Customer Reviews:
 Essential Reading for Anyone Who Wants to Know What Blogging is All About March 1, 2006
10 out of 14 found this review helpful
This is an excellent and insightful overview of a growing phenomenon.
The current state of the Blogosphere seems to be much the same as the Internet was 8-9 years ago, when it was very broad, but lacked depth, and was still heavily populated by people eager to talk about themselves or their favorite hobby horses. Of course, many of them are still here, but the Internet has deepened and matured as will the Blogosphere. I say that despite all the porn and paranoia that pops up everywhere. Both the Internet and the Blogosphere are powerful tools for research, representation and empowerment.
One of the most interesting aspects of the Blogosphere's development has been the similarity to the way in which neural connections form in the brain. And I think it likely that, as in the brain, less useful pathways will be pruned over time.
The reviewer who likened the current state of blogging to graffiti is quite right as things stand now. But over time neurological systems tend to be self-regulating, as I suspect, the Blogosphere will be. Indeed, I think that many of the examples in this book point to self-regulation that is already occurring.
Be very clear that this is not a "How To" book, of which there are plenty of good ones. It is instead a cultural and sociological analysis of something new that is evolving extremely rapidly, and is already impacting all our lives.
This is arguably the best overview of blogging currently available, but I hope that Hugh Hewitt knows that he's going to have to update the book with monotonous regularity!
Highly recommended to anyone who wants to know what blogging is all about, and whether they want to be involved in it.
 But... February 15, 2006
15 out of 27 found this review helpful
This book does a passable job explaining what blogs are, how they are being used, etc. in quite rosy fashion. But you see, the ideal is not a reality. I have a problem with most blogs. This book claims they are replacing traditional media as a reliable source of information. But, you see, blogs are not reliable in any way, shape, or form. Any fool can post his/her incoherent, poorly punctuated, mindbogglingly boring ideas/life story for the whole world to see, if they ever find it, and people can reply to it in kind, but this is not a reliable source of information. Rather, it is a lavatory wall. The traditional media has its many failings, but blogs have many of the same ones and many new ones. Do yourself a favor; stop wasting time surfing the net. Instead, go get yourself a decent education, learn how to use a library, vote, appreciate nature, and go about having a real life.
Condescending and Arrogant Tone February 5, 2006
17 out of 27 found this review helpful
I received this book for Christmas. I looked forward to reading it since blogging is one of my favorite hobbies. But it was a struggle to finish it. It's written with an arrogant tone. I almost wonder whether Hugh Hewitt actually wrote the book or if some ghost writer did.
I don't think I learned very much from reading it. Basically, the message of the book is: You better blog because it's important to your business, your faith, and your political candidate.
I didn't bother reading the appendices because the main text was so torturous.
I'm grateful for the present because this book is one the things I wanted for Christmas, but personally, you're not missing much if you don't read it. A definite thumbs down.
P.S. This is not a very scholarly written review. It's my first review, but I hope to write others that are more serious, especially for books that are worth my time.
Extraordinary insight into business and political use of blogs February 1, 2006
7 out of 17 found this review helpful
Hugh Hewitt is a conservative: that simple fact accounts for many of the negative reviews this gem has received. If you're blinded or biased by the color of someone's skin or their political leanings or other personal attribute, nothing they do will meet your approval.
Pity for those involved in business, politics, causes and pursuits of any kind who do not read Hewitt's "Blog."
Hewitt has written a classic primer on blogging as a phenomena, how it has already impacted politics and the mainstream media and how it may impact business. Hewitt uses examples from the political sphere to illustrate the impact of blogs and this will probably irritate leftists, since all but one of his examples have leftist icons like Dan Rather and his forged documents.
But Hewitt brilliantly traces the combined ascendancy of Gutenberg's invention and Martin Luther's desire for reformation to illustrate his point. From that perspective, Hewitt's message that blogs are a destroyer of worlds, a creator of worlds is crystal clear and very impressive.
Hewitt does not go into the technical details of blogging, a process, which in fact has been made simple, by operations like Blogger and TypePad. Rather he gets to the meat of the matter explaining why every political candidate, business, social cause needs a blog.
Like the salesmen of yore who went forth to convince merchants of their need for mechanical cash registers, Hewitt sells the idea of the need for the blogging. And the man is totally dead-on. This is a must read for every one who has a need to communicate with the public. Hewitt is the first so far to sense the ultimate power of blogging. Great read.
Jerry
 Worthless! January 17, 2006
12 out of 27 found this review helpful
I borrowed this book with the assumption that it would help me learn about technical aspects of blogging and getting started. Instead, I found it to be full of right-wing drivel. Since Hewitt seems successful, the key to successful blogging, however, is not "trust," as Hewitt states, but "commonality of bias."
My bias is for the truth - not to be found in this book.
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