I just realized something was missing over at my new fascination, Blue Tiger Democrats. No blog.
Not that I’m criticizing, I’m just curious. There are already more than one animal based Democratic blog. The DNC’s used to be called “Kicking Ass,” though the animal reference was probably more of a wink than a nod. And the DLC even has a blog zoo with a New Donkey and a Bull Moose. This isn’t really the point though.
Blue Tiger employs some folks from here, a pretty webby firm, and their idea seems to be built for speed on a media like the internet. Getting local Democratic groups to become agents of civic engagement isn’t something you can do from afar. They obviously know this, they’ve already hired folks to work in three states.
Also, despite my track record, I’m not some who just suggests at the drop of a hat to anyone who doesn’t have a blog, “oh, you should have one,” because they really aren’t for everyone, and not everyone would benefit, do it well, or even see the point in it.
But in terms of spreading the gospel of the Blue Tiger, even if it is a thin, internet gospel, to local Dems like me, a blog would be a good start. Maybe with an obvious “submit YOUR stories” section. Just an idea.
I tell everyone to get a blog, because it is the fastest way to get connected to the news. When you tell yourself you have to do one news or policy-related post per week, it forces you to do your homework, something TV News does not require at all.
Think about it, if ten percent of the people had blogs, ten percent of the people would know what’s going on in their community – and on a sidenote, a whole lot of those folks would know what really happened on 911, which would go a long way toward receiving some kind of justice for the perpetrators of that terrible crime.
I’m not saying that blogs aren’t important, they just aren’t the end all be all of internet media. They’re good, and better than a lot else that has come along. But, one downside includes that they aren’t very cooperative, and one extreme point of view tends to dominate any individual blog, as opposed to people coming together from different points of view.
Also, comment threads either blow apart or just get ignored.