Friday, April 22, 2011

The influence of blogs

Blogs have become very influential on the tone and editorial direction of news reporting. In a blog you get to set the topic of the conversation which gives a person the power to focus on a certain event or idea. If enough people write about a certain topic than their opinions have a direct impact on how people view the subject.
Blogs inform the public about bias in media,  they play a watchdog role of the media. They raise money for causes or candidates, they form rallies, and push people to vote. Another benefit is that you get news much faster from a blog than mainstream media. You also get to the view the story from different angles.
You can see the power of blogs and other new media sources such as twitter and facebook in the Egyptian uprisings. The government saw these social media channels as a big threat which resulted in the internet being shutdown across the nation. There has been a great change in how knowledge is shared today. It is important to see that the voices of these new social media channels have power, they have to power to create change.

2 comments:

  1. It is truly amazing how the internet has totally changed the world. So many things have been completely revolutionized. Two things: One, I think it's important to note blogger bias. Two, I'm a bit bothered by blogger culture because I don't think that everyone has the right to an opinion- only those who actually know what they are talking about. It's hard to have to figure out what is crap being said and what is actually worthwhile, when all people are being given equal forums. I think one should have to prove their credentials before blogging lol- Intellectual monopolies are the way to go!

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  2. I agree that blogs set a tone and convey a bias towards their issue at hand. Blogs have an unbelievable power to influence ones way of thinking or approaching a certain issue. if a blogger writes as if it is obvious to what he is arguing, then the reader too will agree with the blogger. I disagree with infinite jester. I think that everyone has a right to an opinion in the blog sphere whether or not they know what they are talking about. The blog sphere is available for anyone to comment to others, feeling as if their opinion needs to be heard.

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