Lets Adopt: Even the Celebrities are doing it!

The Buffalo HodgePodge defines itself simply as "a melting pot of ideas about our world, nation, and hometown.” It is a blog where community is both fostered and developed through online interaction and offline action. The Buffalo HodgePodge is a member of the WNYmedia.net conglomeration; the bloggers' pseudonym is Buffalo HodgePodge and his or her e-mail address is also present. The earliest recorded archive was June 12, 2006; the initial conception of the Buffalo HodgePodge. Technorati has ranked the Buffalo HodgePodge 138,722 with 264 links from 31 blogs. In my opinion, the Buffalo HodgePodge is an informal blog used to discuss prurient issues. From Wal-Mart woes to Sabres fever, the Buffalo HodgePodge offers an excellent mix of popular and political culture. It incorporates well into the public sphere, however with some topics lacking frequent posts it may be evident what this blogger enjoys doing most, or least. However, with a plethora of links to “all things Buffalo”, the Buffalo HodgePodge also serves to connect other blogs present in Buffalo’s sphere of influence. As I have alluded to in earlier posts, blogs are a great example of participatory journalism, Where people like you and me gather the facts and tell the whole story, without bias. As I began reading the Buffalo HodgePodge, I quickly became aware of its intent. That is, not to criticize or belittle, but rather to report and define. I will say with confidence that the Buffalo HodgePodge does not interpret, for everything that us posted is without bias. You see, most blogs are uncensored by the media and are not subject to corporate welfare or partnerships. In the same sense, the main duty of “political” blogging is to educate and raise awareness of what people would not know otherwise.

I also found the Buffalo HodgePodge to be very concerning of issues important to our hometown; ironically Super Wal-Mart and Super Target. It were these posts and similarly those about Medicare and Healthcare that generated the most comments. For example, in the post relating to Western New York’s hospital debate, Steve writes “With that, DeGraff might still be an appropriate consideration for closure, as North Tonawanda-area citizens still would have relatively easy access to Kenmore Mercy to the south, and Niagara Falls Memorial or Mount St. Mary’s to the north, and Millard Fillmore Suburban to the east.” To be honest, Buffalonians could probably care less about lobbyists than other prinicpal issues such as the economy.

Without people politics do not exist. It is people who breathe life into politics, converting ideas into legislation and law. However, in my opinion politics serve to emasculate public opinion through the bolstering of agendas and policy. Politics also become instated through discourse and translation. Therefore if there were no people to discuss, argue, or simply agree to disagree, politics would have a short half life. In Thornetone’s article (2002) Mark Surman writes that “massive and positive social change will emerge from the introduction of a single, discreet [sic] communications technology. . .” (p. 6). With that in mind, could not blogging be that very communication technology that transcends society to become one of the most influential communication mediums known to exist? Thornetone (2006) also goes on to say that “the role of traditional media (television, magazines and newspapers) in modern democracy is increasingly problematic, and serious questions have arisen about its capacity as a site for political criticism or rational debate (p. 9). That is where blogs shine. Bloggers are not worried about making their contributors and sponsors happy, if anything blogs are out their to stick it ot the man. Take for example “Baghdad Burning” which brought out the secrets and true events occurring at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. I cannot innumerate that idea that blogs raise a serious question; that journalists should interact with the audience and reflect the desires of the group through non-commercial methods. Blogs allow people to play an active role in collecting, reporting, analyzing, and sharing information. I feel very strongly that blogs do in fact affect politics due to their ease of use and its promotion of practical reflection.

The internet also allows for convergence through its profound effects on members of a network or a group. According to Entman, the media frames meanings into social events; giving us a guideline by which to interpret the information. On the other hand, blogs and the internet saw a remarkable increase in use for political avocation. For example a PEW study found that, “in 2003, the Dean campaign posted 2,910 entries on its “Blog for America” and received 314,121 comments, which were also posted there. As the result of one of those comments, 115,632 handwritten letters were sent from supporters to eligible voters in the upcoming Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary (Cornfield, 2005, p.2). Similarly, Cornfield (2005) also found that “the internet made a difference in helping campaigns decide who to contact, what to say, when to say it, and, crucially, who to send to say it” (p. 5).

In closing I would like to leave you with something to contemplate.

Cornfield (2005) says that “The more citizens use the internet, the more they might expect from campaigners and political journalists: rapid responses to information searches; a multiplicity of perspectives available on controversies; short and visually arresting promotional messages; drill-down capacities into referenced databases; more transparency from, and access to, institutions and players. Meanwhile, on the supply side of the political equation, candidates, groups, and parties now have models for how to use the internet to raise money, mobilize voters, and create public buzz. The new benchmarks established in 2004 could well be matched and surpassed in 2008” (p. 7).

References

Cornfield, M. (2005). The Internet and Campaign 2004: A look back at the campaigners. Retrieved March 25, 2007 from http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/.

Thornton, A. (2002). Does Internet create Democracy? Retrieved March 25, 2007 from http://www.zip.com.au/~athornto/thesis_2002_alinta_thornton.doc.