The Blogosphere is in Full Bloom. The Rest of the Internet Has Wilted

The blogosphere is in full bloom. The rest of the Internet has wilted, reported academic, journalist and author John Naughton in The Guardian last week.

With blogging pioneer Dave Winer’s blog site, Scripting News, turning 30, Naughton was reflecting on the enduring power of blogging and that good writing and thinking had flourished beyond the reach of social media.

Winer’s pioneering work helped shaped the modern internet the legal community uses today by fostering the creation of tools like RSS and podcasting, positioning blogging as a space for free and unfiltered expression, long before the rise of social media.

Naughton critiques the mainstream media’s dismissal of blogging in favor of social media, suggesting that many journalists misunderstood the importance of the blogosphere. They often saw it as a space for cranks and hobbyists, failing to recognize its potential as a “public sphere” where meaningful discourse could thrive without the corporate constraints of platforms like Facebook and Google.

Despite the views of many (including some in legal), Naughton sees blogging as a vital space for intellectual engagement, largely thanks to figures like Winer who shaped its foundation.

I totally agree. I followed Winer from my Wisconsin law office close to thirty years ago. I was fascinated by the Internet’s power for intellectual engagement between lawyers and between lawyers and people.

Blogging and the intellectual engagement driven by legal blogs will advance the law, not social networks nor traditional legal publishers.

Legal blogs, sharing insight and commentary on niche legal issues, will shape secondary law, not social media.

Sure, blogs used by marketers for SEO and traffic will wilt in time. But not the legal blogs seen by Naughton, Winer and I.

For LexBlog, having pioneered the introduction of blogs to the legal profession over twenty-one years ago, we have the responsibility to ensure that legal blogs remain in full bloom.