Posts
They are
Blog for America and Civic Involvement by Matthew Kerbel at http://hij.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/10/4/3, and
The blog swarm Chris Matthews never saw coming by Eric Boehlert
http://mediamatters.org/columns/200801220003.
"Liberal blogosphere" and "liberal bloggers do not have access to the same levers of power their conservative counterparts do;" in the same article? (Boehlert, cited above) Does the blog lean politically one way or the other? Do the big moneys in computers like Google and Microsoft and Apple influence politics, or society, one way or the other?
I will dig into this a bit deep later but here's a start for "how are blogs effecting society?" You, too, can search the web and comment. Together we can create some new knowledge for our class and our university. And for ourselves. I'm eager to see what you find relevant and something to share.
(I'm back from my errand.)
With a chance to clear my head (a little - in a sense) I've started to wonder beyond journaling and publishing with reviews, like the affect of blogging on the church or religion in general. Do we know more, understand more, ask more questions, get more confused, rely more on our selves than a god, discuss more openly? Will religion grow or decline or not be affected by blogs? How does religion influence society through blogs, and if you don't think religion affects society, take a trip to the Deep South of America?
I suspect we can make some connections between more blogs needing more websites meaning businesses like Google can grow bigger and hire more people giving them opportunities for employment? Is there a connection there?
Or we could consider how more people who want to be writers or have strong options can get their material out there, published if you will. Do blogs influence the way society thinks or acts? Apparently Kerbel (cited above) thinks that elections are affected by blogging.
I found the Blog for America site quite timely. Just finished chapter 9 in Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death," titled Reach Out and Elect Someone, and it ties in nicely with this topic of the voting and the political process in the US. Although his focus is on television's effect on our culture: "We Americans seem to know everything about the last twenty-four hours but very little of the last sixty centuries or the last sixty years." (Postman was quoting TV journalist Bill Moyers)
ReplyDelete"Terence Moran, [NYU professor] I believe, lands on target in saying that with media whose structure is biased toward furnishing images and fragments, we are deprived of access to an historical perspective, In the absence of continuity and context, he says, 'bits of information cannot be integrated into an intelligent and consistent whole.' We do not refuse to remember; neither do we find it exactly useless to remember. Rather, we are being rendered unfit to remember." (p. 137)
Sobering. But the growing awareness of blogs with a responsibl,e civic-minded intent, and rational - yet passionate - content are encouraging.
In one of the sites posted for Sage Journals Online, the power of the people can make their voices heard. "The authors find Blog for America to be an example of how the Internet is emerging as a vehicle for enhanced civic involvement with the potential to counteract the negative effects of television on the political process."
I enjoy watching the Colbert Report, as it often seems to me that the "news as comedy" angle is much more in touch with the pulse of today's viewers. In a story related to the power of social networking, a professor (grad researcher at MIT) was interviewed about the DARPA project, a military project/challenge to "see whether social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter should be seen as credible sources of information," not to mention investigate new ways to react to various threats that need instant attention. (http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/06/mit-based-team-wins-darpas-red-balloon-challenge-demonstrates/)
10 red balloons were placed at different locations in the US. A cash prize was offered, and the MIT team had four days to create their website before the challenge began. Through their social networking sites, the balloons were all located in 8 hours and 52 minutes.
I think this is a clear demonstration of the power of social media and/or blogging sites in the US - and clearly the world.
I was listening to NPR yesterday. On "All Things Considered," there was a segment on the future of technology jobs. The story included a quote by Ed Lazowska, professor of computer science at UW. Professor Lazowska said that technology jobs will boost the economy because they create new jobs and lead to further innovations. The transcript of the broadcast is available at www.podcasting.mobi/templates/story/story.php?storyld=122298649. If the link doesn't work, the story is called "Technology Sector Remains Upbeat about Job Growth." Furthermore, another NPR story, "When Play Means Pay: Video Game Jobs on the Rise" talked about how video game jobs help to boost the economy. Many of these jobs are well-paying and there is growth in this sector because of the demand for the product.
ReplyDeleteTo return to the topic at hand, blogging, I haven't seen any religious blogs before now. I was able to locate some at www.beliefnet.com but I would venture that religion is declining, not growing, thanks to blogs. Like Denise, I have been reading Neil Postman. In "Amusing Ourselves to Deaht," postman says, "The God of the Jews was to exist in the Word and through the word, an unprecedented conception requiring the highest order of abstrat thinking. Iconography thus became blasphemy so that a new kind of God could enter a culture." Personally, I do not consider myself religious but I am interested in theological discourse. I once attended a sort of adult Bible study in which the speaker insisted that it was time for Christians to once again become people of the "Word." He advocated refraining from video, audio and other medium and focusing instead on the written word, specifically the Bible. Like the good little muckraker I am, I asked him what his answer was to movies like "Bruce Almighty" or "The Prince of Egypt" or television shows like "Eli Stone." These shows and movies portray God positively and, moreover, make God a vital part of our contemporary existence.
I do support the idea of blogs helping the economy and helping people connect to one another. However, I think it needs to be done correctly. If social networking continues to rise, people will continue to subscribe to blogs. However, this doesn't mean the blogs will be worthwhile or interesting or informative.
It is true that other forms of media have to embrace the power of blogs and bloggers or else, likely cease to exist. The article about Chris Matthews shows that some contemporary media figures are still learning about the power of blogging and social networking. However, many have tried to harness that power. And it's more than just following your favorite news station on Twitter. If news stations can reach bloggers and spark commentary, they will continue to command an audience--even if the audience is just watching them so they can make negative comments later on a blog. The balance of power has already shifted but blogs may soon upend other forms of communication almost entirely.