The Good Ol’ Days of Blogging
Posted: October 24, 2012 Filed under: 2012 elections, Democratic Politics, Domestic Policy | Tags: blogging, Blogosphere, DKos, Firedoglake, Net Roots Nation, Susie Madrak 64 CommentsI started hanging out at FDL around 2006 after being on a Democratic BBoard for years. That makes me a late-comer to the political blogosphere. I joined Facebook when you couldn’t get on to it with anything but an academic email. My two first friends were my daughters who I stalked as the concerned mother of two teenage girls. Shortly after that, FDL folks got into Social Media and my buddy list filled up. I still have many connections there but the 2008 vibe from the site and its management still leave a taste in my mouth even though many of my friends still participate there. It’s a different world from 2004 and 2008 and perhaps it was only a matter of time before some one explored that.
TDB has an article up that features Susie Madrak and Peter Daou that you should read. It’s an interesting view back in to Netroots Bloggers ten years ago. I know BB came via the DKOS route. I joined (2004) before I joined the FDL community but really didn’t do much there. I found the diaries sort’ve trite displays of personal ego and preferred the structure of hourly new threads by folks who participated in their discussion. Many of us remember the pre-, post, and 2008 atmosphere of the leftie political blogs when we wound up being homeless . The leftie bloggers took sides–vehemently–in the primary. The safe places became fewer and fewer. Those same places are now dead end blogs. I apply this term generouslysince many of them are really right wing r*f*ing sites now that make you wonder if any of them were actual real democrats at any point in there live or supported women’s issues or anything the Clintons supported. Frankly, it’s the overt racism that gets me now more than anything as they seem to be more aligned with Pam Geller and Phyliss Schafly than Hillary Clinton.
The basic picture of Netroots–ten years after–is an affiliation in decline according to the TDB article.
Part of the Netroots decline had to do with the inevitable maturing of the movement and the simple evolution of the Internet. Ten years ago the blogs were one of the few places on the Internet where it was possible to find out what was happening in real time, as even many establishment news organizations hadn’t figured out how to move their offline print and broadcast products to the Web.
That has long since been sorted out, and in the meantime, dozens of online-only news outlets have been likewise competing for clicks and crowding out some of the proud amateurs. The political conversation, like the rest of the online conversation, has moved to Facebook and Twitter, and the bloggers steeped in an earlier Internet culture have not been able to keep up.
“Some bloggers have learned how to play well with a very dynamic Facebook community, with a very dynamic Twitter community, but a lot just don’t have the mental bandwidth,” said Henry Copeland, CEO of Blogads, which sells advertising on the Internet. “You need a density of folks who are excited about doing it. All of this stuff requires a community, and as a blogger you want to be responding to other bloggers and be in the thick of it, and the thick of things has just moved in another direction.”
The typing hordes have moved in another direction too. The pace of blogging was always punishing and nearly impossible for those who did it to keep another job. But being marginally employed loses its charm after a while, even if you are able to elect the Congress of your dreams.
“The blogosphere that we knew of in 2004 and 2008 is not what it was,” says Raven Brooks, executive director a Netroots Nation, an IRL annual meet-up. “It is still a tight community; it is just older, more established. The economy isn’t what it was then. A lot were students, and they have graduated and gone looking for jobs.”
The back half of the article is dedicated to a where are they now kind’ve narrative. Many of the original bloggers have been mainstreamed into other places and a lot of been consolidated into bigger blogs. The article argues that the blogosphere and netroots is no longer a force for Democrats.
But with another critical election two weeks away, politicians, political operatives, and even the bloggers themselves say the Netroots are a whisper of what they were only four years ago, a dial-up modem in a high-speed world, and that the brigade of laptop-wielding revolutionaries who stormed the convention castle four years ago have all but disappeared as a force within the Democratic Party.
I wonder if they would reach the same conclusion about all the right wing blogs? It seems to me that they are taken much more seriously even by the traditional press. Afterall, Susie or Peter have not been hired by CNN to talk about elections but useless pieces of flesh and oxygen like Erick Erickson are hired as ‘consultants’. I’ve never heard a serious word or thought coming from his mouth once.
