My sister commented a while back, apropos of my post on What Makes Sammy Run?, that bloggers may be self-selectedly low-Glick. Perhaps, but Glick is relative, and the blogosphereâ„¢ has its share of canny self-promoters, like anywhere else. Some examples? Glad you asked.
10. InstaPundit. Glenn Reynolds certainly deserves his traffic — well, most of it — well, some of it, anyway. Reynolds is always telling reporters who call him for a story on blogging that they shouldn’t write about him, they should write about all the bloggers on his roll instead, yet somehow they always wind up writing about him. Oops.
9. Howard Owens. I just can’t snark at a guy who auctioned an opinion on EBay, for $10.25. Sorry.
8. Arthur Silber. Arthur is the master of the strategic temper tantrum. He quits every three months or so, either out of Weltschmerz or desperate financial straits, waits for his readers to beg him to return, and reenters the fray a few days later — and by the way, don’t forget to click on that Paypal icon, over there on the top left. Can you call someone a drama queen if he’s gay?
7. Stephen Green. Green’s in it for love, not money. Leads the league in “I’ve got nothing to say because I’m closing on my new condo/my Internet’s out/I’m hung over” posts.
6. DailyPundit. It’s Death Race 2000, your mouse vs. the popup ads, when you hit Bill Quick’s site. Quick was the motive force behind the short-lived and unlamented subscription group blog, whose moniker I’ve already forgotten, promising “premium” content on the business model that worked so brilliantly for Salon. Yes, he coined the term “blogosphere.” Yes!
5. A Small Victory. Michele, one L, but two tits, which she doesn’t hesitate to use. Michele’s specialty is getting herself delinked, and then making enough of a stink about it that she gains ten new links for the one she just lost.
4. Hesiod “Theogeny”. A sort of bush-league Atrios who literally can’t spell his own name. Same m.o., less traffic.
3. The Agonist. “Thoughtful, global, timely” — one out of three ain’t bad. The guy sure posts a lot of war news, I’ll say that much. Where he finds time to suck up to all those reporters is anybody’s guess.
2. Pejman. I used to link to Pejman, because everybody links to Pejman. Then I began to wonder why I never read Pejman. It finally dawned on me that Pejman never has anything interesting to say. It’s neocon boilerplate, spiced with not-exactly-scintillating personal details and frequent forays into Bartlett’s. Starting from nothing, Pejman has become one of the most widely linked, if rarely read, blogs in the universe, parlaying the fact into a Tech Central Station gig to boot. Never has a blogger done so much with so little.
1. Atrios. Posts early, posts often, posts wrong, and never, never apologizes. Coyly remains anonymous to encourage rumors that he’s actually some sort of big-shot politico who needs to preserve his cover. Bloggers link Atrios mostly to mock him, but they link him. As I just did.
(Update: Number 3, the Agonist, cops to plagiarism, a tactic with which Glick himself was intimately familiar. Link, to be fair, courtesy of #10.)
C’mon Aaron, tell us what you really think. Maybe you will now make the top 10 list of bloggers seeking self-demotion. "Culling my readers" indeed!
Sadly, all of my self-promotion has had little effect.
Damn. That took guts. Assuming you meant it.
And if this is a ploy to stir up controversy and pick up some traffic, then smart, very smart.
Ahh, the sad and seamy underworld of linking politics makes its brief mention, before vanishing again into a diplomatic silence…
How circumspect the fearless blogging community suddenly becomes on this matter.
Bastard.
Hmm…now I wonder…how would we describe this particular brand of self-promotion that you have just engaged in? I rely on you, Aaron, to describe it to perfection.
And you’re still a bastard.
(And no smiley faces for you..but I am smiling myself, nonetheless.)
Oh, and by the way: you call someone a drama queen *especially* when they’re gay. And when the description fits.
Yes. Oh, yes, indeed. I am a drama queen. So glad you asked.
And you’re *still* a bastard.
Self-promotion? Moi? I don’t understand where you get some of these crazy ideas from, Arthur, really I don’t.
Um, since you made the list and all, you are going to link it, aren’t you?
You missed one. Andrew Sullivan: Hysterical and humourless. Also, he knows damn all about UK politics.
Next thing I know you’ll be telling me I missed the list by *that* much. Getting married as a blogger publicity stunt. Not bad, eh?
Getting married is a solid publicity move, I admit, but you can’t do it indefinitely, unless you’re Elizabeth Taylor.
Very funny list there, I was going to do something like this but didn’t get round to it. I think yours was a tad more diplomatic than mine would have been.
BTW, several people have accused Sasha and I of getting engaged just to get hits…although the marriage kind of killed that one for most.
Where is Hot Buttered Death, another blog famous for public de-linkings. The one who called me reactionary (a libertarian?) and a hater…then proceeded to imply Sasha was a moron for marrying me. He tried to weasel by saying "no offence" but…
Or how about Den Beste: wordy, obtuse and moronic at times (esp viz Apple) but people still try to be cool and say they like him.
Got to say some of your rankings are a bit off…but great post anyway.
Andrew: Thanks. I expected criticism for my list, but "too diplomatic" caught me unawares. James Russell is a worthy candidate, but if I had it to do over again I think I’d have to find room for the Rittenhouse Review.
I didn’t even know this list existed until today.
Had I known earlier, I would have thrown a dramatic hissy fit in order to drive traffic to my site.
Old news now.
But I can still show you my tits.
Nice to meet you too. My, your mother must have thought you were charming when you grew up.
And I assume as well that this is a ploy to pick up some traffic. If it is any consolation, perhaps it will work well with others. This fish ain’t bitin’, however.
Aww, don’t be that way. At least I spelled your name right. And isn’t all public writing a "ploy" to be read?
Actually, some of us write publicly because we feel we have something to say. I know that must sound revolutionary ’round these parts. But Aaron, if you are just Desperately Seeking Attention, I guess that must make you different. To each his own. But don’t project on the rest of us.
But yay, you spelled my name right. Congrats there, valedictorian. I guess "cut and paste" must be good for something, eh? Shall I award the cookie now, or later?
Anyhoo, sorry for crashing at the end of this namecalling rant, Aaron. I was led to believe that this was a serious blog for a while. Guess I was wrong, so I’ll just go back to my neocon (now there is an original label) Bartlett’s-quoting, no-one-actually-reads-me-despite-the-fact-that-my-hit-counter-strongly-suggests-otherwise corner of the universe. I’m sure you won’t miss me, and rest assured that the feeling is mutual.
I object (belatedly) to being described by Andrew Dodge as "famous for public delinkings". The only time I’ve made a fuss over delinking someone was Mr Dodge, and I didn’t mention I’d culled him and Sasha from my links until about a couple of months after I’d done so. In the interests of harmony I’ve since restored them to my links.
How come I am not mentioned? I mean, I am doing some real bad writing.