"You focus a lot on how the blogosphere is faster than traditional journalism, as if it's virtue, but why is the blogosphere faster? Why? Because it has no quality control mechanisms. The "drag" on real journalism is the process of editorial review and fact-checking. Bloggers are trying to take a shortcut to success, and it seriously undermines the credibility of the 'sphere."

Drudge.

"Sure, bloggers piss and moan at each other. That falls far short of an error-correction system. Does the fact that I argue with Tom, for example, mean that Tom's opinions are therefore vetted? Gimme a break."

You can't vet opinions.

"What fascinates so many people about the blogosphere, I think, is just that you can always find a blog that agrees with you...and for most people, that's the definition of "truth". Or "fair and balanced"... what seems so revolutionary is, most often, just the novelty of seeing your own views presented as gospel truth."

Can we test this? Point to a blog that agrees with you.
Personally I know of none. And I'm familar with a fair number of Blogs.

"Let me ask you this: What is it about blogs that make them more credible than, say, the opinions expressed on a BBS? Is blog software any different from BBS software?"

There is little difference.

"In fact, no. A blog is simply a BBS that displays one thread at a time, in which only the owner gets to start threads (make a root post). Comments (replies) are typically presented in a linear fashion, but there's no reason they couldn't be presented in a tree view (which would encourage more conversation among respondents; a linear view keeps the focus on the root post). That's it. For all practical purposes, Tony became a blogger when he made the root post."

That's right. But I think Tony is ok- though mostly wrong:)

"(Which is why "Blogs for Zoners" is on my to-do list for the next version of software.)"

Maybe you should exclude some posters, for instance, I would probably write mostly about pipelaunchers or something like that:)

"The blogosphere is just a subset of the hype-o-sphere. Been there, done that. A lot less there than meets the eye."

So you are saying the blogs are very similar to BBS, yet you are dismissing them?