When I started this blog most people had no clue what a blog was or why I would do academic research on this subject.
Now bloggers are everywhere and it now seems the “in” thing to have a blog. Some bloggers have become online celebrities and even paid political pundits. Successful bloggers are making money through ad revenue on their blogs or by “someone” paying them to promote their agenda (we hope they at least disclosed this) in their blog postings.
Academics and the media industry has taken noticed. Ethical questions and professional integrity are a major concern for independent blogging.
The question I keep getting asked is “Is blogging a fad ?” “Is this just all hype?”
The answer is no.
Blogging will evolve just like websites did in the mid-1990’s. Many people created independent websites for news and then traditional media saw this threat and established online news sites. Traditional media is now doing this with blogging, as it seems news outlets now must have blogs on their website. Independent bloggers will be enticed with money to work for big media and bring their loyal readers along.
This website is correct in pointing out the ways that blogs have changed technology in politics. I think it is important in noting the role e-mail newsletters has had recently in american politics. On the national level Howard Dean, John Kerry, and even President Bush used their E-Mail Newsletters to raise serious money and get their supporters passing out literature and knocking on the doors. Citizen Builder(citizenbuilder.com) is allowing local candidates for public office the ability to reach voters in much the same way. This type of technology along with blogs shouldn't be overlooked.
Posted by: Thomas Long | March 14, 2005 at 05:50 PM