Origins of the faux-naif bloggy voice?

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
Not all messages are displayed: show all messages (384 of them)

sorry, that was just a little comic relief. doesn't really belong here. stuff from that mag i was talking about. i'm so sick of superheroes. and vampires. probably will always love zombies despite the overload.

scott seward, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 20:42 (eleven years ago) link

there is a singlemindedness to mod pop cult discourse and it just seems so samey and zeitgeist-y to the max.

yes

christmas candy bar (al leong), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 20:45 (eleven years ago) link

I read that as "to max"

space phwoar (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 20:50 (eleven years ago) link

pop cult journal doesn't mess around:

Essays should range between fifteen and twenty-five pages of double-spaced text in 12 pt Times New Roman font, including all images, endnotes, and Works Cited pages. Please note that the fifteen page minimum should be fifteen pages of written article material. Less than fifteen pages of written material will be rejected and the author asked to develop the article further. Essays should also be written in clear US English in the active voice and third person, in a style accessible to the broadest possible audience. Authors should be sensitive to the social implications of language and choose wording free of discriminatory or sexist overtones.

scott seward, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 20:57 (eleven years ago) link

what do people think distinguishes the ladyblog voice in particular?

s.clover, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 20:59 (eleven years ago) link

outrage?

Mordy, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 21:00 (eleven years ago) link

bombeckian bombast?

scott seward, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 21:00 (eleven years ago) link

CAPITAL LETTERS REFLECTING EMOTIONAL RESONANCE RATHER THAN EXTREME ~EMOTING~.

your fretless ways (Eazy), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 21:02 (eleven years ago) link

RETICENCE, I MEAN, OF COURSE. :/

your fretless ways (Eazy), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 21:03 (eleven years ago) link

plus a smidge of Sally Forth-like whatareyagonnadoamirite?

http://thebrightblush.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/photo-30.jpg

scott seward, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 21:03 (eleven years ago) link

who is that? WS, but in more of a would-curl-up-and-watch-a-movie-with way.

space phwoar (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 21:21 (eleven years ago) link

wow, this thread sure took a turn

and that sounds like a gong-concert (La Lechera), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 21:21 (eleven years ago) link

^^ a man about to give us A Frank Appraisal.

Aimless, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 21:26 (eleven years ago) link

turned into a sausage fest in here

Lucky Money BUddha (Matt P), Wednesday, 13 March 2013 22:20 (eleven years ago) link

Sterling you do realize that all three examples you linked at 1:25 were written by people who work/worked at Gawker, right?

maura, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 22:28 (eleven years ago) link

Oh OK Max already pointed out that Choire is the source. Carry on.

maura, Wednesday, 13 March 2013 22:33 (eleven years ago) link

i figured gawker was a key part of the nexus (i mean lots and lots of current bloggy things are tied to the ex-gawker diaspora), but didn't read it/pay attention at all in the whole formative period, so good to know that there's an actual person this goes back to. although i would like to think back all the earlier little mag on the web experiments and think which generation of those writers probably had an influence here (suck had a difft voice, but maybe some _parts_ of suck presaged this?)

s.clover, Thursday, 14 March 2013 02:35 (eleven years ago) link

I think there's a strong anxiety element to the whole thing - an underlying fear, maybe subconscious in some cases, of seeming dull, not with it, overly self-serious, a relic of the print era, etc. if you don't at least make a nod to that style.

space phwoar (Hurting 2), Thursday, 14 March 2013 17:02 (eleven years ago) link

that's the power of the in crowd
that's why i am interested in late adopters and bloggy voice teetotalers

and that sounds like a gong-concert (La Lechera), Thursday, 14 March 2013 17:03 (eleven years ago) link

is lindy west a good exemplar of the ladyblog voice? http://jezebel.com/people/lindywest

s.clover, Thursday, 14 March 2013 17:32 (eleven years ago) link

maybe. i find her writing distractingly cluttered with jokes and references that cloud her (often very good) points. if that's what you mean, then yes.

and that sounds like a gong-concert (La Lechera), Thursday, 14 March 2013 17:38 (eleven years ago) link

i read her pope thing. its like if musto and taibbi had a sassy bloggy baby. i think people like stuff like that though. they must. there is a lot of it. half gossip column + half fuck you.

scott seward, Thursday, 14 March 2013 18:07 (eleven years ago) link

I enjoy it in small doses, at least in the hands of someone who can pull it off, like Sady Doyle. Otherwise, it seems like a bad pastiche. All the stylistic boxes are ticked, but it falls flat, like reading anyone's attempt to mimic, say, PG Wodehouse or Hunter Thompson etc.

blatherskite, Friday, 15 March 2013 04:10 (eleven years ago) link

hi

buzza, Friday, 15 March 2013 06:16 (eleven years ago) link

This is all really interesting but I don't think I know what blog / voice is / was actually meant!

