A good number of business bloggers insist on writing as if they were communicating at audiences, delivering a set-piece speech rather than fostering or contributing to a debate. You might think that the blogosphere has room enough for all kinds of alternative modes of discourse, but there are certain basic characteristics of the medium itself, its very personal nature, the regular nature of postings and the piranha-pool of professional and amateur critics out there, that might make the broadcast approach to blogging a potentially hazardous pastime in the long run.

What to do when the feedback goes beyond a good set of constructive comments plus the odd flame or two? Frank Bruni, the New York Times chief restaurant critic has acquired "a literary doppleganger he can't shed" according to the AP's Adam Goldman. Rapidly rising to a parallel fame almost as great as the weekly target of her mockery is blogger Julia Langbein, forerunner perhaps of a new breed of critic's critic. Even more so than traditional journalism, blogging is as much about listening as it is about speaking. Forget that and you might be running the risk of acquiring your very own online nemesis.