Some of what’s out there in terms of consumer-generated content does, I agree, fit in with the stereotype forwarded by Robert Samuelson of being “exhibitionist” in nature. But like all such statements, it doesn’t apply to all members of a community. He conveniently ignores all the good journalism being done and valuable input being contributed by bloggers and others in favor of yet another story about how everyone thinks their life is just so interesting it has to be shared.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: These articles are all about scaring people away from taking blogs seriously. They’re motivated by a sense of self-preservation by mainstream journalists who see themselves being marginalized as people find voices that previously had no outlet due to the laws of limited production facilities. And these stories sound more and more desperate each time a new one comes out.