Too many news bloggers?

[Barry Parr]

This is interesting.

A cool blog <http://yourenotrosaparks.tumblr.com/> develops some buzz. AOL auto-generates story assignments about it for a bunch of "freelance" "bloggers", all of whom descend on the subject.

http://gawker.com/5464553/blogger-beware-aols-robo+reporters-will-swarm-you-like-locusts

This is interesting at several levels. It reflects the continuing problem of low-quality algorithmic story assignments. It demonstrates that AOL is in its fifteenth year of coming up with new ways to stink up the Internet. It shows the stark contrast between a citizen with a good idea (the Rosa Parks blogger) and corporate boneheads trying to operate "at scale" with an idea that was strip-mined by better bottom-feeders years ago. With any luck, it suggests that authenticity will win in the long run.

But it also shows you and me what happens when you have too many news bloggers in a community chasing the same story, even if they're not working under the direction of a bag of code.

This is a taste of the future. 

bp

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Barry Parr

http://coastsider.com
http://mediasavvy.com
http://twitter.com/barryparr

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