We’re all f***ing brilliant

Actually, some of us are noxious c*nts, but because we’re part of the all-conquering, locust-like mind-hive that is blogging, we’re all afraid to say it. That’s the vulgar paraphrasing of a blog post from Eoin Butler last week, in which he deftly twisted the words of fellow IT scribe Jim Carroll, who in turn borrowed a few ideas from a post by Johnnie Craig. In terms of blog-post-incest, it’s a lovely little choo-choo train. But in terms of content, it’s a doozy.

Both Jim and Johnnie lit the touchpaper of a debate on Irish bands getting treated with kid gloves by Irish reviewers, and the fireworks duly kicked off in the comments section.

Butler, whose singles reviews are often unrepentantly scathing and, as a result, hilarious, took the ball and ran with it, spiking a touchdown at the heart of the Irish blogosphere. He admitted giving an aul star to Irish acts from time to tome, and happily admitted that Irish reviewers are soft on musicians, just like all the bloggers said. But no more soft than bloggers and online writers are soft on bloggers themselves. In fact, we bloggers are blindly protective.  And what better way to illustrate this point by taking a running lunge at the beating heart of Ireland’s bloggerati – Twenty Major.

“Think about it. When was the last time you heard one blogger openly criticising another blogger?,” says Butler. “I don’t mean respectfully disagreeing on a given point – I mean criticising the overall quality of another’s work? It simply never happens.”

And then, as if by magic, it does.

“When have you ever heard another blogger point out the glaringly obvious truth that [Twenty Major's] blog is also nasty, vulgar, puerile and reactionary. It caters exclusively to the lowest common denominator and (most unforgivably of all) is almost always woefully unfunny. I don’t mean to single the guy out. But if Aslan had won 157 consecutive Best Irish Band Awards the IRMAs, it would at least have provoked comment.”

Ka-boom.

Obviously, being a timid shit, I wouldn’t dare to criticise a fellow blogger like Butler, particularly when he has accurately identified the blogosphere’s worst trait – rampant cheerleading for the undeserved. Among the great ideas, the child prodigies and the start-ups, Irish bloggers are up there with the rest of the world when it comes to churning out useless codswallop. But don’t try and tell us that, we’ll be busy with our fingers in our ears, being brilliant.