Hw 3: Toward a More Participatory Democracy

"Toward a More Participatory Democracy" written by David Kline goes into great detail just about how much blogging has impacted our society and most importantly politics. It was interesting to read how much of an impact they have had on previous elections and how popular they have really become. Kline states that "leading up to the 2004 presidential election, the ten most popular political blogs collectively had 28 millions visits from readers." Still being unfamiliar with blogs it is amazing to me to see how many people actually blog themselves and use blogs as places to gain information about politics and different subjects. Americans tend to believe that hey are receiving false information from newspapers and news channels. Kline states “45% of Americans said they believe little or nothing of what they read in their daily newspapers.” I found it hard to believe that people would trust articles that they read on blogs more so than they do in newspapers. Kline also made an interesting point about how political blogs have turned politics into a participatory sport rather than a spectator sport. The impact that blogs already have only shows how much of an impact they are going to have in our country’s political future. Kline does a great job at convincing the reader about how important and influential blogs have ultimately become within the past couple of years. He has showed me how passionate people are about them and that they create a productive way for people to be heard.

HW 2: Blogging goes global

Blogging is going global:
It is hard to believe that use of blogging has grown so much over the past couple of years. Not knowing much about blogs before this class started it is amazing to learn about them and how much they are expanding. David Kline’s 12 key ideas about blogging emphasize just how common they are becoming. As Kline says “blogs are already changing culture and politics around the globe.” Relating to this is somewhat difficult, mainly because blogging has never been part of my life. However, it is clearly growing and taking on many responsibilities such as politics. I find it interesting that people have adopted this idea of blogging and have become extremely interested in it. It is surprising to see how much of an impact blogs have had on serious issues. Not only have they become popular in the United States but they are making their way around the world and virtually connecting all of us together. Kline also discusses how blogging software allows more countries like the UK, Australia, and Sweden to get their voices heard on numerous subjects. It is clear that blogging with continue to dominate in today's society and will only become more and more popular.