Bull Moose takes a detailed look at this question. Here’s a very small part of his intriguing post:
Despite its manifold merits, the blogosphere is beset by a proliferation of crudity, hyperbole and hyper-partisanship. And all of that is often found on the most popular sites on the left and the right. The Moose is often amused over being denounced by some of the larger lefty sites. Actually, it is welcomed and is very good for business.
Moreover, it is a delusion to believe that the blogosphere is representative of anything but the hundreds of thousands of scribblers that join in this marvelous medium and the few millions of good folks who read it. The Moose is always struck by how few people actually read a blog or even are familiar with their existence – even those who are politically active. Of course, it is also true that a diminishing number of people by the day read mainstream newspapers and journals – not necessarily a healthy phenomena for a functionary democracy.
So, alas, it is generally a good thing that the blogosphere provides an opportunity for more and more Americans who want to get engaged and sound off. However, we should keep it in perspective. The blogosphere is generally an ideological hothouse that does not reflect the everyday thoughts of Americans. In that way, it is much like talk radio.
Blogs appear far more influential in the Democratic than the Republican party.
TMV has also told people pretty much the same thing. And he has counseled bloggers who get so upset about X post or who write ringing words thinking it’ll change the course of political history to just take an informal poll of everyday people they meet about blogs. They’ll find that most don’t know what a blog is (some think it is an insect — which in some cases might be an apt description). But blogs are HIGHLY influential in terms of who reads them.
MUST READING SO BE SURE TO READ IT IN FULL
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.