yes we have a thick description of a moving target (the bloggers) but what
else? the message given here, the “philosophy” or “theory” is where the
real nihilism lays: there isn’t one. not by the method and not by the result.

the underlaying “thesis” is itself a repetition of a known cultural criticist
scheme, “cultural pessimism”: stating a general decay, and tendency
towards entropy, compared to the higher culture of the mailinglists.
with this not only claiming a long term relevance of “network culture” but
also taking a conservativist position with its microhistory. the relation
of network culture and general cultural theory remains untouched.
the possibility of media theory is answered by discovering that there
is no such possibility.

once again the reader has to submit to a given number of rethorical
figures, which are remixed and enriched with precise observations,
well placed puns, factoids and actualties. the “theory” given by the text is
at most applying to itself: it is a farewall to the possibility of theory, so
a text which legitimates its own inability to formulate a proper thesis by
claiming that the bloggossphere is not about making sense anyway.
yes, as dandyist attidude, but is this academic media theory?

such media theory adds merely to the further establishment of a
structural mediocraty, which was
lately claimed also by jaron lanier for other stereotypical reasons (here: elitism)
such a form of “theory theater” with a very limited number of given positions
and tropa is rather a part of the symptom.. the packet is there,
but there is not much in it. (is that the nihilism?)

if we would be able to remember all books and newspapers written at the
turn of the 19th century, or even 6 years ago, we would certainly
suffer immediate cultural meltdown.

btw, to quote max bense to describe nihilism is rethorical joke,
max bense was a romantic conservative rationalist.