Cowboy Caleb the liberal arts, grown-up stuff & random mischief

We Are Bloggers, Our Name Is Legion

“But, seeing Jesus at a distance, he ran and fell down before him, and exclaiming with a loud voice, said, What hast thou to do with me, O Jesus, Son of God the Most High? I conjure thee by God, torment me not! For he said unto him, Vicious spirit, from the man begone! And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion, for we are many.

The Singapore blogosphere is unique. The fact that we have mature (in body and mind) leaders like MrBrown leading the charge and prescibing common sense has really helped. Also, the lack of real social problems like corruption or crime has also led to a more moderate voice being shaped. One interesting feature is that we don’t compete for traffic here. Each of the major bloggers cover their own respective areas and have their own audience. I have always covered the more matured aspect of the web, and therefore my readers are usually older adults who can relate to my writing.

Now we have reached critical mass, and are forming collectives. Tomorrow.sg is the best example of a collaborative effort of several bloggers who neither need the exposure, have no reason to work for free and have no veto power over individual decisions. Far from being an exclusive club, Tomorrow is the natural evolution of seasoned bloggers’ need to increase exposure for new and known blogs that may never reach the mainstream without proper word of mouth.

Sometimes I worry about the state of blogging. The recent PSC scholar who blogged his immature racist thoughts resulted in a lynch mob being formed by angry bloggers. And then another blogger got sued for making remarks which were deemed to be offensive, which resulted in another blogger getting sued after he made some comments on the situation. All of this, all in the same month.

Our blogs are being taken seriously now. Our blogs are being watched. Bloggers, thy name is Legion. They would cast us out if they could because we cannot be controled. We can make or break a person, business or idea if we choose to do so. And most of the time we are doing this, even if we’re not aware of what we’re doing.

Here’s an quick overview. My readership now stands at around 6000-10,000 unique pageviews per day and 160,000 page views per month. Or around 400,000 hits per month, whichever you prefer. A far cry from when I first began blogging 3 years ago and had like maybe 10 pageviews a day. But traffic didnt matter to me then and it doesnt matter to me now.

What matters to me (previously mentioned in this post) is that I blog what’s on my mind in a mature way, and if I choose to go on the offensive then I had better understand the consequences. Being Cowboy Caleb, which I’ve been consistently doing is much more important then traffic. I blog for me and nobody else. I just know you understand what I’m saying here because a blog is a very personal thing.

However, if you go ahead and write something insensitive that upsets everybody, you’re going to give the rest of us a bad name. The people who do not blog, see us as a gang. What you do, instantly impacts the rest of us. Some bloggers who got burnt lately got no sympathy from me because I felt if you’re going to play with fire, then you had better prepare to get burnt. Worst yet, I begin to see a pattern emerging where people post offensive articles in order to get traffic. I deem this the worst blog-crime EVAR and if you are guilty of it then all your credibility is gone instantly.

Remember, most people cannot see the forest from the trees.

We are many, our name is Legion.

Your blog is more popular than Xiaxue?! And you don’t even put nearly-can-see-your-panties pics on your blog!

Which is a good thing… there’s way more interesting stuff here. And yes, people do see bloggers as a “gang”, so everyone better set a good example har! :P

xiaxue does about 20-30k per day, and like I said there is no competition because we cater to different audiences.

True true, when I put up stuff on my blog that’s NSFW, my hits go up. When I put up articles worthy of serious consideration, the hits tend to be less, but the comments are much smarter. :)

“I blog for me and nobody else.”

~You’ve come a long way, young master. From defying the odds to being a gonzo.

Yep I have learnt from experience that it’s no good badmouthing people on the Internet, especially here in teeny-tiny S’pore. It’ll come back and bite you in the ass at some point. That’s why I stick to such ‘infantile’ subjects as fashion and food. :D

I don’t think she does so many from her stats.

I’m so proud of you *tear*

I disagree with the part about ur blog is for mature reader.

I not very old hor, and I am your die-hard fan.

The nature of the internet , and the beauty of it, is the ANARCHY.

I’m not saying restrain is not needed but people should be given total freedom. If they fall, they face the consequence.

