Highlights

“Read the whole thing”

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Pete says:

What do you think the motivation is for bloggers when they mention or quote some other piece of work and then say "read the whole thing" in their post? For some strange reason, I find myself reacting as if I am being ordered to do something (the old Marine in me?)… which I suppose I am.

But is this order a power play on the part of the blogger or is it simply a strong endorsement of the "whole thing"? Is there a guilt thing going on (the blogger doesn't want to co-opt readers from the original)? Maybe some sort of MLM for bloggers? Or perhaps an instructor's directive so that the context is more fully provided?

Can't we decide for ourselves whether to "read the whole thing" or should we further subjugate ourselves to the power of the blogger in question and actually go out and and "read the whole thing" with no discrimination on our part? Can I trust that the blogger in question "read the whole thing" and will therefore accurately represent the "whole thing" so I don't have to "read the whole thing"? Or is this simply a tacit way of suggesting that we never "read the whole thing" and really should? 

Read the whole thing.

[Btw, just felt like riffing a bit here - supposed to be a bit of existential fun for us bloggers ;-) ]

1 comment for ““Read the whole thing””

  1. Chandler Howell
    September 8, 2009 at 8:17 am

    I say it when I’m in the cases of either focusing on a particular aspect of the article/essay/post in my post but feel there is value beyond what I’m excerpting or if the necessary excerpt would effectively comprise the entirety of the post–especially a long post or essay.

    I’m also more likely to refer people to go read an individual/blogger than to a press report, too.

    I’d also say that this is still an open etiquette issue from the Internet Miss Manners perspective.

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