With DFW the big tendency was I think to mix in a lot of technicality and grammatical precision with a lot of informality at the same time. I think other US writers do this also. But I don't think this is naif ... ?

the pinefox, Friday, 15 March 2013 13:03 (eleven years ago) link

four months pass...

i have no idea where to put this but holy shit is this the most annoying email or what
it makes me never want to order from grubhub again

We Miss You.
Like the Deserts Miss the Rain.
Oh, hey. So this is awkward. How you been? Us? Doing great. Things are really looking up. One day at a time. Deep breaths.

Just one thing: Please come back. Since you left, we're all numb. John Mayer is deep. Nicholas Sparks is moving. And who knows how the hell all these cats got in?

Let's Work It Out. And Order Some Dinner.

But hey, if you're really gone for good, help us get a little closure. Why'd you give up on us when there were so many good times still ahead?

1. I moved away. And this long-distance delivery just isn't feasible.
2. I met someone new. They'd deliver the sun, the moon and the stars if I asked.
3. Our relationship grew too expensive for my taste. Were you ever going to treat me?
4. You screwed up a lot. I'm through giving you second chances.
5. Our relationship wasn't healthy. You made it so easy to order so many things.
6. We're just taking a break. You're still my one and only.
7. I haven't quit you. I just renewed my vows with a different account.

And that's it. Please come back.

Hasta Luego,
GrubHub

free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Sunday, 11 August 2013 20:57 (ten years ago) link

ugh
esp this

Let's Work It Out. And Order Some Dinner.

free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Sunday, 11 August 2013 20:58 (ten years ago) link

actually all of it is the worst
the whole thing
worse than groupon

free your spirit pig (La Lechera), Sunday, 11 August 2013 20:59 (ten years ago) link

^^ reads like a haiku

In the airplane over the .CSS (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 11 August 2013 21:45 (ten years ago) link

still insane to me that this thread went 200 posts before anyone mentioned Choire Sicha

max, Sunday, 11 August 2013 22:10 (ten years ago) link

did you read his book max

lag∞n, Sunday, 11 August 2013 22:22 (ten years ago) link

haha I posted about grubhub over here:

Sarahel's Semiotics 4U

see also: the Innocent Smoothies Aesthetic thread

not some dude poking a Line 6 pedal with his dick (sarahell), Sunday, 11 August 2013 22:31 (ten years ago) link

yes

max, Sunday, 11 August 2013 22:31 (ten years ago) link

well

lag∞n, Sunday, 11 August 2013 22:55 (ten years ago) link

i liked it

max, Monday, 12 August 2013 00:53 (ten years ago) link

cool

lag∞n, Monday, 12 August 2013 01:21 (ten years ago) link

three months pass...

http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/columns/intelligencer/n_9825

lag∞n, Friday, 22 November 2013 18:51 (ten years ago) link

preachin' to the Choire

eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Friday, 22 November 2013 18:55 (ten years ago) link

pronounced choir situation

lag∞n, Friday, 22 November 2013 18:57 (ten years ago) link

i hate that use of "because"

christmas candy bar (al leong), Friday, 22 November 2013 18:58 (ten years ago) link

i only like it to watch the spread of adoption

sweat pea (La Lechera), Friday, 22 November 2013 19:03 (ten years ago) link

its the worst of thing thats kinda funny as a joke until it becomes a convention then its just dumb and useless and not funny

lag∞n, Friday, 22 November 2013 19:09 (ten years ago) link

except i guess it could help on twitter because character limit

lag∞n, Friday, 22 November 2013 19:09 (ten years ago) link

hmm i wrote worst when i meant kind interesting because freudian xp

lag∞n, Friday, 22 November 2013 19:10 (ten years ago) link

The article is correct in that the new form of 'because' has become widely used and recognized, but it remains to be seen if it has any staying power.

Aimless, Friday, 22 November 2013 19:12 (ten years ago) link

it's insidery shorthand because people like to be part of a crowd that is so in that they use their own shorthand
reading old noise board threads is good for this too, if i'm being honest

sweat pea (La Lechera), Friday, 22 November 2013 19:13 (ten years ago) link


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.