In this period of accelerating change, a phenomenon known as web logs or “blogs” for short is transforming politics, business, technology and society. A blog is somewhat an online journal for a person to express ones feelings, personal opinions, interests and some uses them to promote businesses and others. The fascinating thing about blog is one doesn't have to wait for days to their posts to be published as typically it will appear within less than an hour.
The number of bloggers are increasing every year and this has been proven by weblog tracking site Technorati(2008). According to Technorati, which is the leading expert in the studies of blogosphere, the size of blogosphere in 2008 is a total of 133 million blog records since 2002 (Technorati 2008).
The blogging phenomenon has great potential through its power to create social cohesion and to obtain support for members of a community. One example is political blogs and the recent Singapore General Election in May 2011.
Political parties and candidates are allowed to use a broader range of new media platforms, including blogs, micro-blogs, online photo-sharing platforms, and social networking sites, for election advertising. For example, the opposition Reform Party’s (RP) secretary general Kenneth Jeyaretnam maintains a regular blog where he interacts regularly with supporters and writes posts at length on hot issues such as economic inequality hoping to translate it into actual votes.
There is also an increase number of political bloggers of all ages express their opinions in a non-confrontational manner, such as the popular Mr Brown. Having issues discussed such as the price of HDB flat, increasing rates of foreigners and other issues where majority young Singaporeans are interested in has certainly influence the society in some extent.
The community will have plenty of advantages as when reading these political blogs they can judge for themselves which party is better. Political blogs also provides useful information for the public to understand more about their country’s government.
Any open society requires and benefits from an open exchange of opinions. Blogs has brought up influence on Singaporean society although the mass media in Singapore is clearly still the biggest influence.
I visit several blogs almost daily because I've come to trust the insight and value the persistence of the blogger in finding the most interesting things out there. Auburn (1999) suggests what really makes the blog valuable is the combination of frequency, timeliness, and editorializing that coalesces around the blogger's voice. In short, a blog is involved in most of our lives. For that, it has become a current phenomenon.
The blogging phenomenon has great potential through its power to create social cohesion and to obtain support for members of a community. One example is political blogs and the recent Singapore General Election in May 2011.
Political parties and candidates are allowed to use a broader range of new media platforms, including blogs, micro-blogs, online photo-sharing platforms, and social networking sites, for election advertising. For example, the opposition Reform Party’s (RP) secretary general Kenneth Jeyaretnam maintains a regular blog where he interacts regularly with supporters and writes posts at length on hot issues such as economic inequality hoping to translate it into actual votes.
There is also an increase number of political bloggers of all ages express their opinions in a non-confrontational manner, such as the popular Mr Brown. Having issues discussed such as the price of HDB flat, increasing rates of foreigners and other issues where majority young Singaporeans are interested in has certainly influence the society in some extent.
The community will have plenty of advantages as when reading these political blogs they can judge for themselves which party is better. Political blogs also provides useful information for the public to understand more about their country’s government.
Any open society requires and benefits from an open exchange of opinions. Blogs has brought up influence on Singaporean society although the mass media in Singapore is clearly still the biggest influence.
References:
Branum, J M 2001, The Blogging Phenomenon: An Overview and Theoretical Consideration, Southwest Texas State University, viewed 7th May 2011, http://www.ajy.net/jmb/blogphenomenon.htm
Blood, Rebecca. Weblogs: A History and Perspective, Rebecca's Pocket, 7 September 2000. Viewed 7th May 2011, http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html
Auburn, Ben 1999, A Penny for Your 'pinion. The Atlantic Online, October 21, 1999. Viewed 7th May 2011 http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/citation/wc991021.htm
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Technorati : State of the Blogosphere 2008
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