Use this article, our blog, and two sources to respond to the focus question(s). In searching the below blogs, you may encounter more graphic language used to articulate a strong position.
Talking Points Memo: Weblog – www.talkingpointsmemo.com
Huffington Post: Weblog – www.huffingtonpost.com
How do the rhetoric (language; construction of arguments) and discussion format compare between the popular political blogs and our class blog? Do either forms represent the kind of e-democracy explored in the Economist article?
17 responses so far ↓
08avogel // March 2, 2008 at 3:41 pm |
Both of these blogs covered a wider political spectrum than our blog does. Also, the posts and comments on these blogs seem more opinated than on ours – probably because they have a better understanding on the candidates and politics.
08lgattozzi // March 5, 2008 at 3:22 am |
I believe that the language and arguments are more in depth in popular political blogs than the language and arguments used in our class blog. Also, many of those blogs are open to any person of any age group who would like to comment, where our class blog is more private. Although our class is very knowledgeable on many issues concerning politics, I think stronger discussions take place within other blogs. In my opinion, popular political blogs represent the kind of e-democracy explored in the article.
08cbifani // March 5, 2008 at 10:07 pm |
The people that blog on the popular political blogs actually choose to express their beliefs, whereas us students have to blog for a grade. Therefore, their comments come from the heart because they have a much better understanding and are very interested in politics. The people on the popular political blogs are trying to convince the readers why/why not to like a certain candidate. That is not what goes on in our blog, we are given a question to answer it, not try to convince our classmates on how we feel. Popular political blogs are opinionated, narrow-minded, and go much more in depth then our blog, so people can really get into an intense discussion. These blogs represent the kind of e-democracy explored in the article because the information on the candidates and the election can be shared very effectively.
Colleen H // March 6, 2008 at 2:40 am |
I agree with Courtney that these other blogs may represent e-democracy more than ours since it is entirely the person’s choice to blog and they have more of a freedom on being able to say whatever they want without nessecarily having to monitor their language, emotions or even having proper knowledge to back it up with. The other blogs are definitely less formal than this one and a lot more arguementative. It even seems like some people comment on those just to say other people are wrong instead of giving a legitimate contribution.
Brad S // March 6, 2008 at 3:02 am |
I certainly understand your claims that our blog has preconditions and incentives linked directly with a grade – perhaps the conversation should allow a more free-flowing dialogue. However, I think you are grossly underestimating the value of what you say, labeling it as less knowledgeable about politics. If you read many of the comments on the mainstream political blogs, you may see how many of the attacks are personal and lack any substance, where most of the comments on our blog have some real political grounding.
Will H // March 6, 2008 at 5:15 am |
I agree with Courtney and Colleen to an extent here. I look at blogs all the time, and often times, I see more intelligent things said by commenters then the guys who get paid to do it. The blogs shown above are a place for people to express what they feel on something they feel strongly for. The people know a lot more then I do on certain subjects and feel strong enough to post it for everyone to see.
I think you are taking away credit, however, from our blog. Everyone in our class knows, however small it may be, something about politics. We base our posts, as “Brad” said, on actual political grounds. We do not simply post things like “Hillary Sucks”, or “Huckabee 4 Prez”. If we say something like this, everyone in our class will back it up. This is not always found on a political blog. In fact, some people may go as far as to say that our posts are MORE knowledgeable then those posted on more popular political blogs because our posts are based on factual information and little on opinion.
kevoco75 // March 6, 2008 at 11:11 pm |
After looking at these blogs, I agree with everyone here. Yes, those two blogs use more graphic language and are extremely different from our blog, but they’re both discussing the same thing, and that’s politics. It doesn’t matter what you say on these blogs or how you go about arguing you’re point, when you get down to it, they’re all about politics.
I do believe that both these sites represent a type of e-democracy because it allows people to easily speak their mind and get involved in something they might like to do.
Mike S. // March 7, 2008 at 1:07 am |
I strongly feel that our blog is very tame next to these and other blogs. Blogs are places for the public to tell the world how they feel, even if this means using graphic language. I feel that there should not be any form of censorship on language, but of cause the blog we have for class must be tame. “Bosom Buddies” a title on a website. That shows a language compared to ours in the titles. But as will says many blogs just have statements with no “proof” but we do. I do feel that all of blogging is a form of e democracy including the two blogs on this page. Bottom line people are involved and expressing there feelings.
jessica123 // March 7, 2008 at 2:04 am |
When comparing our blog to professional political blogs such as Talking Points Memo and Huffington Post, there is an obvious difference in the level of maturity. I noticed that on one site, the language does not invite discussion, but rather dictate and state information, bias and all. Also, the comments on some of the topics on the other blogs are really immature and people are just posting things for the sake of posting. Obviously, our class responds more intelligently because we are being graded on it, but i’m almost positive the majority of our class could come up with better responses than I have read. Overall, when reading all different kinds of blogs, there is always one constant: like Mike said, people are saying what’s on their mind, whether it is relevant or not. Because of this fact, blogging does represent e-democracy because that is it’s basis.
musikmajor22 // March 7, 2008 at 2:21 am |
I agree with everything that has been said previously. The talkingpointsmemo.com and the huffingtonpost.com blogs both more adequately represent the Economist article. The article’s underlying idea is that blogs are safe places for people to express themselves politically. Both of these blogs are more ‘free’ than our blog, while writing for our school blog I feel very nervous about what I am writing and sometimes doubt my own views, despite how well founded or researched they are. I believe this innate fear of mine, comes from the fact that this blog has eliminated the ‘anonymity’ factor, a facet of internet blogs that allows bloggers to express and read ‘true’ opinions, not ones written to impress.
