Ben Franklin would blog, and for free

Corvus Elrod pointed out a post to me this morning that asks: What if Ben Were One of Us?

I’ve often thought that the short-story, pamphlet, and self-publishers of the late 1700’s would all be blogging if the were around (OK, not dead) today. But not everyone agrees with me:

Ben Franklin would have a web site, Isaacson speculated. “It would be carefully crafted. It would be more like Andrew Sullivan than your normal blogger in pajamas.”

“And he would charge!” added archivist Weinstein.

Yes, Ben Franklin would put his content behind a pay wall. “He would definitely charge for it,” Isaacson agreed, “because he believed that if you weren’t tested by the marketplace…”

I think that’s a little bit off. You can have a visually appealing blog (how about mine? Zing!), and you can have a carefully written blog (definitely not mine. Maybe Trickster).

But what I disagree with most is the idea that Franklin would be charging for his content. Franklin was an influencer, and you cannot be an online influencer if you’re hidden behind a wall. You will not be discussed. You will not be linked. On Google, you probably won’t be found.

Franklin would understand this.

Thanks Corvus for the share!