"I think it just goes to show that what drives us bloggers is a strange, unhealthy brew of benevolence and ego!"

This comment from Mark Spit in response to my previous post is spot-on, I reckon. Hadn't really thought about it much before (maybe I'd be ashamed of what I'd discover about myself?) But what else could possibly be driving us to give-up so much of our free time? Of course it's ego. The egotistical belief that we know more about our given subject than anyone else, that we're so bloody righteous and generous by educating the masses with our frenzied, ill-conceived opinions on music, art, politics and such like. Really, this is just one last desperate attempt to gain some sort of fame - MP3 bloggers in particular are just frustrated DJ's who's dreams of being the next John Peel, Carl Cox or whoever have long-since evaporated into the dust. And worst of all, those like myself who believe that people should be interested in some half-arsed demo we recorded ten years ago - christ, is there no limit to my conceit?! Then there's the petty jealousies and rivalries that are never addressed directly - but you can feel them bubbling-up under the surface - "how dare that bastard not include me in his links bar?", "how come so-and-so blog gets more comments than me, when I'm obviously coming up with far superior, more thought-provoking posts?". It makes you sick, don't it?

Still, at least we can say that we're at the cutting-edge of expression within the media. The stuff that's going on right now is historically important. The NME might try enticing readers with fancy hologramatic covers, but the fact remains that it's days are numbered. All these individuals/nobodies that inhabit the blogosphere are the new taste-makers and trend-setters of modern culture. I'm looking forward to seeing the first example of an unknown band becoming mega-successful after being featured/bigged-up by a blog. It'll happen one day soon. The future is ours.

Blimey, there I go again - delusions of grandeur still firmly in place. Wot a tosser!!