A Slow (or Bright) Blog Manifesto

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
It ought also to be said that he was immensely painstaking. [When he made] Broad and powerful statements...they were no mere assertions, but the product of countless hours of research into the minutiae of the subject. Even by the usual scrupulous standards of comparative philology, Tolkien was extraordinary in this respect. His concern for accuracy cannot be overemphasized, and it was doubly valuable because it was coupled with a flair for detecting patterns and relations. 'Detecting' is a good word, for it is not too great a flight of fancy to picture him as a linguistic Sherlock Holmes, presenting himself with an apparently disconnected series of facts and deducing from them the truth about some major matter. He also demonstrated his ability to 'detect' on a simpler level, for when discussing a word or phrase with a pupil he would cite a wide range of comparable forms and expressions in other languages.* I have been thinking lately about these words written...
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Mars Lander: Death Blog

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
Computerworld reports the last post of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander: "So long, Earth. I'll be here to greet the next explorers to arrive, be they robot or human." You wonder what 2001's HAL would have put in his Twitter tweets and blog posts. "I've just picked up a fault in the AE-35 unit"? Originally posted November 11, 2008 at PolicyByBlog...
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Obama’s Win: An Argument Against the Balkanization Thesis

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
There are plenty of reasons to side with either view of Dr. David Perlmutter's "Blogwar by Balkanization" thesis: One could cite many examples, as he does in his book "Blogwars," arguing for or against this way of looking at political partisanship in blogs and new media. Are the contributors and users of political new media warring partisans, constantly at odds with each other and tearing at each other's thoughts – and throats? Or is that same group of contributors and lurkers seeking information to strengthen their views or finding information that enhances and increases their political knowledge and efficacy? There was a time when one could easily argue for Balkanization, that political bloggers and other creators and users of new media were hyper-partisan, hostile toward and nastily at odds with each other (or perhaps less dramatically, fervently devoted to posting content attacking and questioning the opposition). Indeed, "bloggers tend to be both more passionate about their politics and more partisan than the average voter"...
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The Balkanization of America

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
Are blogs and similar forms of interactive media responsible for the Balkanization of the American political body? Certainly plenty of evidence exists to show the rifts are wide. Blogs are divided between left leaning versions, such as the extremely powerful Daily Kos, and those on the right, including the Drudge Report and Red State. The divide isn’t limited to online interactive media, however. Fox Newsserves a population that wants an alternative to what has been described as a liberal media bias in broadcast. Radio talk shows serve a similar purpose. Political books and movies speak to alternative visions. People have plenty of opportunities to hear, read and view opinions similar to their own. In blogs and other forms of OSIM, they have the opportunity to express their views and trade observations with like-minded people. The problem is this: very few people are talking across the divide. Agenda Setting Agenda Setting theory posits that media do not dictate what people think, but they do dictate what people think about. In the days...
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Balkanization:History Swings Back Around

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
History tends to repeat its self far to often and usually in a way that people do not realize is a repeat. Blogs and other Online Social Interactive Media (OSIM) is creating a bigger divide in politics and partisanship. There is a catch though, this is not anything new, in fact it is history reverting to how politics used to be. One could argue that we have recently lived in a relatively partisan media free environment and that in its self is a historical anomaly. In the book Blog Wars by Dr. David Perlmutter a chapter is dedicated to the argument and counter argument that blogs and OSIM’s are deepening the divide in partisan politics. Not to assert my opinion into this post, but I do agree. These new online media sources, be blogs or partisan media sites, such ashuffingtonpost.com, moveon.org or townhall.org, provide readers with partisan information but called news. Now these sites do relay the information, but in a skewed and partisan way....
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Perlmutter Dept. of State Talks: Manila & Kabul

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
Some other blogging and elections talks: --David D. Perlmutter. International webtalk on "The American Elections and Online Social-Interactive Media" sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, November 3, 2008. Read: The transcript of the webchat. --David D. Perlmutter. Keynote Speaker. "The American elections." Tele-Video Conference sponsored by by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines, October 21, 2008. Originally posted November 18, 2008 at PolicyByBlog...
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Obama: Advised by cabinet members…and millions online

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
A few days before the Nov. 4 election, PRWeek asked communications professionals who would win the race for the White House: Those polled predicted an Obama victory, saying the campaign's social media tactics and remarkable fundraising efforts would contribute to an electoral edge. Barack Obama won the presidency in a 53-46 victory over John McCain, with many – both the mainstream media and political bloggers – attributing the win to the factors predicted by those solicited in the PRWeek poll. Pollster Jeff Booms says the Obama win indicates a broad move to interactive communications as opposed to conventional, Independent/center-appeal strategy – a tactic unsuccessfully employed by the McCain campaign. The online strategy continues post-election win: Obama has a Web site,change.gov, for his transition to the White House. On change.gov, you can follow Obama headlines, blog in the virtual newsroom, learn about his cabinet and the inauguration, and get in-depth details about the Obama-Biden agenda on a variety of topics – e.g., the economy, Iraq and taxes. On each of these Web pages, a blue box displays in the center...
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Expectations, Campaign Practices and New Media: Obama’s Future Presidency

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
Young voters showed up in droves on Election Day 2008. According to The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, there was a five percent increase in the number of young voters (people between the ages of 18 and 29) who voted in 2008 compared to 2004. Furthermore, the youth vote accounted for 18 percent of the overall vote on Election Day. Finally, the young vote favored Barack Obama by a margin of two to one. This relatively large upswing in the young vote was cultivated by Obama and his successful campaign. According to a recent article in Youth Media Reporter: The Professional Journal of the Youth Media Field, Obama recognized that proper use of the media is just as important as the message itself. Obama hit the ground running during the early part of his campaign, focusing on many new media tactics and Web 2.0 tools to advertise his message. According to a Washington Post article, Obama created his Web site...
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Obama’s Use of New Media will set a Precedent

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
With Barack Obama using the tools of the internet to win the Presidential election, I feel his Presidency will be connected to the youth than any other President in the past. In regards to new media, Obama started his post election win with a Youtube video address. This use of video brings the message he is wanting to get out directly to the individual person, almost like a personal video for each person, we can watch or not, or wait for a more convenient time to watch. The video was posted on his personal website along with the text of the address and the podcast version. All three versions are great for those who rather not watch the first two minutes of a video, and just want to read, or those who want to just listen and not watch a video. If someone was really into the address, I guess they could even download it to i-tunes and listen to it, while they...
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Obama 2.0

by David Perlmutter Comment Closed
Some say President-elect Obama has harnessed the power of the sun and used it to win an electoral landside victory to becoming the first African-American President and the first tech. savvy President as well. There is only one problem, it wasn’t the power of the sun, it was the power of online social interactive media (OSIM) and technology in general….which could mean solar power…which could mean the power of the sun….ignore that point. Obama created an army of mobile voters and works and used his magic microphone (a cellphone) to send them into battle with ease as they stood the night victorious, but what is next? The question today is how does candidate 2.0 transition into president 2.0? Obama has already made great leaps and bounds in the field, firstly by opening up Change.gov. Change.gov is the official website of the president-elect and he uses just about ever facet of this technology to communicate effectively with the people. He posts regular web video addresses to...
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