Comments on: Help! I’m an elite blogger in a dark room

By: Rishi

Rishi — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:04:06 +0000

@Patrix: Hmm...you're right. I've never actually written anything this serious ever online :) Just that the steady stream of bloggers pouring in to defend the pride of India Bloggers-cum-Social Crusaders, as it were. VS is not dissing anyone for their choices. If at all, he's criticizing us bloggers for thinking that we actually represent the choices/likes of a larger group than the ones who actually favor traditional media. . Enough said. I think VS should be paying me for this. Nice discussing with ya! :D

By: Patrix

Patrix — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:57:19 +0000

@Rishi: True. And whatever rocks their boat. I rarely dish people for what they like so I would at least expect knowledgeable people like Sanghvi to not do the same. People wield influence in their own way so can't be criticized for their methods. Anyway, this comment tread has gotten way too serious than the post itself.

By: Rishi

Rishi — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:54:23 +0000

Quality is subjective. A news-item on Amitabh Bachchan’s previous incarnations (believe me, that’s actually been done on India TV) might seem absurd to you, but might be enjoyed by others. Look at the popularity of traditional media. Surely, the entire country minus of a handful of bloggers cannot be all stupid. So, in that sense, it does seem to be fulfilling some social purpose, no?

By: Patrix

Patrix — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:46:03 +0000

@Rishi: That's what I mean when you use viewership or popularity as the sole criterion for quality. It also reminds me of a renowned intellectual who once said after being told of the crowds that had gathered to hear him speak, "if they had announced, they were going to hang me, I bet the crowds would be twice that".

By: Rishi

Rishi — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:43:29 +0000

@Patrix: About Debonair - Porn is popular. People like porn. Can anyone contest that? If not, then yes. Debonair is definitely doing something right.

By: Patrix

Patrix — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:38:29 +0000

@Rishi: This blog takes blogging anything but seriously. And yes, Sanghvi is free to criticize anyone and anything including the things that he does himself voluntarily, including blogging (I hope). Like I said, I never shy away from or deny my elite status but compared to Sanghvi, I'm merely a lowly mortal trapped in a dark room blogging my way out of obscurity. And as for viewership for India TV, I'm told the Debonair blog has twice that readership so they must be doing something right.

By: Rishi

Rishi — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:46:50 +0000

I quite frankly don’t think there’s anything wrong in what he has written. He does start off by saying that traditional media too is sort of elitist, doesn’t he? Surely we can’t for a minute believe that Indian blogs are a fair representation of what the entire cross-section of Indians feel, can we? That makes us elitist, no?

Also, nowhere in his blog does he exclude himself from this definition. Sure, he’s elitist too. After all, he is an Indian blogger, having access to a medium that 96%+ of his fellow countrymen don’t.

We frown on India TV and all – they are too low brow for us perhaps. But they do have a viewership, don’t they?

My only problem with TV journos is that they take themselves too seriously. And with that single blog post, VS seems to have somehow managed to show that bloggers do to.

By: mumbai paused

mumbai paused — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 14:40:19 +0000

Vir Sanghvied: That’s what happens when you start using the internet in 2009/10. If he’s the same corpse who hosts lifestyle and food tasting shows on TV, I’m sure some one else is writing in his name.. his juniors? Or that’s how it feels from my dark room.

By: Patrix

Patrix — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 16:55:38 +0000

@Gautam: Please tell me you are joking about not being an elite blogger. You are one of those rare ones who can actually put up lists that puts you in the top 10/25/50 for your niche globally :) Now I know, Sanghvi was talking about the Ghosh Who Walks *gasp* he was right. Do you also have a dark room?

By: Where the mind is without fear… » Sorry Mr. Sanghvi, I am not a journalist…

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 14:51:35 +0000

[...] all over the world? Before I go on, check out these brilliant rebuttals by Amit Varma, Rohit, Patrix and Lekhni. Each of them has fisked, rather effectively, Sanghvi’s pointless and rather incoherent [...]

By: Gautam

Gautam — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 11:16:55 +0000

Damn.. I wish I was a elite blogger to make Mr. Sanghvi (food and hotel critic and political commentator!) quiver in fear!

By: Patrix

Patrix — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 03:14:56 +0000

@neo: When we are out in the world, people don't even make way for elite bloggers. Such travesty of celebrity status, I tell you. If I'm going to influence media opinion for the bourgeoisie then they better learn to respect me.

By: neo

neo — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 01:40:28 +0000

I wrote my last blog post from Bangalore’s railway station. You know, just to be in touch with reality.

Here’s what I learned – “People will elbow you from your bench even if you are an elitist blogger.”