Turmoil in blogland

Sat, 08 Jan 2005 20:30:00 +0000

The Internet has always been a special place for freaks, geeks, queers and other alienated populations. Online, these marginalized members of society created communities that relished their idiosyncrasies. Collectively, they helped one another take pride in their identities and practices -- whether the passion be learning how to make synthetic hair, collecting Japanese manga or engaging in sexual practices frowned on by the mainstream.

The result is an infrastructure of support for a new form of social solidarity -- a set of collective beliefs, practices and values -- that operates outside of the dominant culture. Most important, these communities have been created virtually, across space, a feature that is particularly valuable for nonmobile populations -- teens without driver's licenses, for instance.

Right now, the communities grouped together by LiveJournal offer one of the most vibrant examples of online subcultural vitality. LiveJournal, according to its own current description, is a "personal publishing tool." But it's much more than that: To its users, LiveJournal is still a community where you can offer "an up-to-the-minute log of whatever you're doing, when you're doing it" and control who gets to see this.

The new blogocracy

Wed, 28 Jul 2004 19:30:00 +0000

Bloggers have invaded the Democratic National Convention, and the mainstream media is reacting. Trivializing them as "Web diarists," the New York Times compared convention bloggers to journalists but emphasized their lack of experience in interacting with primary sources and quoted a professor who suggests "that bloggers have put the issue of professionalism under attack." The Wall Street Journal focused on the up-and-coming nature of blogging in both news and politics, while Wired is chronicling the mainstream obsession with blogging. In a convention without standout storylines, the bloggers are a mysterious spectacle.

Salon.com > danah boyd

Turmoil in blogland

The new blogocracy