Do Blogs Dynamically Transform the Modern American Political Culture
53404
Politics
Nov 8, 2007
j_hardcastle89
Do Blogs Dynamically Transform the Modern American Political Culture
Recently web logs, or blogs, have exploded in popularity and have come to occupy an increasingly important place in American politics. Given the disparity in resources and organization against other actors, their influence presents a puzzle. How can a collection of decentralized, nonprofit, contrarian and discordant websites exercise any influence over political and policy outputs? As the World Wide Web approaches its teens, we have new expectations about both the right to express an opinion and access to information upon which to base that opinion. Blogs have begun playing an important role in raising people's expectations Thus, blogs have demonstrated influence; the power to affect events. Blogging is now positioned inside the context of participatory journalism and the responses of mainstream media and political parties to the new technology are reflections of its emerging influence. From what evidence illustrates, blogs have managed to affect today's news agenda. The Italian Renaissance gave Western civilization several crucial transformations. None, for this article's purposes, matters more than perspective. Boccaccio's Decameron, published in 1353, is considered to be among the earliest works of literature to propose that a point of view is crucial to understanding. Gutenberg's printing press brought forth a revolution that no one could have anticipated at the time. Today, the Internet is the most important medium since the printing press. It subsumes all that has come before and is, in the most fundamental way, transformative. When anyone can be a writer, in the largest sense and for a global audience, many wish to become one. Actually, no better environment exists nowadays for people to exercise these among many other rights, than the Internet and one of the best mediums to exercise these rights are weblogs. According to some critics, most weblogs will never attempt to reach a public, even if they are in theory reachable by all Net users. The great majority of weblogs will probably be for personal use, while the user base will be peer to peer, not author to public. Other critics, in their attempt to evaluate the accelerating speed of the weblog trend, support that from what it seems so far, it is probable that most weblogs will be short lived, and wind up abandoned, just as most conversations are abandoned. Also it is probable that a few popular blogs will have huge user base and the vast majority will be invisible most of the time, a pattern that reminds some of the "old" and "traditional" mass media. Since the software and interface are highly flexible, and the uses of an easily updated, good-looking page are endless, weblogs will be commonly used in closed systems - private and company networks - as much as the open waters of the Web. In relation to political coverage and news stories, bloggers have broken or magnified major news stories and blogs themselves draw fire for partisan politics, poor journalistic practices, and duplicity. But the issue still remains that blogs are still in their infancy, despite the wave of press they have received during the last two years. They provide a reasonable, but far from perfect, entry point into the news space, better at offering commentary and starting conversations than serving a current-events-indicator role.
Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles on many topics including Business, Employment, and Real Estate
send email to j_hardcastle89
Write a Review
Add to My Favorite
Refer it to Friend
Report Article
Other links owned by this user
The human race universally wears articles of clothing-also known as dress, garments, or attire-on the body in order to protect it against the adverse climate conditions. In its broadest sense, clothing is defined as the coverings of the torso and limbs, a
Category:
Most authorities agree that there is room for improvement in business ethics. One of the most problematic questions raised in relation to business ethics is whether or not businesses can become more ethical in the real world.
Category:
Executives and managers are involved in meetings, presentations, interviews, conferences, telephone conversations, memos or emails, participating in all sorts of communications methods to exchange the necessary information.
Category:
Next Sunday morning, surprise your angels by inviting them to the kitchen and join them in creating their own breakfast.
Category:
Many of the marketing texts argue that marketing is a logical process with a natural structure which can be viewed primarily as a method of: understanding the marketing environment; using the marketing mix; developing a marketing plan based upon the use o
Category:
Have you ever felt the overwhelming need while sitting in front of the television screen in your favorite comfy clothes watching one more sitcom to get up and go to the kitchen in order to eat something more, although you have finished your dinner less th
Category:
Earlier this year, the prestigious Time magazine came out with an issue highlighting the previous year's great inventions, an annual practice. There was lots of stuff that made computers work more efficiently and which made things around the house better.
Category:
Chances are, you or someone you know has diabetes, a condition in which the body is unable to regulate blood sugar on its own. According to the American Diabetes Association, there are 20.8 million children and adults in the U.S. or 7 percent of the popul
Category:
Cars are now unarguably one of the basic needs of survival. Ask a pedestrian and the people who don't have cars! Owning a car is the very next thing you would go for after you start a job.
Category:
The US government is one of the three countries in the world that have initiated and maintained the Cuba blockage. Specifically, only US, Israel and Uzbekistan are the rejecting the voice of the United Nations General Assembly to seize this type of trade
Category:
There is nothing more natural to a parent than kissing a newborn's soft pink feet and counting its tiny toes. But once the baby starts to take its first steps, it is not so easy to know if its feet are developing normally.
Category:
The focus of Ethics and the Internet (E&I) are on us rather than on the technology itself. At great human and economic cost, resources drawn from governments, industry and the academic communities have been assembled into a collection of interconnected ne
Category:
For anyone living in the American society, it does not take a sociologist or a political scientist to call attention to which extend sports has permeated the American way of life. Newspapers devote an entire section of their daily editions to the coverage
Category:
The early summer period is considered ideal for you to take care of your neglected self, to rectify any of your bad winter habits, to find the necessary time to improve your health and fitness levels, to offer some small gifts to your body and consecutive
Category:
Market research plays two roles in the communication processes of any business system. First, it is part of the marketing intelligence feedback process.
Category:
Although growing up you were fortunate to have a pet friend, its loss did make you suffer greatly and you decided not to risk exposing your kids to the same experience of them having to cope one day with the loss of their animal friend.
Category:
A strategic dilemma every corporation might face at some point has to do with the difficult decision of expanding its business through the acquisition of another company.
Category:
Just about all of us wonder about the day we'll pick up the keys to our own home. Buying your first house is actually the goal for million of people worldwide.
Category:
You are probably familiar with the exceptional benefits of playing a game. Regardless of one's age and physical ability, games such as golf , billiards, board games, etc.
Category:
According to contractors, the room that is undergoing the greatest amount of transformation in new construction and remodeling is the bathroom.
Category:
Other links at Politics
It?s been over fifteen years since I learned a profound lesson while in Guanajuato, Mexico wi a college semester abroad program. One day during a discussion wi my host family and some of eir friends about U.S./Mexico relations, I was asked about
Category:
Immigration -- Can We Use God?s Inspiration To Solve The Problem Is our current policy providing a fertile hunting grounds for terrorists or is the spirit of ?give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free? still alive and
Category:
There is a lot of talk lately about immigration. I can hardly pick up a copy of the news without reading some headline story about the latest government position on the immigration issues our country is dealing with. Every political leader has a
Category:
Federal grants are given by the federal government (of course!) to many different areas of need, with one purpose and that is to stimulate productivity within the country and the world from which they are counting on reaping more profits. Instead of the
Category:
The US Presidential elections are due in 2008. Intelligent voters always weigh their options before choosing someone as President.
Category:
Site Sponsor
Directory Statistics
Articles: 68222
Categories: 501
Yahoo Entertainment
