I had a chance to be a guest on Music & Politics with Sito Negron on 1650am Wednesday morning. A big thanks to Sito for having me on and recognizing the importance of discussing blogs, their influence, and their place on the internet.
With the departure of Barbara Perez there has been a lot of chatter on the internet and on the other talk shows as to the reason why she left. During the chatter and discussion, the subject of blogs arose. Being a fairly prolific blogger myself, I thought I’d spend some time with Sito (editor of NewsPaper Tree found at www.NewsPaperTree.com) talking about the phenomenon of blogging.
Just to give you some background, blogging started in the mid to late 1990’s. The term web log was coined in 1997 by a guy named Jorn Barger. Another guy, Peter Merholz, shortened the term to blog, shortly thereafter. Originally it was a log of visitors to a website or a list of websites visited, depending on the usage and was primarily unique to the geek community.
But the concept of what we now call a “blog” has developed simultaneously throughout the digital world from people that used the concept of a weblog to create an online diary or journal. Being the voyeuristic culture that we are, more and more people started to read the online journals and eventually wanted to participate themselves.
This led to what is now the most explosive amount of information since the creation of the internet. Everyone wants to put their thoughts, feelings, opinions, and ideas on the internet, including yours truly.
But one of the greatest assets of a blog is also its greatest weakness…blogs are raw and unfiltered. Its like any conversation. Discussion is great and important, but sometimes raw and unfiltered discussion can be controversial, hurt feelings, or create dissention. Sometimes they can inform, motivate, entertain, and inspire.
But like any discussion, it is a two way street. Both parties have a certain level of responsibility. If the reader doesn’t like what’s being written, they can send a message to the author by not visiting the site any longer. Bloggers or Bloggists (“Blogger” is the name of an actual blogging platform so people are migrating away from that term) have a responsibility to maintain a certain level of responsibility and credibility with their readers. If they don’t, they lose their readers.
It’s a lot like talk radio. People notice the crazies or controversial at first, but it’s the people that have credibility with their audience, and the biggest audience, that end up sticking around. And like talk-radio, it is NOT meant to be a news source. Both talk shows and blogs contain information and are good sources for information but are largely editorial in nature. You will get strong opinions in both places. In fact, sometimes stuff breaks on talk radio and blogs. But you should know what you are getting into when you go to a blog.
There are a lot of legitimate criticisms about the blogging phenomenon and with specific blogs, including my own. My blog is not, nor do I assert it to be, perfect. But what I can’t stand is to hear people paint all blogs with a broad brush. I hate statements like blogs are trash, or they aren’t worth reading. That’s elitist talk, similar to saying that someone’s opinion is trash or not worth hearing.
If you have a bad experience with a restaurant you will do one of three things, a) nothing, b) complain, c) never go back to that restaurant. But most people won’t stop going to restaurants entirely. Most people won’t say all restaurants are trash or not worth visiting. Their criticism, valid or otherwise, will be directed at a specific restaurant. Some people will like the food, some people will hate it. The restaurant’s survival depends on whether they can have enough regular business to sustain the effort.
That’s a lot like blogging. The crazies and controversial get noticed, but the ones that stick around are the ones that build credibility with their audience. They entertain and inform, just like talk radio. They satisfy a hunger and craving just like a restaurant.
Blogging & Message Boards – There is a Difference
A blog is usually a single, or very few authors, and is based on posts. A post is usually an article-style or article-length piece written on any subject.
A message board is a little different. A message board is a place where there is more discussion involving several users simultaneously. The discussion is usually more wide open because there are more people in the room as it were, and the conversation is usually based on a “thread”. You can go into one thread, read what’s going on, join the conversation, and then go check out another thread. A great example is the forum hosted by local talk radio giant, Paul Strelzin (www.TheStrelz.com). There are a couple of crazies there, but for the most part, it is a great exchange of some of the most in-the-know people in El Paso. I know for a fact that there are a lot of elected officials, media personalities, and powers that be, that check it out. They don’t always post something, but trust me when I tell you, they are watching.
A little creepy now that I think about it…
Picture it this way, a blog is like a conversation between two or three people. Like a radio talk show that has a host, maybe a guest or two and one caller at a time. A message board is like a mixer. Several people all talking at the same time, in different groups, about a range of issues.
They are different and it’s important that people understand that crucial point.
Anonymity in Blogging, Message Boards, & Letters
One of the biggest criticisms of blogging and message boards is anonymity. Some people say that it is cowardly that posts can be written using a fictitious identity or screen name.
I think that to some degree, that is a valid criticism, but I must say that most posters on forums like the Strelz post responsibly. It’s pretty well self-policed by the users. Trust me, we have no problem challenging one another!
It’s also easier to be more candid about things when you don’t have to fear reprisal. That’s not being a coward. Reality, especially in a small town like El Paso with several political cliques, you almost have to sometimes.
But that kind of practice isn’t something new in this country. Many of our founding fathers were world-class ghost writers and spent a lot of time writing under a pseudonym. Ben Franklin wrote as Mrs. Silence Dogood (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silence_Dogood) Google it or check out any middle school history book and you’ll be amazed. These guys, some of whom are now on our currency, often hated each other’s guts and wrote some really personal shots. Most of the time, they saved their best stuff for good ole’ King George.
Although the El Paso Times doesn’t publish anonymous letters to the Editor, I know that it’s a pretty easy thing to do if you want to have a letter published under a different name. Whenever I’ve had a letter published, all I had to do was fill out a form online, enter my name, email address, and phone number and that’s it. Seems like it’d be pretty easy task to make up a fake name, creating a new email account takes about five minutes, and you’d only have to remember the name you used when the Times calls to verify. So if someone wanted to hide their identity when writing a letter to the Editor, it’s not like its rocket science or something.
Owning Your Words
If you author a blog, you have to be responsible for your words. That doesn’t mean that you don’t have to say what you think or feel. It just means you have to be prepared for the consequences, and I am okay with that. If you talk about someone in your blog and they don’t like it, expect a nasty phone call, email, or cold shoulder. You probably won’t be on their Christmas card list anymore either.
The thing about my blog is that it can get pretty rough here, I know. But I don’t write ANYTHING that I wouldn’t say to someone’s FACE. I might be many things, but a chicken shit isn’t one of them. Anyone who knows me if well aware of the fact that I have no problem telling an elected official, candidate, off-spring of a candidate, political operative, board member, radio show host, department head, lobbyist, party hack or even my parish priest (sorry Father Leo) exactly what I think.
It’s cost me my job and affected my career, but you have to brave enough to speak truth to power.
Rant About Courage (Not really related to the rest of this post)
Maybe I took it a little too personal on the radio on Wednesday, but I have a problem with people calling in and insinuating that someone is a coward because they “hide” behind a screen name. I proudly served my country for seven years and did two combat tours before I was old enough to buy a beer. I’m not saying I am some kind of superhero, just that I did my part for God and Country. I was scared out of my ass in combat. I did my job and probably even cried afterward if I remember right. So having survived that, I am not in the least bit scared of writing my blog, hurting someone’s little feelings, or getting a political payback (okay, maybe payback worries me a little).
Getting Back to Restaurants & Talk Radio
Visiting a restaurant is voluntary, no one forces you and your life doesn’t depend on it. Neither is going to a blog.
But just like selecting your favorite restaurant or talk radio show, it’s all about trial and error. You like some right away, you hate some right away, others grow on you after a while.
At any rate, El Paso has some of the best restaurants, talk radio shows, and blogs around. Sample as many as you can.
Buen Provecho.
