"What's the difference between a blogger and just a columnist in a newspaper?" Lib Dem blogger Alex Wilcock was asked by an (old media) interviewer this week.
He replied, he says: "They get paid for it, they have to bloat or squeeze their arguments to fill a word count rather than as the ideas demand, they have to stick to their newspaper's editorial line, and they're much more up themselves."
They have also, I might add, been rather more critical of Sir Menzies Campbell's speech than Lib Dem bloggers were - to judge by the initial reactions of both parties.
Stephen Tall, the winner of the Lib Dems' blogging competition, hasn't yet delivered his verdict on the speech, but he's certainly enjoyed the rest of the conference: "The sun was shining last Saturday when I arrived in Brighton. And, despite the media's attempts to rain on our parade, it's shining even more brightly today."
(It certainly is. Would that your correspondent could blog from the beach rather than the flyblown press room in the Brighton Centre.)
Alex Foster, meanwhile, declared earlier today that he wasn't going to watch the speech from the hall for two reasons.
Firstly, he was skint and had nothing to throw in the fundraising buckets, and secondly he had too much luggage to be allowed in: "I'm a *bad* Lib Dem."
Those who did watch and blog, however, were heartened by the send-off.
"Fairer, greener and ... stronger," says A Liberal Dose.
"The mood at conference is buoyant. There has been no popular 'bring back Charles' uprising. The leadership are doing quite well actually."
"Quite well actually?" Go back to your constituencies! Don't yet prepare for government!
"[Ming] hit all the right notes and energised the audience," says Will Howells. More, please, Will.
Jonathan Wallace is the most exuberant: "A fantastic speech by Ming. He's mercifully killed off the talk about his leadership style, clobbered the opposition and given some great substance to his words. Great stuff."
Now is not the time to rain on the Lib Dems' parade.
A delegate who doesn't leave conference in some way boosted by the camaraderie and sense of shared purpose is a very unfortunate one.
And that's exactly the mood that today's postings convey.
