Questions for “Can Blogs Revolutionize Progressive Politics?”

1.      Why do the Democratic leaders embrace blogging as a potential political communication considering the traditional media landscape in politics?

Young people tend to vote more for democrats and also tend to adopt new technology more readily than their older counterparts.

2.      Blogging encourages a participatory culture. In what way does the participatory culture in blogging expand digital media convergence?

Participatory culture in itself expands digital media convergence by turning digital media into an auditory experience.

3.      In the article, the author says: “The ability of the Internet to erase geographical distances can become a structural weakness in elections where district lines and eligibility are key.” How can blogging counter this weakness in the process of turning the netroots to grassroots?

With the use of blogging, politically active people can encourage change not only in their own voting district, but in others as well. Television and radio do this to a degree as well, but only on a corporate scale. Blogging allows anyone with enough knowledge and time to become politically influential.

4.      The author spends the second half of the article discussing the lack of diversity in current blogosphere dominated by elite bloggers. Please use the concept of digital convergence to explain how blogs can become the real bearer of freedom, democracy, egalitarianism, and participation in the new media communication?

Blogs allow anyone to rise to the top and become an “elite” blogger with enough hard work. People are often found on the internet (twitter, blogs, etc.) and given writing jobs with little-to-no experience other than what they write in their blogs. Influential people have started blogs and almost instantly become the “blogging elite,” but others have started from nothing and raised themselves to the same level with their own hard work. If anyone can become influential due to blogging that leads to the idea that blogs can become the bastion of freedom, democracy, and egalitarianism.