It had to happen sometime; Politicians adapting the use of the Internet to post their obnoxious views on everything under the sun. The Internet is a huge outlet for everyone to gather and post and view peoples' thoughts especially with the help of blogs. To tell you the truth, I am not into politics at all, and before writing this blog couldn't tell you the first thing about them, except that they are very outspoken and have views on everything. I started off my search of looking for a political blog by doing a basic Google search. I came across a website that I thought looked pretty reliable. The URL is http://nbjr.speakupwny.com/, and I have to say that this website did turn out to be a very well constructed political blog. The name of the blog is North Buffalo Journal and Review: My views through a prism of free market values. The blog belongs to Michael Rebmann. Rebmann began posting on this blog in March of 2006, and it clearly has developed into a well established site now with advertisements, and even interactive polls for visitors. Rebmann currently has an ad for Ron Paul, a presidential candidate for 2008, had I never visited this site, I wouldn't have even known who that is, sadly enough; I just am not into politics. Rebmann figured it was his time to start his blog in March of 2006, after posting on others' blogs for a while. "I decided it was time to join the league of bloggers. I have been posting for awhile on other blogs, now I want my own. This page will be updated soon, however, since this is my first day and I’m still busy playing around with all the features..." (Rebmann "About me and this blog"). The blog's date of birth is officially March 16th, 2006. Rebmann is a Paralegal, and is currently just a citizen blogger with a lot to say. His blog rank is Rank: 92,746 (326 links from 45 blogs). The one thing I like about Rebmann's site is that it isn't all about politics, he offers his own photography and recipes for cooking. I must say that before searching for a political blog, I wasn't interested in this at all; I always thought of politicians or people with strong feelings towards politics as annoying. I have to say that Rebmann is not so bad after all. His posts are never too long, and he adds pictures most of the time which make it more attractive to the eye. He is witty and uses some humor which I would have never believe anyone interested in politics would do. Rebmann definitely is internet friendly and that shines bright through his use of the website. He fully accesses the advantages of having an interactive site where he can post his views. He offers links to many interesting sites, and helpful sites at that. He doesn't make the blog boring with plan text, but yet offers interesting pictures he took, and he kind of adds a little humor here and there to some of his posts to keep his audience lively.
In Alinta Thornton's thesis on the growing use of Internet use and politics she states, "There is intense interest in the Internet’s potential to contribute to various sociological phenomena, primarily from American Internet enthusiasts. Foremost among these ideas is that the Internet will contribute to, or even be primarily responsible for, a new era of participatory democracy and a revitalization of the public sphere..." Thornton also mentions something about how now-a-days, politicians and people need to use the new media offered if they want to get ahead. "Instead of reporting on politics, the media are active participants in the political process through their role in publicity. Increasingly, the media has become central to political life. Politicians who do not constantly stay abreast of the media's requirements and actively plan their publicity tend to fall quickly out of favour. Those who are not good 'media performers' suffer the same fate (Thornton "Does Internet Create Democracy?"). Political blogging will continue for however long the internet exists, which seems like forever. People post blogs on meaningless things that no one cares to read about, so why shouldn't people post their political views? They should, so it all works out in the end, people post their views, get comments back, and all is happy.
Rebmann, Michael. North Buffalo Journal and Review. Mar. 2007. WordPress. 25 Mar. 2007
Thornton, Alinta. "Does Internet Create Democracy?" Oct. 2002. 25 Mar. 2007
No comments:
Post a Comment