Blogging the Political Politics and Participation in a Netorked Society [Hardcover]

The popular blog-tracking site technorati.com reports the existance of well over one hundred million blogs. Despite the mediums ubiquity, the impact of political blogging on politics and civic engagemment has not been systematically examined. In an era of depressed civic engagement, where access to the media by common citizens is limited, blogs have the power to change the political landscape.

Blogging the Politicalcatalogs the individuals engaged in political blogging, explains why they started blogging, and examines what they hope to gain from it. The larger question at hand is whether and how political blogging facilitates civic engagement and mobilization in the United States. Do political bloggers participate in politics only through blogging or also through more traditional activities such as voting or sending an email to an elected official? Do they encourage their readers to undertake political activities, and how do they go about doing so?  Examining  the activity of a diverse spectrum of bloggers, Pole concludes that blogging is indeed a new and important form of political participation, one that can potentially transform politics and lead to increased civic engagement.

1. Political Blogging: Politics and Participation  2. Rainbow Bloggers: Race and the Blogosphere  3. Gender and Sexual Orientation in the Blogosphere: Women and LGBT Bloggers  4. Congress Members 'R Bloggers  5. Blogging for Red and Blue States: Campaigns and Elections  6. The Future of Political Blogging in Politics and Civic Engagement

Through her extensive array of interviews, Antoinette Pole has given us a rare glimpse into the mind of political bloggers. She illuminates the world of blogging from the perspective of the bloggersboth the well known and the largely anonymouswho inhabit and shape it. In addition, she offers important insights on how members of CongreslC.