another aussie blogher bites the blog

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Originally uploaded by redbarren

It's been a long, in a really good way, 48 hours with 2 nights of sleep (+football with 86K other people, fun interludes in between 4c degree weather, all compressed) equalling only one night's worth of zzz with myself2blame 5am + 6am starts. I wont even get into the 7am Sandringham steps with SAS inspired operatives training this morning, what was i thinking, oh thats right, I run on a treadmill, so therefore I can do 1000 steps sprints. Not. Lungs. Quads. Hurting.

My sleep deprived mind in such conditions will mix metaphors with the best of em hence the title of this blog post; another aussie blogher bites the blog. First it was reasonsyouwillhateme.com, now its muchadoaboutsumthin.blogspot.com! But its actually a worrying 2008 trend in Australia* as my top 2 favourite Aussie female bloggers, and heck let's take the gender out of it and say 2 of my most visited Aussie blogs are no more or on life support systems with the hosting companies being paid to keep the life support on, but there is no life behind the eyes, and no words being utterz'd other than "it's time to graciously step aside and take an indefinite rest from the site." + "I know I said I was going to blog till I hit 500 posts, but I just don't have it in me. Everything has a shelf life, even us, and it's time this blog was put to bed."

Firstly it was MsFits as those blog readers know JJJ breakfast host Marieke Hardy whose blog archive u can spend a night on at reasonsyouwillhateme.com. Fits has been internet famous for a suite of youtubeable small culture from writing on the male sexandthecity Last Man Standing, wearing delectable stockings on ABC bookclub, but what I will miss is her Friday Q+A on her blog.

Friday Q+A would publish and answer any reader question. I'd constantly press refresh Friday afternoon on many a sunsetting Friday eve walk on Aspendale to Mordialloc pier : spent snickering and enjoying the syntax lessons, relationship advice and general blog author/reader banter. But RYWHM as it was acronymd got boned by Fits coz it didn't measure up to the other mediums; Writing "The" Great Australian Novel; Getting funding to write or being talent for a new TV Show; Or the joy of getting up at 4am each weekday to fill the lucrative 6-9am breakfast morning shift. As Fits said "I feel that the present model has probably run its course and it's time for me to focus my writing elsewhere."

Fits is missed; The suckage of Friday afternoons has returned. (Ok well friday afternoons r pretty good but yknow what I mean, I hope.... well act as if u do)

Steph's muchadoaboutsumthin blog could be classified as similar : Mid 20 vs early 30something, female, urban blogging about relationships, their friends or 'tards as steph called em, and other stuff that go into focus group marketing. But muchado was/is more Devil Meets Prada in Sydney (not Fits' update on Dogs in Space, but set in Fitzroy not St Kilda, and less drugs even if her blogs final act was the protagonist moving to Sydney with her budding rockstar ging')

It was a blonde vs brunette thing but both full of electrifying lol did she just say that out loud + press publish, insights. Muchado was the blonde model with a brain, using a kath and kim bogan voice for kicks to parody the blonde ditsiness stereotypes.

Steph would write a post about wardrobe malfunctions and have 80 blog comments by time u had seen the entry in google reader. Writing under a pseudonym allowed her to be extremely truthful to hilarious effect. It could be serious + cathartic too though, such as a raw entry on physical abuse and its long lasting consequences. Geez did steph (or whatever her name is:) break down that whole blonde thing.

It can be argued that the death/life support status of RYWHM + MuchAdo is part of the "Is Blogging Dead/Dying?" Meme which is popular amongst early adopters. Or a corollary to the growth of microblogging and social networks like facebookntwitter. Why blog when you have the new thing?

Why blog though when you can have the old thing? Moolah. For Radio. TV. Print Publishing : As Fits does. Or working in PR/Marketing like the real Steph; While people in offices will love to attend on their bosses dime a 2day conference on new media models. And secretly opine to turn their 2nd bedroom/study into an office (hey its a tax writeoff yeh) what they miss is the economic incentives for the blogger, video creator to create consumable content. They dont understand the lack of suppliers that can help the Fits + Stephs make money from their works. Want to know what the future of media is ? Allowing people as Adam Curry enshrined in podshow to quit their day jobs. But the work is in enabling and making this happen. And at the moment it's not. So the blog economy in Australia does not yet work. The economics are broken. The reality is Steph + Fits weren't getting paid a dollar a word for their gems. So why do it ?

Sure they can send a facebook status update and not expect to be paid, but the media portion of their output lacked and largely still lacks in the foreseeable future on this side of the world, the ability to monetise their unique creations; Sure they could put google adsense code on their sites + receive a quarterly cheque for $800 from google; Or do as fits friends Jess McGuire + Clem Bastow did and write for licensed blog publications like Defamer.com.au - But they can make more money from their works in other mediums.

Which is a pity because they both are naturals and makes sense as part of their personal convergent 2.0 portfolios. And it makes sense for the brands out there briefing their agencies to reach inner city, working low media consuming, high influence genXYnboomer females, couples and singles! So the brands also lack a connection point.

It's an inefficient media market. Church and state structures between editorial/programming and advertising, as well as the lines between newspapers, mags, blogs, tv and radio are blurring - we've heard it a million times. But in inefficiency you lose things such as Fits and Steph. But like a John Farnham tour promoted by Glenn Wheatley, these things do have a habit of returning, hopefully. As Sting stung - If you love something, set it free....

Set them free
You can't control an independent heart
Can't tear the one you love apart
Forever conditioned to believe that we can't live
We can't live here and be happy with less
So many riches
So many souls
With everything we see that we want to possess

* The best of Australia's female bloggers, um no longer blogging, is obvs very close to my breast, um chest, but much more important is @fidebendall who very craftfully emailed me, joined twitter - follow her, and appealed to my my fundamental and unassailable right to possess arms, oops thats lack of sleep talking again, right to connect to the internet. and a damn fast one at that. and that our fellow man, and womyn of course, women too, anyway fi's doin important things with uncensor.com.au - which u should check out. fi's helpn amnesty international. And they're blogging, twittering, because in 4 days, on July 30th : It's Internet Censorship Day of Protest. See the badge on right of my blog. their blurb is "we will demonstrate our solidarity with netizens in China and strengthen our call on major internet companies to uphold human rights through ‘occupying’ as many online spaces as possible." grok it. public announcement over. back to blog gender reassignment surgery and five jagerbombs and a 3 day goat.