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To: TimF who wrote (100474)	2/15/2005 2:17:58 AM
From: Neeka	Respond to of 793740

You're right....not all swarms are bad. There is usually a purpose for swarming. In the case of bloggers, I think it's good to swarm around events as they happen or unfold. Swarming helps us discover what has or has not happened i.e., eventually get to the truth. Anyone can swarm, but it is those people that contribute intelligent and valid information in the discovery who stand out. Most people appreciate being able to contribute to the effort and some individuals may go out of their way by doing extraordinary research. Because the great majority of us appreciate knowing about events or the behavior of powerful people, these individuals always end up receiving the most kudos. M

To: TimF who wrote (100474)	2/15/2005 7:35:58 AM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 793740

Not all "swarms" are equal. Not all "swarms" are bad. I take your point and I don't disagree, but I think you are focusing on activities outside the scope of the act of swarming. So let's have another one of those dictionary arguments, why don't we? <g> I like the verb, swarm, to describe the phenomenon in question. It evokes an image of large numbers of creatures appearing suddenly from nowhere upon some stimulus. "Swarming" is this sudden aggregation. What the group of creatures does once it has aggregated I think is outside the scope of "swarm." A swarm (the group, not the event) may gather food for the community or it may sting some victim to death. The provisioning event and the stinging event are subsequent to rather than subsumed by the swarming event. I don't think that the good or bad of the subsequent event can be applied to the swarm event. Is swarming, itself, good or bad in the context in question. I think it's good that so many resources can be brought to bear so quickly. OTOH, response to blood in the water is mindless. IMO, mindlessness is always bad in human beings.