There will always be people who DON’T WANT to see the forest from the trees. We call them bigots.

I am not even your fan, but i just think u are so much better than xiaxue.

Blogging is Serious Stuff.

Cowboy Caleb speaks much truth about blogging in Singapore.

Our blogs are being taken seriously now. Our blogs are being watched. Bloggers, thy name is Legion. They would cast us out if they could because we cannot be controled. We can make or break a

*sob* This is such a great post. You should be up on the national day rally.

“Worst yet, I begin to see a pattern emerging where people post offensive articles in order to get traffic. I deem this the worst blog-crime EVAR and if you are guilty of it then all your credibility is gone instantly.”

Why? You realise this is in total contradiction to your previous comment that:

“a blog is a very personal thing.”

Which, again, is totally at odds with the request for collective responsibility because:

“you’re going to give the rest of us a bad name.”

If I chose to post something, and it -happens- to irritate someone, I will bear the consequences of my actions. Lets be very clear about this, you are absolutely right, there is no absolute privacy in the internet sphere, and you must take responsibility for what you post.

However: any corollary effect upon the rest of the Singaporean bloggers should be irrelevant, because my blog is MY personal domain for MY expressions of free speech. It is, after all, MY blog.

You do realise that you are, in effect, suggesting that each blogger (if they are / regarded as Singaporean) must take special care not to break any boundaries? To practise the most deplorable form of self-censorship?

The immaturity of the “non-bloggers” should affect you not at all.

I say to every “singaporean” blogger reading this:

Go forth and be as biased, as provocative as you want to be. Feel free to spew whatever rhetoric you please. It is your perogative, your blog is your space on the internet, do not let anyone else dictate what you may or may not say.

Just be sure that you are prepared to take personal responsibility for everything you say; because there is no anoymity, especially on the internet.

gack. sorry about the spelling errors ;)

There’ll always be someone trying to rebel against what someone else says.

Love it!

And then another blogger got sued for making remarks which were deemed to be offensive, which resulted in another blogger getting sued after he made some comments on the situation

Convexset wasn’t sued, nor it seems he had been threatened with it.

We don’t know for what comments or post was litigation commenced for (or had it commenced) in Acidflask’s case.

Edan makes some insightful comments. What’s that quote? ‘I may disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.’

Say what you like on your blogs, oh Singaporean Bloggers. But beware: Explosive comments may raise hits, but people’s perception of you will fall. And eventually, no one will pay attention to you at all. Just ask Joe McCerthy.

A Sad Day for the Singapore Blogosphere

Nevertheless it does move…

I am very amused.

It seems that there is very much a (blogging) community that is becoming more recognized, whether good or bad.

A community.

Living here in the States, I know so many people who keep blogs and journals, but there isn’t really any sense of a *community* as there is in Singapore.

I suppose ’cause Singapore’s small too.

But that is why I am amused: A community in the making.

[…] « New Tagboard! To Fucking Up The Mainstream From Cowboy Caleb Now we have reached critical m […]

xiaxue does about 20-30k per day, and like I said there is no competition because we cater to different audiences.

You don’t want to know what came to my mind…

Johnny Malkavian: I know.

Cowboy Caleb: Rock on, man. Even if you’re not getting any money from this.

Wah. So many hits ah.

Actually I think with the formation of a community, Singaporean blogs have lost their innocence and maybe even some of their charm.

I think I shall write something on this.

[…] ad who annoyed Miyagi so much he actually said something too. I thought I had already said what was on my mind regarding this […]

“Go forth and be as biased, as provocative as you want to be.” you say. “but be prepared to take personal responsibility”

That’s like telling us to shoot our mouth off and then face the possiblities of getting sued or other legal actions that might be taken against us.

I think I’ll prefer to keep my more controversial views to myself, thank you very much. He who runs away lives to fight another day. or something.

Reviewing the Singapore Blogosphere

…Managing expectations…

A special post by Dr Ang Peng Hwa, Dean of the School of Communication and Information has been added to the SIRC blog (http://www.sirc.blogspot.com/) to provide a legal perspective on blogging and defamation.