Blogs and Politics (Assignment 8)

I must admit that when I first read this assignment, I was kind of nervous about writing this blog. I am not really interested or familiar with politics therefore I felt as if it was going to be a challenge. I did a lot of research looking for the perfect political blog for me to use and show as an example.

First I decided I should look up the definition for what a “political blogger” really is. For this I used Wikipedia: “A political blog is a common type of blog that comments on politics. In liberal democracies the right to criticize the government without interference is considered an important element of free speech. In other jurisdictions bloggers use the uncensored nature of the internet to bypass state controlled news media but as a result may find themselves persecuted.” (Wikipedia.com)

Using google.com I found this blog http://blog.itsallpolitics.com/page/2/. Most of this blogs contributions were from many different people. I couldn’t find out exactly who started the blog because it isn’t just one person who posts on the site. In his first blog he basically invites anyone who wants to comment on politics or start a discussion to register and begin a conversation over the internet with others. The blogs title is “Political Blog” so in other words it is a very broad blog and covers nearly every aspect of politics.

From what I gathered from this blog, it is not a politician who is heading it up. It appears to be just a citizen blogger along with many other citizens commenting. The blogs date of birth was January 13, 2006. The tone of this blog seems to be somewhat broad. People are discussing and commenting on many many different issues in politics and government.

It has become a lot easier for people to learn about politics since it is mostly online. It gives people the chance to voice their opinion on certain issues. Since voting is a huge privilege in the United States, we are fortunate enough to have the internet now to use as a tool to gain more information so we can make the right choice when voting. There isn’t really a definite tone of this political blog. People can talk about any political interest. I did read a lot of blog posts about candadian politics so I think most of the people posting on here are from Canada. I just liked that it didn’t have a specific topic that you needed to talk about if you wanted to comment on this particular blog. A few specific topics I noticed on this blog were freedom, presidential elections, and even advertisements for an Ohio Attorney General Candidate where the blogger is trying to persuade the readers to vote for the Attorney.

I definitely think newer communication technologies enable broader political participation. The young, old, educated, and uneducated are able to research politics throughout the internet now. Not only does the internet provide us with a lot of information on politics but blogging itself (which has become more widely used lately) allows users to ask questions and receive answers, anonymously if desired.

In conclusion, I would say I defintley think that political blogs are helping out the society. They allow everyone (who wants to) to participate in debates and receive information at a much easier, low-key rate. In other words, you can maintain an anonymous name all the while educating yourself on important issues.