Diss

Alex Halavais gave me and Elmwood Strip Blog Community some plugs yesterday. (Thanks!) Then this comment came on-line, written by one Paul Hensen:

I wondered what you thought of Buffalo Rising. Do you consider it a blog?

It’s pretty and I go a few times a day. They certainly know how to generate buzz. They’re a magazine and they’re almost too media savvy, too commercially focussed.

And what’s with all the pictures. The contributor Figmo is a really good writer but I don’t consider him a blogger. He’s a little too much of a smart mouth. And he can be really snarky and cruel about points of view he disagrees with.

But everyone seems to be talking about them.

They also don’t have a blogroll as if they’re the only ones who count.

And all they do is write about cool things in Buffalo. They don’t even acknowledge the suburbs and they don’t talk about the real problems in Buffalo. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think from reading Buffalo Rising that Buffalo is a nice place to live.

They’re so full of themselves.

What do you think?

Figmo at Buffalo Rising, reasonably, took offense at Mr. Hensen’s comment, saying he was getting thrown under the bus (complete with picture of bus):

Well, Paul, I have a few thoughts. I think you’ve got your panties all in a bunch because what we’re doing doesn’t fit your pedantic notion of blogs or preconceived ideas about Buffalo. And I think your rambling, incoate post just made my day.

But I’m just a cruel, intolerant blogger manqué with a smart mouth and a swollen head. I wonder what our readers think.

Here’s my response to Paul:

While I certainly would like it if Buffalo Rising sported a blogroll (with me on it), I don’t think there’s anything at all wrong with that site.

First of all, Paul: what makes you think Buffalo isn’t a cool place to live? I live in the burbs, and am seriously considering getting a rehabbed victorian near Elmwood and sending my kid to Nichols when she reaches 5th grade. That’s because I miss living in a lively, urban environment. Buffalo isn’t NYC or SF or Boston. It has something none of those places have – affordability.

They’re also pretty upfront about the fact that the blog is an offshoot of their quarterly magazine. Look – if your print publication comes out 4x/year, and stuff comes up that you’d like to discuss in the interim, and can’t wait 3 months, what better way to do it than via blogging? It’s cheap, it’s conversational, and it invites discussion.

Figmo is, in my opinion, the best blogger on that site. His posts generate the most buzz. His posts are informative and entertaining – they go beyond the “hey there’s this cool party tonight at such-and-such” and really explore and examine Buffalo issues.

AFAIC, the more snarkiness the better. I don’t just want to click a link & read the poster’s opinion on said link. I’d like some good, funny, sharp writing, too. Figmo delivers.

Citing Kelly from Byzantium Shores, that blog is a ship sailing the flag of Buffalo. Godspeed to them.

Buffalo, Bitches.