A.W. Merrick was a blogger

I think a lot of people may be reading more into the success of blogs and the importance of blogs than there is to report.
Blogs, while an interesting new wrinkle in the brave new world of modern media, are nothing new. Deadwood character Merrick was a blogger. He attended events and chronicled them and a few people would read his thoughts and opinions of what transpired, some people would even pay to advertise through his written word. The difference was that comparatively few people had the resources, time, and equipment required to produce "The Pioneer."
Today, of course, we are all riding on a wave of "blog popularity" because we all have access to the resources needed to produce our own little "Pioneer."
Just a thought....
I am not saying that blogs aren't cool, but I think the great expectations that some have for blogs to change the world around us is overly optimistic, (a psychologist might call it "projection"---I want blogs to be important therefore I proclaim that they are important.)