Daily Kos: The Substance of a Blog Swarm

By B.L. Ochman The Daily Kos analyzes what Richard Cohen called a blog swarm about his column at the Washington Post, and concludes that it was not really a swarm. Says Daily Kos:

"The nature of the modern medium ensures that any critique by internet users--conservative and liberal alike--will be massive, unfiltered, and instantaneous. And it will always be effortless to cherry-pick intense or inappropriate comments or emails and use them to dismiss an entire dissenting view as nothing more than the angry rants of a disillusioned group. ... Yet the true measure of character comes in rejecting the temptation to take the easy way out, and instead to embrace an honest and genuine dialogue about the issues."