So, I’m sure that the GOTV ground game this time in key states is much more important to the Democratic candidates this year than positive action from bloggers. How many of you have actually visited ACT Blue this year? Still, there are a few candidates–Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Duckworth come to mind–that are still getting the benefit of the lose affiliation and affinity that happens on line between liberal activists and liberal bloggers. Where it will go in the future is any one’s guess at this point. I just know that I feel much more connected to democracy by participating. I also know that it’s one of the few places you can still go to get good conversations on extremely important things ignored by the MSM like drones, kill lists, and income inequality. So, call me a lifer.
Snowbilly Snookie and her Teahadis strike again .. this is blatant racism.
Sarah Palin posted on Facebook: “Obama’s shuck and jive shtick with these Benghazi lies must end.”
Why isn’t this woman in Wasilla holding down a job more in line with her brainpower?
I like this from Imani about her spewing.
lol
Comment at Pierce’s:
lol … really … dogsled on down here and take her back to to the middle of now where! please!!!
I don’t know why she thinks she is an expert or even has insights to being black, because she isn’t and doesn’t have any experience what so ever. Indeed her mirror is broke, and she needs to go home and buy some cosmetics.
What’s not being reported: This is becoming a disaster for the GOP on multiple levels
“…the utter shitstorm coming down on them if things don’t go their way…”
Gods, I hope so. I truly, desperately hope so!
Here’s the link to the Des Moines Register interview with Obama for any one interested.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20121024/NEWS09/121024003/After-editor-s-blog-President-Obama-releases-transcript-Register-interview?nclick_check=1
Read it this morning. He made a great case for a second term IMHO.
Can’t fathom why he didn’t want it on the record.
Oh really? How much “mental bandwidth” does it take to write 140 characters?
I was already incredibly upset about the Mourdock thing and Obama’s promised “grand bargain,” and now I get to be insulted by some idiot who sells annoying blog ads? I think I need a mental health break.
Well, BB, before you go to the padded room, here is the thing that will give you better medication while your are there.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/10/24/pennsylvania-may-force-workers-to-pay-taxes-to-their-employers/
No thanks. I can’t get any more upset. I have to drive cross country tomorrow.
I don’t understand the characterization of Dkos either. I was there almost from the beginning, and diarists have always participated in their comment threads. They still do. I’ve actually been reading there again lately because most of the really obnoxious people from 2008 are gone and a lot of the people who were there when I started are still there.
If you’re speaking to my characterization I may not have made it clear. I liked that bloggers I knew had threads going up consistently at a particular hour and would be there live for that time period. They were also put there because they researched the topics they knew … like Emptywheel. You could always depend that when her time was on you would be discussing the latest on security issues. That conversation stayed live with her there until the next frontpager’s turn came up. I liked that continuity. They’ve adopted diaries there now so there is less of that than there used to be.
Jane H has written a post about the Freedlander piece I cited above.
Pam also wrote something on Pam’s Houseblend. (She’s now on FD)
Susie’s response is here.
I’m thinking he bought stock.
He may have lost money on that stock.
Without the independent blogs, all we would get is the officially approved narrative of everything. The more “establishment media” takes over the web, the worse the propaganda catapulting will get.
DougJ: Don’t believe the hype
That’s a really good point. I’ve found myself blogging stuff from foreign newspapers that doesn’t get any print or airplay here.
Touré, the black guy on The Cycle just made a STUPID joke. Mo Rocca was on making a point about the stupid electoral college. And that numbskull Touré said “if you only get screwed twice in two years then you’re married”. Are left media I am so proud.
I was so upset, I typed are instead of our. Sorry BB, I’m taking your place in the padded room.
Toure, a question for you: “Twice? Well, you need to learn how to do it better, don’t you think?”
This is gonna leave a mark.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/betting-firm-refunds-trump-announcement-wagers-over-lameness
I don’t know shit about running a blog,I am not a front pager, I don’t twitter, just read, don’t have a face book page, the only thing I know about this subject is the “in the moment” war in left wing blogs Edwards, Clinton vs Obama. So I really can’t add to this in an intelligent way. Sorry if I have put up to many links to OT subjects.
That war affected all of us in a lot of ways. Since I’m not involved, the economics of blogging is not of much concern to me at the moment but I sure want the independent model to survive and thrive.
