tightrope walking

Just to make this explicit...

I do not think the "slow death of Everett True" has anything to do with the babble of voices in hyperspace. That is down to other (outside) factors (e.g. I am now a postgraduate student, a dad, a Queenslander - none of which seem to be particularly conducive to being a critic). There are plenty of platforms where "Everett True" could exist right now and continue to exert influence, if he chose to do so. Indeed, one could argue that the opportunities for Everett True to be Everett True to be a tightrope walker, performing for those impressed by such feats of dexterity, have increased exponentially since the advent of web 2.0. Are they devalued because the opportunities for Sam Citizen Critic to be Sam Citizen Critic have equally increased? I don't think so. The playing fields haven't been levelled, not at all. That's simply wishful thinking.

Here's a quote for today: "For all the supposed emancipation implicit in the pronouncement 'we're all critics now', the loss of critical authority...diminishes the agency and choice of the reader. It plays into the hands of the monopolies who pedal fewer and fewer choices and whose primary interest is always the bottom line." (McDonald, Ronan, The Death Of The Critic, 2007, Continuum Books)