the ear of those in power

Yesterday Dave Winer linked to a piece on John Kerry's campaign blog written by Mrs. Edwards, the wife of Kerry's running mate.

The post, titled "Elizabeth Edwards on Blogging," really caught my eye. In reading it, I was struck with this feeling all over again about the power of blogging.

In the post, she talks about the blogs she reads & some new gems she found recently. Dropping a name like Kos doesn't impress me - I'm sure she reads all of the A-listers. But then she mentioned Ed Cone. In my book, he's a Blog Rock Star - but then I've seen him speak at conferences & really have no idea as to how "well-known" he is. After all, he's "just" a journalist from North Carolina (hopefully the tongue-in-cheek meant there came through).

I tell my students all the time that blog readers are more educated than bloggers; the people who right the posts have less education than those who read them. I remind them that this creates a unique society where the little guy really does get the chance to talk directly to the people in power & have their voice heard. I'm guessing from my reaction to Mrs. Edwards post that I forgot what that statement really means.

It means that you don't have to make million dollar donations or appear on the society pages to "get some time in" with the people charting our nation's course. I don't know how many blogs Mrs. Bush or anyone in the White House reads, but you know it is happening.

This ubber-idealistic view of blogs turns out to be more true than I had thought.

polish blogs

I spent this week in England at the Association of Internet Researchers annual conference. After hearing Zizi Papacharissi's presentation on the uses & gratifications of blogging at last year's conference, some friends & I found ourselves inspired. We wanted to look at the motivations for Polish blogs.

We set forth a plan to write up a paper & submit it for the next conference. This spring it was accepted & we put the final touches on the paper before I flew to the UK to present it.

If you're interested in the findings, check out my post on Phil Wolf's BlogCount profiling the Polish blogger.

blog rock star

I just got back from the Association of Internet Researchers annual meeting. Why no blogging why there? Well, I'll let someone else blog about that.

There were several great blogging papers & for the most part all of Tuesday was dedicated to blog panels. One such panel was standing room only (no joke). It was there that I realized you don't have to be a Joi Ito or Glenn Reynolds to be a blog rock star. Nope, you can be an academic who is just known for progressive & interesting blog research.

So who is the newest BRS? None other than Jill Walker, Ms. Definition of a Weblog herself. I can say with confidence that she is a BRS because the room was way over capacity during the panel she was on. Immediately after her last slide ... half the room got up & walked out. They had only come to see Jill's presentation.

I don't expect (nor really want) to be a BRS. But it is great to know that geeky academics have them within their own subculture.

More on AoIR to follow ... for now, enjoy the central feed at http://topicexchange.com/t/aoir/.

blog research

Joe Walther has long kept a useful list of computer-mediated communication research articles. Now, I'd like to offer the same service to those interested in blog research.

Calling all blog researchers, take a look at this list of articles & check it twice. Did I miss an article you presented or published? Do you know of other articles? Let me know & I'll update the list ASAP.

hurricane blogs

I came to Florida this weekend for the first time since moving to Baton Rouge. Yep, just in time for the hurricane.

For the most part our weekend has not been over run with hurricane craziness, but that is all starting to change as the bad weather makes it way up toward Gainesville. There isn't much in the way of blow-by-blow reporting (no pun intended) I can do now that Mark & I have moved to UF campus where we are assured Internet access & power. He has to be here so he can update the UF Web page, which has already served as a great source for campus updates to worried parents whose students are across the street in dorms riding it out.

So, if you want hurricane excitement, check out these blogs:

• WeatherBug Blog
• First Coast News (Jacksonville)
• WeatherNet
• WXnation

For now, I'll continue on in the place that has become our base camp for the next 12 hours.

RNC bloggers a-blogging

Thanks to everyone's earlier help for a complete list of official credentialed RNC bloggers. It appears as if there are around 15 official bloggers welcome in the "blog corner," but heightened security makes the RNC blogger unfriendly for those without the media creds.

Regardless, check out this profile by the Wall Street Journal then enjoy the blow-by-blow convention coverage at one of these official credentialed blogs:

• Kevin Aylward, WizBang
• Dean Esmay, Dean's World
• Blogs For Bush
• Matt Margolis, Blogs For Bush
• Captain Ed, Captain's Quarters and Blogs For Bush
• Scott Sala, Slant Point
• John H. Hinderaker, Power Line
• Karol, Dean's World and Spot On
• Bill, INDC Journal
• Tom Bevan, RealClear Politics
• Ben Domenech, Red State
• Tacitus
• Roger L. Simon
• Brian Reich, Campaign Web Review
• David Adesnik, OxBlog
• Hugh Hewitt

As always, if you don't want to subscribe to all of these feeds, there are tons of sites out there pulling all the feeds into one. I suggest http://rncbloggers.com/ or http://rnc.conventionbloggers.com/.

blocked blogs

I know that the Olympics are old news now, but I went without cable TV in my new apartment for most of it & am just now settling into my new routine where I get around to sharing things. So, you're just going to have to sit there & take it that I'm giving you old news.

My ever-blogful sister, Shelly, sent me this link from CBS about how the International Olympic Committee banned competitors from blogging their experiences in real time. Apparently, the ICO felt that these personalized stories and accounts (which, correct me if I'm wrong are one of the main things that attracts us to the games anyway!) were infringing on the ICO's control of the media credentialing process:

"The IOC's rationale for the restrictions is that athletes and their coaches should not serve as journalists - and that the interests of broadcast rights-holders and accredited media come first." -- CBS article, Aug 20

Could this be for real? Yep, sure is.

So athlete's who wanted to increase their availability to the public are barred from doing so unless they go through traditional media channels.

I don't think I need to tell you how backwards this decision was. Blog on.