What is the blogosphere? (Updated 01/08 9:30 PM EST)
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 01/08/2005 - 11:23
In a comment to Sigmund, Carl and Alfred’s blog entry about male and female bloggers, Isabella commented that the blogosphere seemed, at least from her perspective as a woman, like high school.
This fits well with some thoughts that have been mulling over in my head over the past twenty-four hours. Yesterday afternoon I had a wonderful discussion with my daughter Mairead about parallels between France around the time of the French revolution and what is going on in the United States today.
It was a fascinating discussion that I hope to forge into a great blog post in the future. It reminded me of my best memories of college, those late night discussions about philosophy, politics, religion, and everything else under the sun. Mairead is very fortunate to get to have these discussions now, skipping some of the less desirable aspects of high school. I am very fortunate to participate from a distance as her father. At its best, the blogosphere has the ability to be a venue for such wonderful conversations.
I also spoke on the phone yesterday with a friend whose daughter is in sixth grade and is suffering the ill effects of mean girls and queen bees. At its worst, the blogosphere, and all the IMs and chatrooms are an amplification of these worst tendencies.
All of this came together in a discussion that I had last night with my friend Gabe Wachob who is running for a spot on the California Democratic State Central Committee. He had sent me a draft of his statement that he wanted to distribute to the electors and want to know my thoughts. He was particularly concerned about being ‘too cheesy’. As we talked about it, he pointed me to a picture he has of him with Diane Feinstein from 1983 when he was a kid.
It is a great picture and I encouraged him to use it. We talked more about his message and I suggested that his tag line should be something like, “I want to help regular people feel really excited about being Democrats.” We desperately need more people like Gabe in politics.
I continue to get into discussions about whether I should run for State Chair of the Connecticut Democratic Party. It would be a great honor, and a wonderful job, and I do need a new job. However, if I do decide to run, it will be to help regular people feel really excited about being Democrats. My goal would be to help build that excitement through my running, independent of who gets elected. My biggest concern is that I don’t want to be a spoiler and end up causing someone who won’t build the party that way to get elected.
So, what is the blogosphere? At its best it is a place where we can return to the wonderful experiences of our youth when we first got involved in politics, when we first had heart felt discussions about everything and anything, when we were driven by concern about how we can best help one another At its worst, it is a place where narrow minded queen bee wannabees snipe at one another and cause great harm.
Let us all strive for the best the blogosphere can offer.
Update: Gabe won. He is now a member of the California State Central Committee!
The blogosphere
Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 01/08/2005 - 13:54.You're spot on about the best and the worst of it. And as in high school (or college), the best easily makes up for all the pettiness of the worst. It's all the idea-bouncing and passion of late nights laying your soul bare, knowing all that's good with the world and believing you can make it even better.
Love the pic. As for anything being "too cheesy," it never is if it's sincere.
I look forward to hearing about the U.S.–France parallels.
Cheers, Isabella
On the Merry-Go-Round
Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 01/08/2005 - 14:30.Your comment on the blogshere is an intersting one- thought provoking, actually.
Your remarks at the end are telling- that is, the blogsphere can be applied as we choose. Iy is intersting to note that even technology, new forms of communication, et., haven't really changed our essential selves. Who we are and what we want to say/be still determine the use of these technologies.
WHat I find most intersting about the blogshere (and the jury is still out on whether its a pluc or minus) is the ease in which we can be exposed to new ideas, be influenced (or not) by them and this, choose to be who we are in response to those ideas.
Obviously, that has it's benefits, but there is a darker side as well. 'Proganda,' and presentation take center stage, whether we like it or not. We can be immediately turned off to ideas and ideologies, simply because we don't like the esthetics in front of us.
Learning it seems, is becoming less interactive and more reactive. Once again, ideas and beliefs can change with a better presenation. Thinking, deciding and even defending ideas is being replaced with entertainment.
Pity, I think.
SC&A
Blogosphere
Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 01/08/2005 - 18:29.I think it's a little better than high school. In HS, most people were influenced based on activities and looks/popularity. In blogs, it doesn't matter as much. If your funny or interesting, you get noticed. Also, kindness matters a lot more in the blog scene. Just my opinion.
My site
Looks do matter. Marketing is
Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 01/08/2005 - 20:24.Looks do matter. Marketing is everything. Funny and interesting are good, and I'd like to think content takes precedence over form, but the web of links we weave is part of group dynamic behaviour — we form cliques, we gravitate to more popular blogs, others don't get noticed at all.
What blogging (the whole Web) affords that high school doesn't, for better and worse, is anonymity: Better, to explore ideas we may not otherwise be exposed to. Worse, in being allowed to choose to not be accountable. How can it be a kinder place if it's faceless?
Briefly, re SCA's comment, our world's been reduced to soundbites. CNN is entertainment. We have short attention spans. Who's at fault: tv? MTV? school system? medicalization of our society (diagnosing ADHD rather than properly parenting)?
Ummm. I kind of lost my point in my rambling. Maybe that the Net is in its adolescence.
Isabella
Where to, Doc?
Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 01/09/2005 - 02:58.We have come to have very different understandings and expectations of our political process.
Isabella is right, of course. The world we live in is vastly different from the world of even a generation ago. All the things that Isabella mentioned are indeed, contributory. We are more distant than ever from real participation in the matters that affect us most.
Now that we have identified the issue, the real question takes on real urgency- how do we fix the problem before the disconnect is complete?
As schools from the primary grades through university level treat political involvement as as agenda based only (this goes both ways- liberal and conservative, in public and parochial schools), it would seem the task ahead is difficult.
I worry Aldon, that voices like yours and some others that you know, from the other side, are swimming against the tide.
SC&A