I like your links!
I like your links too! Don’t stop.
Well thanks Ralph, so do I, but today I wondered why I was linking. I actually had a great photo bomb that might lift spirits here. So because you commented to me here it is for you.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/24/obama-kissing-photobomb_n_2009798.html
Cool photos!
So cute!
Even Mike Allen isn’t fooled enough to get behind Ro-mentum.
Politico Playbook
I’ll leave today with something up lifting. Bill Clinton
Just one more OT, I swear.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/10/24/1083101/proposed-bill-food-stamp-benefits-raped/
Don’t go, PD!
Thanks, BB, I have had some terrible things happen today in my life and I had a day off from work so I guess I’m am on edge. But I watched, to bad for me, Paul Ryan make the case to poor people and I left a link, and a link to hyatt hotels making housekeepers wearing basically “prison ankle bracelets”. I guess I read to many things that hurt my soul.
PD,
Sorry you had a bad day. I’ve had a bad day too. I heard about the Paul Ryan speech, and it made me so angry. I was already so angry about the anti-abortion nuts. I’m starting to calm down now, I guess. Sometimes you do have to just take care of yourself.
pd, sorry to hear about how hideous your day was.
That Big Dawg ad for Obama is fantastic!
Rebecca Traister’s twitter feed is simply hilarious!
Markos has posted his response to the “blogging is dead” article.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/24/1149615/-Is-the-netroots-dead-Hardly
Just looked at when I joined DKOS was in 2004.
I’ve dug down into my bookmark stash to offer first a post on the topic of a much more over-arcing liberal/democrat problem, dated 2010:
“The lunatic fringe of the Republican Party, which looks set to make sweeping gains in the midterm elections, is the direct result of a collapse of liberalism. It is the product of bankrupt liberal institutions, including the press, the church, universities, labor unions, the arts and the Democratic Party.”
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_world_liberal_opportunists_made_20101025/
and second, a post on my favor topic — the Christian Fascists — beginning with a quote from Hannah Arendt on how to convince the masses:
“What convinces masses are not facts,” Arendt wrote in “Origins of Totalitarianism,” “and not even invented facts, but only the consistency of the system which they are presumably part. Repetition, somewhat overrated in importance because of the common belief in the masses’ inferior capacity to grasp and remember, is important because it convinces them of consistency in time.”
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_christian_fascists_are_growing_stronger_20100607/
I thought of these two posts last night after watching 45 minutes of fox news, half split between O’Reilly and Hannity.
The career I just left mostly consisted of endless, often heated, debates with contractors, architects, inspectors and product reps over the merits of how water runs downhill, except when it doesn’t, that certain products cannot be combined with others, that 1/6″ really does matter and that it really is a code violation and even unsafe when waterproofing and roofing is installed incorrectly. The rest of the time was spent driving, standing and writing tediously long descriptive reports.
I did not have the same political history as you all do, and am still on the outside looking in. I guess the thing that drew me to blogs and even some blogging was the debating and writing development of very career I had left-the need to find a truth of things.
Where else is this to be found? Oh yes, trusted independent sources like maybe The Texas Observer, High Country News, CS Monitor, some foreign sources, to name a few. However, mostly right now, its blogging.
Twitter might be good for an emergency warning system, or practicing your one line zingers. It is not good as a rating system on what the public really thinks, nor does it even represent the public at large.
Facebook doesn’t work for much the same reason, and can co-mingle what you think politically with your family photos. Something most of us would rather not do.
Many of the blogs and Netroots, as you mention above are problematic because of their agendas. However, they are part of the variety of choice. I think a consistent voice is the key to trust. You guys have it.
I agree. Blogging gives me an opportunity to write, which I have always enjoyed doing and to figure out how I feel about things. Twitter is great for getting breaking news out or for mocking Republicans memes and having that go viral. I think it’s great, but it’s not a substitute for blogs.
roofingbird, I wish I would have written that, it sums it up for me.
What pdgrey said. Thanks!
VA State Board of Elections Requests Investigation of Colin Small Voter Fraud Case
http://politic365.com/2012/10/24/va-state-board-of-elections-requests-investigation-of-colin-small-voter-fraud-case/
Good!!
