This Blog Is Full Of Crap

The subject line is what I wrote in response to a request by the Chronicle's web producer asking me to join a collective of catblogging that they're putting together.

Apparently, my name keeps coming up in conversations regarding catblogging. So, I suppose that means people will either be coming here for my thoughts on this new venture or they'll link to these thoughts when I post them.

My reason for dropping Catcall is the same as my reason for not wanting to join this collective.

Dwight,

I've read through your comment on Mary Sit's taxpayer-subsidized salary carefully and decided that you're right about one thing: the amount a blogger is paid for their blogging and/or public relations pieces posing as blogging impacts how much other bloggers can command for their labor.

So I went through my blogging time budget and found that there was only one weblog that wasn't netting me anything but inflated Technorati rankings, a trickle of traffic, and the occasional reader: Catcall.

By ceasing my presence on that weblog, I will be helping the private sector see that blogging has value and content and/or opinion-attractors aren't free.

Thank you for the opportunity to blog there and helping me finally realize how terribly rude of me it's been to be giving away that content for free.

What a fool I've been, but I'm glad that you've opened my eyes to this horrible mistake. Thank you, friend.

I only hope that the blogging community can forgive me for contributing to the depression of blog content's true value.

It's been over a year. What did standing on my principles get me?

I can look at myself in a mirror for a really long time without vomiting or wanting to punch the mirror.

Can you?

I strongly urge any blogger thinking of joining this collective that the Chronicle is working on assembling to decline the invitation and instead lend their support the current caretaker of Carnival of the Cats: Mom Robyn and ML.

You know, I'm glad that my name keeps coming up when folks from the media gets interested in catblogging.

Maybe I can make a little bit of difference, keeping independent catbloggers independent of their exploitation.