Was 2004 the Year of the Blogger?

There is an awful lot of blog triumphalism and blog smugness these days. Bloggers clearly played a role in the 2004 campaign. My feeling is that blogging will not reach its full potential though, until it triggers the sort of "glocal" (global and local) mutual communications--and in much more than just the realm of politics--of which it is capable.

But Edward B. Driscoll, Jr.'s article at TechCentralStation.com, The Year of Blogging Dangerously, points out that blogging has had its impact over the course of 2004. He picks, David Letterman-style, from 10 to 1, the most important blog stories of the year. Number 1, as you can imagine, was 'Rathergate,' a story blown open largely by Powerline.

Smugness is something always to be avoided. But it will be interesting to see what 2005 brings to the realm of blogdom.