I believe that our blog is fare more mature than the popular blogs of Web 2.0 because we are forced to use polite language. I believe that it is far easier to insult someone’s views than to try and convince them of your point. The two websites that Mr. Siegel has presented us are sarcastic, one sided, and twist facts to serve their own agenda. While true to the real world, I doubt that they will help a person define their own views. Our blog allows all of us to grow and learn about politics, even against our will.
I do not believe our blog is any less political than the more popular blogs of the internet. I see many well founded arguments on our blog that are reactions to current events. I do believe that our blog can not boast a wide spectrum of political opinions, and I chalk this lack in diversity to the fact that we are all the same age, from the same town, with similar aspirations and backgrounds. Popular blogs of the internet cater to many different people of different walks of life, which will naturally cause diversity in opinion, inciting heated debate. Our debates are not nearly as heated because of our many similarities.
AndrewK // March 7, 2008 at 4:42 am |
I disagree with a lot with what everyone as been saying in comparison of our blog withThe talkingpointsmemo.com and the huffingtonpost.com blogs. Though the language and ammount of political know how are much “better”. It is not very much different. It is people positin their opinions (biased much like ours). The only thing our blog lacks is the level of detail and indepthness into political ideaology of the candiates, position etc. But viewing these blogs in a more general perspective their isnt much differnce. All because an blog is better written and gives more specific information does necessarily make it right, or more influential. If for example you don’t agree with what I am saying, no matter if I say it better or given more ideas. doesnt mean your gonna change ur mind or that it is right, its still my opinion, my biased opinion. These blogs allow people to get out their, state their beliefs and even convince others to change their stance and allow others to argue against it. This is what democracy is and e-democracy is pushing foward and evolutionizing democracy in this country and in the world.
08roconnor // March 9, 2008 at 8:47 pm |
I Agree with everyone here both Talking points and the huffington post blog cover politics a little more deeply then we can here. However these are dedicated blogers they can cover these topics. No matter what the blogger themself says it allows for people to express their opinions and get different movements out there and expand democrocy.
aslivingston // March 10, 2008 at 3:14 am |
Even though these blogs are much more sophisticated and more opinionated than ours they still fall short of e-democracy. Even if as the article said government becomes more transparent and puts their decisions and other matters online for the general population to see, it still fall far from e-democracy. We are forgetting that as easy as the government makes it to access information the rate of people accessing wont increase that much, and that is because most people don’t care. Even if you took all the people who have ever commented on those websites (and they are the two biggest political blogs on the web) the percentage of the population might only be 2 or 3 percent. Democracy is supposed to include everyone in the countries population or at least a sizeable portion. Political blogs only reach the already politically interested. They differ from our blog just because they aren’t censored and the people aren’t required to comment but the same principal is there. Blogs are a great way for those who are politically interested and engaged to get their ideas out to those who have similar interests and ideas as them. But as a means to democratize a country, they fall short of making any difference.
reganrocks // March 10, 2008 at 4:49 am |
These blogs are innovative for society and all because they allow us to feel like were interacting with politics, but i cant help but feel that these political blogs don’t really do anything for furthering democracy. Sure theres the whole freedom of speech and making arguments and points and all that good stuff, but in the end with any blog its just us talking. We might concede points on specific arguments but our major political views remain the same. Is there an accomplishment in telling people your opinions? Furthermore is there really anything that might be brought up in a blog that will change your mind about how your going to vote? or what your core beliefs are?
The point I’m trying to make here is that blogs primarily serve the same purpose as the news, they keep you updated on whats going on but they don’t do much beyond that. Being able to talk about the topics with a couple other political junkies doesn’t really further democracy.
-steve
musikmajor22 // March 11, 2008 at 11:54 pm |
I completely disagree with the previous statement. Blogs represent the basis foundation of a democracy, that all people are involved in the political process, which includes “talking”. Blogs allow citizens to become involved with politics. Yes, blogs are predominately “talking”, but talking can, and have, led to action. This past election year, politicians have taped into the political blogs for promotion and campaign finance. Barack Obama relies on these contributions to continue his race, and because of these contributions has raised an unprecedented amount of money from the people, which has allowed him to proposition himself as the Candidate for the People. A few Professors published a paper on the relationship of blogs and nationally political involvement, the following quote both summarizes their argument as well as mine “when key weblogs focus on a new or neglected issue – blogs can socially construct an agenda or interpretive frame that acts as a focal point for mainstream media, shaping and constraining the larger political debate.” I also believe that blogs are more focused to the individual, because they are run by the individual, than compared to the national media which focuses on entertainment. For the media, politics is a circus which is both spectacular but completely ridiculous, for example most prominent news channels have turned the national election into a spectacle that can be understood only through juvenile countdowns and pointless debates. Political blogs however, focus on the news, even if it is twisted to fit the dominant ideology the blog promotes.
musikmajor22 // March 11, 2008 at 11:56 pm |
Oh, and this is the paper which I quoted.
http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~farrell/blogpaperfinal.pdf
Mike S. // March 19, 2008 at 11:00 am |
I feel that you thinking and along with steves are the extremes of this situation. IF you step back and take a look at it blogs from a distance seem to be nosensical banter better people. Like the news we do find out information but steve where the news fall short is the fact that we can not share our opinion. I am not saying that we can start a government based off a blog but I do feel that new idea for a progressive America can come from a blog. Blogs are the “key” to democracy i dont think so. I think they jsut allow the everyday person to get fired up and talk. Alot of time wihtout even doing the research. So I feel that it is somewhere between you two.