According to Andrew O’Baoill,
he assess the potential impact of weblogs on the public sphere, using a model
based on the work of Jürgen Habermas to provide an ideal against which we can
measure the efficacy of weblogs as a public space.
Specifically including
inclusivity of access, a disregard for external rank, and the potential for
rational debate of any topic until consensus is achieved are necessary
criteria for meeting Habermas's model of an idealized public sphere.
Inclusivity
Those promoting the weblog are
proud of the fact that it is so easy to use, with a typical claim being that
"anyone who can e-mail or buy online can blog" (Crowley, 2003).
Rank
Talking about outside rank-the
reputation that a contributor builds within a public sphere can be properly
taken into account, as it contributes to the warrant that a person is seen to
issue with each speech act. (O'Baoill)
Rational Debate of Any Topic Until
Consensus Is Achieved
The worry is that in the
constant desire for new data-be it new sources to which to link or the constant
need for anecdotes and entertaining memes-blogging provides a distraction, but
little true insight or productive results. (O'Baoill)
Inclusivity and Rank are two
necessary criteria I understand that are needed in weblogs and the public
sphere. Inclusivity basically states all
are welcome as long as you can email or purchase items on line creating an inclusive environment. The best example to use for rank includes the
way Google works. The most popular or
most clicked on key works/pages will be
pushed to the top. I’m still a little
fuzzy on the rational debate of any topic until consensus is achieved. I understand consensus as a general agreement
shared by a group but how it relates to this topic I’m not sure.
References:
O'Baoill, Andrew, Weblogs and the Public Sphere, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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ReplyDelete(Reposting due some spelling errors in the original.)
ReplyDeleteHi, Laticha! Your points on Inclusivity and Rank are spot on.
I am convinced that Wordpress posts would be as easy for my dad as writing an email. I would not ask him to change the theme or layout however. I think inclusivity does have its limits in that respect. Yes, anyone can blog, but anything beyond content may require additional learning or a third party to assist.
Rank in Google relevance is frustrating at time, although their heuristic is clearly better than I could develop - but there are still cognitive/intuitive flaws in the search mechanism. Once in a while I find Google leaving out a site that matches my search criteria. I know this only because I have the site bookmarked (but on another machine) and when I try to find it, I cannot specifically remember the exact text of the search that got me there.
Regarding the debate part I think they are referring to how blogs are not contributing to the overall "academicness" of the topic (facts, references, etc). It is assumed that blogs will only help to muddy the topic rather than make it more clear. I can see how that can happen. I was looking for information on a topic yesterday and, while I usually find good advice on many of the results in Google, several of the sites were horribly wrong in the solution and some in fact would lead to a worse situation. So while Inclusivity and Rank go a long way in many contributing in the public sphere, there is a sense that some of it may just be noise.
I agree with Bill, it's one thing that anyone can have a blog. But it's another thing that the information is correct. There is a lot of noise out there. Sometimes the best way I have found interesting blog has been through facebook and doing a search for facebook groups and by joining them they normally have a blog associated or even now instagram. If I like a topic I do a hashtag search and start to follow instagram accounts. It the account is legit and I feel that they are a value add for me I tend to start to follow their blog. I never had much luck with finding blog through google that weren't mass market.
DeleteHi! I think that it must be next to impossible these days to start a new blog with the intention of getting lots of followers unless it is a topic that hasn't been done before.And while it may not be that complicated to start a blog, the dedication that it takes to constantlyupload interesting content seems to be a challenge that only people with lots of time and passion can do. (Or professionals do within their expertise area, so it is part of their work.) I was interested in noting that using twitter is being strongly recommended as a personal learning network tool. Using twitter as a tool can link readers to various writers' blogs, in specific topic areas or to specific individuals. And twitter, is yet another world with its own language and techniques to use to communicate with others. However, there must be an article somewhere which addresses the role of twitter vis-a-vis the concepts of Inclusivity and Rank...perhaps twitter is somehow helping to widen the readership of blogs which are not the top ranked ones. Any views?
ReplyDeleteMarian-
DeleteI agree, I started my own accessories web site a few years ago. A friend of mine makes one of a kind jewelry and asked me to help her launch a web presence. I have a background in internet marketing and knew how to create a web site and start a blog. But unfortunately as I found out the real issue was time and money. With little budget we really weren't able to successfully get off the ground with the site or the blog. Social Media was a definite help with the use of twitter, facebook and instagram we did get a lot of followers but in today's competitive digital space that didn't equate to dollars earned. For the time spent keeping up with the networking and links the cost benefit wasn't there.