Bloggerati, Blog•er•a•ti // plural and collective noun – A portmanteau of “blogger” and
“literati.” (1) Bloggers (typically who subscribe to a progressive ideology) who assume moral and/or intellectual
superiority over others by virtue of their blogging activities; (2) Mormon bloggers (usually, though not exclusively,
associated with the “bloggernacle”) who exhibit the
characteristics of (1) above, esp. disdain for Church policies, doctrines and leaders that are considered out-of-touch, outdated, naïve, too conservative,
too fundamentalist, too simplistic, misogynistic, racist, homophobic, “apologetic,” etc.; (3) Bloggers who exhibit the characteristics of (1) and (2) above and whose contribution to public discourse is limited primarily to their blogs. (4) The collective of Mormon bloggers who fit (2) above. “Many bloggerati are complaining that the Church’s
new policy on women wearing pants is repressive.” “The bloggerati was outraged over Elder Boyd K. Packer’s remarks on homosexulaity at General Conference.”
The Bloggerati
For a few years now I have been kicking around a particular neologism in my correspondences with some of my friends and acquaintances. Although I am apparently not the first to use this term (see here and here), I do believe I am the first to use it in a Mormon “bloggernacle” context. I can also say that I came up with this term independently, and have just discovered this evening that it pre-dates my own usage. (I guess I’m not as clever as I thought I was.)
In any event, the word I like to use is bloggerati. My friend Neal Rappleye used it well in his most recent blog post (albeit with a variant spelling). Below is my own definition of the term, which I am posting here for any future reference.
In the past I have used bloggerati as a singular noun, but I think now is the time to standardize the term as a plural and collective noun.
Note that for the purposes of my definition of the term, bloggerati includes those who post comments on blogs and those who do podcasts.
(Posted in the satirical spirit of Ambrose Bierce.)
