Welcome to the Blogosphere!

Blogging is a fairly new phenomenon that allows people to anonymously express their opinions in an uninhibited, public forum. It permits more individuals to get involved in the democratic process by giving them an outlet, independent of a major mass media conglomerate, to release and obtain political information. There are no guidelines on what and how to write, and no credentials are needed.

As Stephen Gyllenhaal, a contributor to the The Huffington Post blog, wrote in his bio:

"Stephen Gyllenhaal is entirely unqualified to write for this blog except that, as a citizen of the US --hell, as a citizen of the planet-- he has as much right to speak his mind as the next person."

So while blogging is considered by many to be a positive addition to the media, its aforementioned advantages may also be its biggest pitfall. Although there are a number of informative blogs, such as The Huffington Post, which carefully monitor who and what is posted on the sites, in most cases ANYONE can create a blog about ANYTHING. Similarly, and even more problematic, ANYONE can comment about WHATEVER THEY WANT on a blog! While this may encourage political discussion, it also means people can rant and rave about anything they want in whatever manner they choose.

Case and Point - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth.

The site itself is very liberal, which is apparent from the posts and advertisements on the page, but despite their biases, the writers do have a grasp on politics and the current administration and express that knowledge in a clear and concise manner. The same cannot be said about those who respond to their observations.

In a September 10th posting entitled "Bush won't help fight the terror of crime in US cities," Joe from D.C. argued that the crime rate is increasing since more money is going towards the war on terror than to local violence. He brought in substantial quotes to prove his point, resulting in a brief but interesting post. This post elicited 135 comments. Some responders did make thought provoking comments with a point. Most did not.

A lot of the bloggers gave one-line answers that failed to add anything to the discussion. For example, dad said, "criminals vote republican failure pays." Another wrote, "this govt doesnt give a rats ass about los angeles. they shoot all their propaganda in canada, to fuck the union writers, actors and directors." Regardless of whether or not these statements are true, they fail to add anything to the political discourse.

Aside from content, the rhetoric of many of the comments was crass (refer to the above statement again). There were also a bunch of "hell" and "ass" references. While it is hopeful that in today's apathetic society there are still individuals who are passionate about politics, that is not an excuse to use lewd language.

Additionally, a lot of the rude comments were personal affronts. In response to a comment, a Mrs. Peel wrote, "Has a "Liberal" joined the service in the last 10 years? Well, why don't you provide a list of all the enlistees and their polital affiliations from the past 10 years and we'll see? Put you money where your fat yap is, otherwise, STFU, chicken hawk." And for the record, the typo of the word political is her error, not mine.

Another interesting thing I noticed was that a lot of the comments came from the same people. After the first few responses the blog became more like a chat room. While in theory this is great because it implies that blogs are giving citizens around the country (and the world) an opportunity to engage in thought provoking, democracy advancing conversation, in reality this did not occur. After a while I felt like I was reading the transcript of a schoolyard fight between children. Additionally, much of the conversation shifted from the original topic. While again, in theory this seems positive, people posting comments just to post comments is helpful to no one. Like Leighley has said numerous times, more information does not equal a more educated public. Having a plethora of insubstantial rants on the internet adds nothing to society.

The blog referred to above is only one of the many examples of the sort of unintelligent conversation the blogoshpere tends to open up. While the intention of the original poster may be to start a candid political conversation with the masses, those reading their blogs may feel differently. It is a well-known principle that often the people who tend to speak up are those with strong opinions one way or another. Therefore, individuals who post on these blogs tend to have unshakable views coming into the posts and are not interested in hearing intelligent arguments. As a result, many blogs shift from being a valid vehicle of information to being a place people can express their political frustrations in a blunt way.

In my observations, the question is not whether or not the posters and commenters have political knowledge. I believe that they do because if they were completely apathetic to the United States government they would not comment at all. Rather, most of them are overzealous and extremely opinionated people who place little value on intellectual and respectful conversation.