Metablog

I thought it my duty to check out a few other blogs, see how it's done. I'll keep looking — I plan to compile a short list of those I deem worthy of following regularly.

Thus far, I've noted three main types of blog:
1. The journal/confessional is by far the most common. Many of them are completely unintelligible — "in" jokes and running commentary intended for a tight circle of friends, or thoughts so random their only purpose could be self-expression, a purging of emotional and mental debris. This is in fact the sort of blog I thought Magnificent Octopus would be.
2. The wannabe journalist's column is best suited to the medium. Most bloggers aspire to this sort of blogdom and. When thoughtfully prepared, it uses to best advantage all the web has to offer: immediacy and hypertext! This is what Magnificent Octopus can be with a little focus.
3. The professional or celebrity diary provides insight into the creative process (as of published authors) or public life (tour schedules, living and working on the road). These can be fascinating, but to my mind are not real blogs — this material could be presented in other forms, and often is (websites, autobiographies, TV documentaries). Magnificent Octopus might settle down to this one day, but only after I have acquired the prerequisite level of fame.

Then there's blogs about blogs.

Of the garden-variety infotainment columns, many have currently been obsessing about the art of blogging, and the fine line between it and journalism. It seems there's been a slew of "serious" articles recently on this very topic.

"In just the past year, camera- and video-enabled cell phones and other mobile devices have changed how the news is reported by mainstream news outlets: Ordinary citizens are getting in the act, sending news photos to newspapers via their cell phones, sending video to TV stations and calling in reports from the scene long before the real reporters arrive."

Imagine. Top price to the "journalist" with a "direct feed" to the action, sometimes deadly. The ultimate in thrill entertainment.