Who Owns the Blogosphere?

As Jason Calacanis continues to get deeper and deeper into the PayPerPost debate on his blog, one thing keeps standing out to me in his posts: his insistent (even if somewhat indirect) claim to ownership over the blogosphere as a whole.

Here are just a few of the comments he has made with this slant in recent posts:

"We spent years creating the blogosphere and educating the market of the value blogs-I'm not going to let you walk in here and destroy years of work." source

"I love the blogosphere and everything it stands for... as someone who's fallen in love with it and helped it grow..." source

We didn't build the blogosphere to be a playground for deceptive marketers. We built the blogosphere as a place for people to share their thoughts honestly and transparently. We built it as an alternative to the shortcomings of the one-way nature of MSM (mainstream media)." source

And then in this post he takes credit for "re-starting the for-profit movement", yet continues to bash a company who is doing this in a structured manner (PayPerPost):

"In other words I've basically re-started the for-profit movement by raiding the top 1% of the free movement. I've always said that the blogosphere was the best farm league in the world--" source

Some of the recent comments to his posts include:

Who are you, who are your commentators, to decide that's the proper definition of a "pure" or "real" or "legit" blog anyway? by Dave Taylor

Word to Jason: The blogging elite are NOT the blogosphere. We are not your servants to be commanded, anymore than we are ppp's underlings to be told how to blog. We know you gain favor, access, traffic and intel from relationships with products and companies, whether there is a direct pay-trail or not. The more you attack, the more your own motives and advertiser relationships are suspect. by Uly

The unit of influence/power in this medium is the individual -- unless of course, you endeavor to buy a bunch of digg users for broader infuence/power 😉 by Dan

What makes it okay for you to pay people to submit stories to Netscape vs. PayPerPost paying for people to post blog entries to their own blogs? by Dossy

So I guess you are also a "Professional Blogger"? You see the thing that gets me is that you say: "It takes more work to keep your integrity, but as bloggers that is all we have--integrity. That's why we are here!"

But were you or not the one that tried to buy off the top members of digg? If so, well, where do you get off? Evil? Slimebuckets? Inpure? Funny, that is what I could say about YOU. by Elsy

How dare me! I should cow tow to the social "norm" and be a good little blog peon that only posts what the suprime elite of the blogging world doth approve of my blogging about....I must stand before the powers of the blogosphere and have them lay the healing hand upon my blog and cry out that I am *HEALED!!!!* ---- give me a break....I can post about what I want to in my own blog. If you don't like what I say then you don't have to read it, just like I don't have to read your blog.... by Sandra

It begs the question... Who owns the blogosphere?

Obviously it's not the high & mighty Jason Calacanis and his 'buddy list'. While he likes to stand on his own pedestal and claim credit and association, it is obvious that "the blogosphere" is calling him a joke - and that his own readers are questioning his integrity.

If anyone is "polluting the blogosphere", it is Jason Calacanis himself. Since he couldnt rise in the ranks by credibility and unadultered popularity, he did it instead with dollars and controversy. This is not the person to listen to for truth, unbiased information or future direction. Jason C is driven by the dollar... and drives by the dollar.

His big argument that he "loves the blogosphere" and his supposed interest in "keeping it clean" is nothing short of deception. His only vested interested in the blogosphere is the advertising dollars that he pulls in, the boost to his ego... and the money that he makes along the way with it all.

Do not be swayed by the issues Jason Calacanis is trying to raise. The Web 2.0 movement was a turning point whereby users are no longer expected to be subject to "the elites" and "the advertisers". It's a platform where everyone has a say and a choice, and the content that we read is chosen (hand picked) instead of force-fed to us.

Your voice matters. There is no 'industry standard' that dictates what you say, how you say it, or who you say it to.

While the "elites" may control "the blogosphere" to the extent that they pour money into it, polluting the popularity votes and swaying the organization of content that is supposed to be for you and chosen by you... they have absolutely no control over the individuals and their voices.

The blogosphere, and the web as a whole, is as much mine as it is yours as it is anyone elses. It is a part of our life. A part of our life is held within it. It is a part of our world, and a world all its own at the same time.

More and more we have the freedom to choose what we take in, and what we put in. "The Norm" is out the window, and our generation has the opportunity to choose - or even create - alternate lifestyles. Nobody dictates your details and you arent forced to stay within the lines of a pre-drawn box. That's the beauty of it all!

Dont let one blogger's hot air put you back inside a set of lines... or make you feel like you are less than any other person or blogger. Dont let them create a totem pole and decide for you where you belong on it...

Go forth and blog! 😉