the corner office

A couple of weeks ago a number of South African bloggers were approached about an article which finally made its way to the Cape Times (subscribers only, so no link). A couple of folks have expressed their disapproval of the article, entitled "Wired or just weird, it seems South African blogs are not for your ordinary Joe."

The lads at Commentary have posted a scan of the article. It's pretty short, and honestly, I don't think it says much beyond reflecting the wider South African reality: compared to other countries, there are a smaller proportion of South Africans on the Net. Does it matter whether local blogs are quirky or not? No - if we're willing to self-publish, we're by definition unconventional, in ZA at least. What's more, I think that any blogging community tends to be more a closed circle than anything else. ZA bloggers, Domino bloggers, Java bloggers, political pundits - it's all the same. Your average blogger is writing for other bloggers, a few blog-savvy readers, friends and family, and search engines.

Mainstream appeal? For the vast, vast majority of us, none, ever. End of story.