and rigorous than most of this stuff, but thats only natural
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:02 (eleven years ago) link
fair enough. but let's remove vollmann from the list, please.
anywayshttp://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=567821
this is the voice i think of when i read sterlsy's original post
― dylannn, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:03 (eleven years ago) link
<i>I know someone from the internet from Seattle and he likes the novel</i> The Moviegoer <i>by Walker Percy a lot. His name is Matthew. I argued with Matthew on the internet one time. I said</i> The Moviegoer <i>was melodramatic and did melodramatic things in regard to existential despair.</i>
― dylannn, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:04 (eleven years ago) link
i still think primarily of nabisco
― 乒乓, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:04 (eleven years ago) link
FUCK ....... but just look at that shit
to me nitsubisco is like elegantly brandishing his intellect
― dylannn, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:05 (eleven years ago) link
^ faux naif bloggy voice
― dylannn, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:07 (eleven years ago) link
a positive quality of bloggy voice is imho its critique of credentials and experts, its v much expressing the promised internet democratization, anyone can show up and be judged not by their position but by their argument, not that thats how it actually works irl obvs but it works more like that now than it used to
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:08 (eleven years ago) link
its very american in that sense
― 乒乓, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:10 (eleven years ago) link
just tossing in a 'like': cheating.
― Aimless, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:10 (eleven years ago) link
nabisco is maybe the missing link between dfw and bloggy voice
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:10 (eleven years ago) link
elect me dictator of ilx and i promise such gesturing will not be allowed, i will be the sole voice of authority on all things
― 乒乓, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:11 (eleven years ago) link
is the bloggy voice really responsible for the critique of credentials and experts?
― iatee, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:14 (eleven years ago) link
also lots of genuine experts go down this route, like paul krugman using lolcatz references or w/e
― iatee, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:15 (eleven years ago) link
well i guess you could say its more an expression than the cause
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:16 (eleven years ago) link
paul krugman is attempting to assimilate by using these tactics -- he's hardly the vanguard of bloggy voice
― and that sounds like a gong-concert (La Lechera), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:17 (eleven years ago) link
krugman is an expert but hes also for sure critical of credentialism, i mean hes got to deal w these hacks all day
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:18 (eleven years ago) link
im sure many actual experts welcome these developments w open arms
well ultimately it comes down to 'you don't need someone else's approval to get something published' which helps experts too, tho hurts them in other ways
― iatee, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:19 (eleven years ago) link
code-switching? ; )
― 乒乓, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:20 (eleven years ago) link
doy
― and that sounds like a gong-concert (La Lechera), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:21 (eleven years ago) link
I mean, I believe this to be the case, yes. (no doi)
also most of the internet is nothing like the blogs ilxors tend to read, I've been there and its a scary place, not a lot of bloggy voice even in the blogs
― iatee, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:22 (eleven years ago) link
so youve been to reddit
― 乒乓, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:23 (eleven years ago) link
feel liek w krugman it prob fits the way he sees himself/the world better than some authoritative bigshot tone does
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:24 (eleven years ago) link
― 乒乓, Wednesday, March 13, 2013 2:10 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
yeah i feel like there's a twain-quality in what some ppl are going for, even though the actual voice isn't very twain at all.
― s.clover, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:25 (eleven years ago) link
― Aimless, Wednesday, March 13, 2013 1:47 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
The problem I have with this tone in this case is that (1) I can't even entirely tell what level of irony it is and I'm not sure he can either (is he parroting this exceedingly skeptical statement because he fully agrees with it, or is his exaggeratedly childish tone supposed to convey some sketpicism about the skepticism as well? And if so, what does he actually think about economists?) and (2) if he's actually adopting the statement fully, it comes off as a little too easily dismissive in an unearned way -- young blogger reminds us that OF COURSE economics is all just a bunch of bullshit dressed up with fancy numbers, etc.
― space phwoar (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:25 (eleven years ago) link
well it is!
― 乒乓, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:27 (eleven years ago) link
i knew you guys wouldn't let me down. now i have more to read. i can't believe that old spy magazine faux-naif article isn't online. its a crime against humanity! way ahead of its time. think it also had the accompanying pictures of celebrities wearing geeky glasses.
i have no idea what my internet voice sounds like. maybe i don't want to know. or do i? i dunno. lol.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:30 (eleven years ago) link
it's a partially true hyperbole that makes a point, but it's not literally true
xp
― space phwoar (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:30 (eleven years ago) link
young blogger reminds us that OF COURSE economics is all just a bunch of bullshit dressed up with fancy numbers, etc.
― space phwoar (Hurting 2), Wednesday, March 13, 2013 2:25 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
this is in a way p accurate as economics biggest problem is the quality of their data, which they then dress up in fancy equations
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:32 (eleven years ago) link
reminder that economics is a social science ; )
― 乒乓, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 18:33 (eleven years ago) link