Political Blogs - enhancing knowledge and informing decision making processes
I have just been reading Simon Edwards blog. He is the Head of Government and Industry Affairs, Microsoft and has some very interesting ideas but I have some questions and disagree with a few points in his latest post about political blogging.
Check out his blog here: http://blogs.msdn.com/augovtaffairs/archive/2008/12/09/on-line-consultation-worth-the-risk.aspx
You can see the new government blog at www.dbcde.gov.au/digitaleconomyblog
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If political blogs are a waste of time then why write one at all?
The title of Simon Edward’s blog is ‘On-line Consultation Worth the Risk’ yet he goes on to say….
“I remain a sceptic as to the capacity of political blogs to enhance knowledge and inform decision making processes. To date they have tended to be not much more than cliques of common interest and comfort that reaffirm partisan positions and denigrate alternative points of view.”
I think it’s important for governments to use as many tools as possible to consult with their stakeholders and the effectiveness of blogs should not be underestimated.
When Simon Edward says “I remain a sceptic as to the capacity of blogs to enhance knowledge and inform decision making processes” …I believe anything which provides information, or provides a point of view to consider, encourages debate or conversation will ultimately inform the decision making process. Blogs can do all of these things.
Readers digest these ideas (they may agree or disagree with what they consume) but ultimately, any information consumed is drawn upon or considered (consciously or subconsciously) when we make decisions on issues, policies and governments.
If blogs are used effectively, Governments (and similarly corporations) can gain a great deal of information to “enhance knowledge and inform decision making processes”. Blogs are just one way the Government can consult with large numbers of people, quickly and relatively cheaply.
As per my blog post below, 84% of Australian internet users now use web 2.0 for sharing content, 83% consume Consumer Generated Media content and 7.1 million Australians read one or more blogs. These numbers suggest that web 2.0 is now a mainstream, popular tool; no longer dominated by ‘early adopters’ who may have in the past once shared “cliques of common interest”.
‘Is America a racist nation afterall’ is a good example of how blogs can be used to provide a public forum for the expression of alternate points of view (there are millions of others but this one is fresh). Blogs have emerged (particularly in Australia where media concentration is severe) as an alternate or complimentary source of information and discussion to traditional forms of media (such as newspapers or television news).
These traditional media outlets provide limited avenues for alternate points of view due to content limitations (for example practicalities, editorial and commercial agendas) and due to media concentration and domination. Therefore, in this media landscape, traditional media outlets (and the lack of them/lack of diversity between them) actually “denigrate[s] alternative points of view.”
In conclusion, I have no doubt that blogs will continue (due to how easy and popular it is now to set one up) to propagate alternative points of view and not denigrate them. As they grow they will put increasing pressure on Governments to consult with these online communities (even if it is by just monitoring the conversations) as a result, the blogs will enhance knowledge and inform decision making processes.
The grassroots are becoming too noisy to ignore.