Cuccinelli’s excuse disappeared. Good.
When rapists try to get custody.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/08/rapist-seeks-child-custody-shauna-prewitt
I haven’t read every word of all of the articles to which you’ve linked, but I’ve read enough to get the gist. It all comes down to this: “Prog-blogging — where’s the money?”
Answer: There ain’t none. Get used to it.
There was a time when I had dreams of turning my own humble blog into a paying concern. But then I saw how hard Brad Friedman had to hustle. He blogs, he does radio, he shows up on TV, in documentary films, lecture halls…
Brad’s good at that stuff. But that’s not me. I want to write, not to display my ugly mug.
The only way to write freely is to give up all thought of money. Samuel Johnson once said that “No man but a fool ever wrote, save for money.” Blogging is for fools. I like to think of myself as a “wise fool,” like the one in King Lear.
I think that there IS money circulating in the right-wing blogosphere. In places we do not see, the devil shows up, opes his bag, and tosses a few coins at an independently quirky conservative, who soon turns into yet another typist for GOP Central Control.
Facebook has stolen much traffic from the bloggers. Facebook is evil.
I agree wholeheartedly. I write because I like to write and blogging gives me instant feedback and the opportunity to discuss me ideas with other people.
I’ve read Cannonfire every day for years and appreciate your work no end. Thanks very much!
What Ralph, BB, and Kat said!
I guess I never did think I would make any kind of living out of this. I needed some place beside the local bar to let off steam during the Bush administration. I’d go nuts without a place to hear folks I respect agreeing that Romney is the single worst candidate to ever come down the national pipes ever. I can’t believe the number of people that are willing to give Romney and Ryan the keys to their uterus and their/our daughter’s uterus just because they were on the wrong side of politics in 2008.
Another OT item: Court will consider public release of Mitt Romney’s testimony in Stemberg divorce case on Thursday.
She may teach Trump how it’s done. What a mess.
Nothing ever swings our way (women) but wouldn’t this be an interesting development?
“Direct those questions to Boston because Donald Trump is Mitt Romney’s biggest supporter, so he owns everything he says.”
— David Plouffe, quoted by Politico, when asked about Trump’s much-hyped video announcement today.
Fuck yeah!!!!!
Here are the latest polls from the battleground:
Nevada: Obama 50%, Romney 48% (Rasmussen)
Nevada: Obama 51%, Romney 47% (Public Policy Polling)
New Hampshire: Romney 50%, Obama 48% (Rasmussen)
New Hampshire: Obama 48%, Romney 45% (Lake Research)
Ohio: Obama 49%, Romney 44% (Time)
Ohio: Obama 47%, Romney 44% (SurveyUSA)
Ohio: Obama 48%, Romney 48% (Rasmussen)
Ohio: Obama 46%, Romney 44% (Lake Resaearch)
Virginia: Obama 50%, Romney 43% (Old Dominion University)
Virginia: Obama 49%, Romney 46% (Newsmax/Zogby)
I started reading blogs and commenting back in the Dean campaign movement in 2004. Had a few pieces front-paged on a couple blogs, once on the DNC blog in ’05. What I liked was contact with people who would fact-check, dig up sources, and raise questions, all so quickly.
In fact, old-time blogging in the political left blogosphere was “crowd-sourcing” news and useful information. It was also an online salon in which you could discuss with others, without phsyically having to round up people and decide when/where to meet.
I kept hanging out with a few NW and nat’l lefty orgs and blogs into 2008. Never fell for Obama and couldn’t understand the draw. Originally for Edwards due to his health-care policy stance, and then Hillary. Dean did a 180 and forgot that the real grassroots should get their votes counted and all that shit he used to be for. TalkLeft got CDS after the nomination masquerade. Most of the other blogs were main-lining Kool-Aid then but a hardy few small blogs helped the rest of us keep sane. And then I jumped over to SkyDancing and home, with visits to some of those same hardy blogs (the ones that haven’t turned psychotic.)
Twitter — How do you discuss in sound bites? Oh, it can be great fun, but everythings a one-liner. Facebook — never have, due to privacy concerns.
Long live old-time and new-time blogging!