Pavlov’s Cat also has some interesting reflections on being a sociable blogger, and how addictive it can be. It’s well worth remembering that there is stuff to do other than correct people who are wrong on the internets. At a time when so many blogs are making the switch to the Crikey platform, and others are considering such a move (and that comments thread is worth a read), I think it’s important both to celebrate the independent blogosphere (not that I’m knocking the Crikey folks – quite the contrary) and blogging as an amateur practice in the best sense of the word – do it as long it’s fun and rewarding, and you’re writing about what you’re passionate about, not as a chore or because you think you’re on a mission to change the world. Remember that next time some concern troll or trollblogger denounces the whole show as falling short of the high standards the MSM sets for “balance and fact” or loudly condemns you for not blogging about this or that. The public sphere isn’t all uber serious rational deliberation (is it ever?) but a space for expression and enjoyment, or it should be.

Speaking of blogging, Rx advised in comments that Tim Dunlop’s commenting crew from the now sadly erstwhile Blogocracy have set themselves up in their own digs. That’s an interesting development, and it also goes to show one other important thing about the blogosphere – it’s the community that matters.

Elsewhere: Boynton.

Update: Lyn Calcutt at Public Opinion on the redistribution going on around the blogosphere.

I think what’s more significant here is a recognition from Crikey of a shift from a relatively static form of internet publishing to a more dynamic and interactive one. It’s a better model in some ways than cherry picking bloggers to write static articles, because it encompasses the whole context of the form.

There’s obviously also a commercial element in the decision – frequently updated sites with lively and long comments threads multiply the page views and thus the advertising revenue. And, as with the general trend towards blog networks, it should be possible for Possum and the rest of the mob to earn a modest living from what they do without all the hassles of being their own advertising agent, and to concentrate on the content and the community without being their own tech support. What will be interesting is the degree to which there’ll be a crossover from Crikey “readers” to Crikey blog participants/commenters.

What does this imply for the independent blogosphere? I doubt that there’s any dimunition in independence – having written extensively for Crikey in the past myself, writing for them is very different than writing for the MSM. Having said that, I do think there’s value in preserving a space for blogs which don’t affiliate with other media organisations, and it’s not the sort of move I’d ever want to see LP take. I personally am not averse – as everyone knows – to the occasional gig doing something I consider to be different from the sort of blogging that I do here at LP, but LP and I are not synonymous. I think there’s a lot in the ability to post on whatever, whenever, without any editorial guidelines from above, and to get silly and anarchic from time to time, and also from the continuing engagement with a very site specific community. Part of the fun of blogging – and this is where amateur has its own original meaning and carries that connotation – is teh lerve and also not taking it all too seriously too much of the time.

For my own part, then, I can only offer lavish congratulations to Possum, The Poll Bludger and Andrew Bartlett.

Elsewhere: Lyn Calcutt at Public Opinion.