Political journalist and blogger, Josh Marshall, has some thoughtful things to say about blogging,, albeit in an “ephemeral”, “under-pressure” kind of way:

I freely admit blogging is an ephemeral form of writing. It’s written quickly, usually forgotten quickly. It doesn’t lend itself to that sort of rigorous writing and rewriting which is often the way you discover your ideas in your own mind. It is a popular medium on many levels. But it also has an immediacy and when done well, under time pressure, produces an economic form of writing, a concision and getting right to the point.

I saw a quote a few days ago where someone said something like blogging is a boon for information but an enemy of thought. And there’s an element of truth to that. In most hands, it’s more a medium of exchange than reflection. The technology can leave us with too little time to mull and digest.

(The context is a blogosphere brou-ha-ha caused by a journalist named Lee Siegel lambasting bloggers as “fascists”, an which Josh Marshall (and many others) find hilarious. As Josh puts it, Yes, getting some hate mail and getting called a wanker, truly the stuff of fascism. I’m going to have to completely rethink the March on Rome and the Night of the Long Knives.)