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This Headline Is Self-Referential
Topics: Editorial & Opinion | 2 CommentsBy admin | November 18, 2009
Is There A Word For When You’re Writing About Nothing?
They say that amongst the basic offenses that one might commit when managing a blog, referencing your own blog borders on felonious. The words you’re reading are not a violation of this principle; for one thing, this site is a magazine-style link aggregator with commentary, not a blog. And for another thing, this content is being placed in the Editorial & Opinion section, which in a way actually requires that it be self-referential. The fact is, for the first time since June 11, 2008, I didn’t have anything I felt like writing about today. This reminded me of the last time this happened, which was back in 2005. At the time, I was thankful for The Nonist’s What Everyone Should Know About Blog Depression. Which I’m sharing as a public service today, since if anyone is in fact reading this, they almost certainly have a blog or web site or as many as 137 Twitter followers, and may find some solace themselves. It has great advice like “IF THE SIMPLE ACT OF READING A MAGAZINE FILLS YOU WITH A DEEP SENSE OF DISQUIET, IF YOU BREAK OUT IN HIVES, OR FIND YOURSELF INEXPLICABLY WEEPING, IT MAY BE CONTENT ANXIETY, IN WHICH YOU SUBCONSCIOUSLY EQUATE EVERY PIECE OF INFORMATION AS A POTENTIAL PIECE OF BLOG CONTENT“. And who hasn’t experienced that? I especially like that I put that whole excerpt in caps. It gave it a lot more oomph, don’t you think? Another powerful insight: “Meta-bloggers may experience particularly severe blog depression when they realize everyone is continually posting the same crap, on every other meta-blog, over and over and over. The realization that meta-content is never ‘owned’ can be painful“. Indeed.
And no self-referential piece about nothin’ is complete without….
THE HASSELHOFFIAN RECURSION!!!!
Posted by » Help Pick The Dissociated Press Best Of 2009 - Dissociated Press on 12.29.09 12:06 pm
[...] offered up something interesting for you to look at or read every day since June 11, 2008. And only one of those somethings was a lame, self-referential “blog post”, and even then I feel like we kept things [...]
Posted by E-Mail vs. Email – The 2011 Dissociated Press Stylebook | dissociatedpress.com on 03.20.11 10:15 am
[...] write in the voice with which I speak. But I’m breaking one of my only rules here, which is writing self-referential content. So back to the point. The AP guide in particular amuses me; as David [...]