I love link blogs. I follow a bunch of them via RSS and read them every day. Often, it's posts from these sites that give me the biggest lift in mood. They're light, interesting, and random—pulling videos, images, and stories from corners of the web I wouldn't normally visit. Curated link blogs are incredibly valuable, but some go sour.
Boing Boing is one such blog. I won't get into the interesting history of the publication, but I'll note that one of prime advantages it has always had is many contributing writers and a long line of interesting editors. Unique perspectives yield varied content.
But in recent years, getting noticeably worse over recent months, Boing Boing has dedicated a pretty significant portion of its feed real estate to our country's worst public servants. It's beyond your typical headlines. Legitimate news isn't unwelcome on a general interest link blog. I think it's important to use platforms to spread awareness of issues. In Boing Boing's case, it's not just landmark judicial decisions or commentary on new or rescinded legislation, it's schadenfreude. Worse, it's often just whatever Marjorie Taylor Greene said today.
Boing Boing calls themselves a "directory of mostly wonderful things." According to Wikipedia, "common topics and themes include technology, futurism, science fiction, gadgets, intellectual property, Disney, and left-wing politics."
Boing Boing leaning left is no secret. That's always been clear. So why are they giving the GOP's most unpleasant personalities so much digital ink? These days, it's never about left-wing politics. It's all about putting a spotlight on the GOP for entertainment value. MTG, George Santos, Ron DeSantis, and of course Donald Trump in all his MAGAness have dominated the archive for some time. It's finally driven me to unsubscribe.
I tallied up the content in question earlier on Mastodon. Since the beginning of March, these are the headline counts for some major GOP personalities and keywords on Boing Boing:
Trump: 215
MAGA: 127
DeSantis: 75
MTG: 63
GOP: 62
Boebert: 28
Santos: 18
McCarthy: 16
Christie: 8
RFK Jr.: 6
Lindell: 7
Giuliani: 5
Cruz: 3
In that time, they've written four stories about sitting President Joe Biden that didn't also have one of the above names in the headline. One about the mystery of Biden's empty picture frame, one about his re-election campaign announcement, another about his 'Dark Brandon' meme merch, and one about bringing the US up to EU's passenger compensation standards. Of the 40 results for "Biden," those are the only articles actually about Biden's actions or policies.
Searching for articles on other left-wingers like AOC will yield similar results. The focus is always on some GOPidiot's take on a liberal. Or the liberal's take on a conservative's take on them. Fun!
Promoting MTG's podcast, battling with Boebert for who is the better name caller, and just a couple of her latest tweets for a slow Wednesday. MAGA getting upset over DeSantis cutting out during a rainstorm or wiping boogers on a man's back. MAGA couple explains why slave-owners were anti-slavery. Is Tucker Carlson a saint? RFK Jr. would like to beat kids into believing whatever he does.
Of the nineteen posts published so far today, ten have been dedicated to DeSantis, Greene, Trump, people being anti-semitic, or overreaching conservative policies.
Who needs this stuff? I don't doubt that people read it. I open every post in my feed. But why is it even there? These are not “mostly wonderful things” and none of it is healthy to read. Its the type of doom-scrolling content that I absolutely do not miss from Twitter.
News is fine, but very little of Boing Boing's "political" content is news. It's just hourly reminders about how cruel, uncouth, and terrible many members of the Republican party have become. I think we can all use a little less of that and a little more "Blackbird" sung in the indigenous Mi'kmaq language or "Losing My Religion" played on bardic instruments, homemade Alien remakes, lost Flintstones specials, understanding the "specialness spiral" or how vinyl records work, and toads having tea parties.
Until there's a dumpster fire-free feed, I'm out.
Other link blogs I like:
- Kottke.org
- Waxy.org
- Pluralistic (written by former Boing Boing editor Cory Doctorow)
If you've got any to recommend, hit me up on Mastodon or Threads.