1. Blogging as Social and Political
Commentary
by jimi izrael

2. In recent years, blogging has become more than
journaling for the public – it’s come to replace
traditional newspaper writing as the place people
trust for social commentary.

3. Bloggers use their online space to for communities. Most times these communities are
public, but they often they have an “inside baseball,” exclusive feel that is inviting to
certain people but insulting to others – outsiders who may not share the same
worldview of the blog and its target community. These outsiders are bullied into
submission or blocked out altogether
This is something we call the “private playground” model for blogging: you invite Kool
Kids in, tolerate the Others and block, bully or exclude them when they do or say
something that pushes back against the status quo. The playground actively controls
and limits the boundaries of its community. Online, the loudest argument wins.
Whether this is good or bad is a subject for debate – but it is certainly democratic. It is
also just a byproduct of the social commentary that blogging invites.
With enough numbers, bloggers share links to take conversations off of their own space into the
wider blogosphere, build and mount arguments that make changes in the off-line world.

4. There was a time when people would write letters to the editor to push back
on some issue or story they did not agree with. They were usually about 100-
150 words long and sometimes, these letters could fire debates that last for
weeks. Sometimes, the letters could even make change.
There was also the “op-ed,” or “opposite editorial” essay, which was usually
longer form – about 800 words. People still write these and they can be found
in the “Opinion” section of your local paper.
However, blogging provides an immediacy and a direct pipeline to a
constituency who could be moved to action.

5. Gawker.com, a pop culture and media blog out of New York City,
posted an entry about Republican congressman Christopher Lee, who
was apparently looking for love online, and sending women topless
pictures of himself.

6. It didn’t take long for Lee to resign his post, out of shame. The married
politico considered this a private matter, which it was. But Lee could no
longer govern effectively with the blogosphere screaming for him to step
down.

7. Kevin Rogers of Nashville wrote a note on his Facebook page to his friends about
going to see comedian Tracy Morgan and hearing him make homophobic remarks. He
encouraged his friends to share his note.
It didn’t even take a week before his note went viral and bloggers were calling for a
boycott of Morgan and putting pressure on NBC Universal to fire him from the sitcom
30 Rock. Rogers’ commentary resonated with a wide swath of people.

8. One day, Morgan (on the right) was just doing his routine. The next day, he was
holding a press conference with a hereto unknown Facebook user, asking him and the
public at large for forgiveness.
Whatever you think of his comments, you can’t deny the power of blogging as social
commentary for change. It nearly cost Tracy Morgan his job.

9. Recently, the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Organization, dedicated to women’s health
and other issues, came under fire for defunding mammograms for Planned
Parenthood. Some felt it was politically motivated by the religious right, and many of
those people blogged about it.
That conversation went offline and became a major news story. It didn’t take long for
there to be an online outcry that went offline and began to disrupt the real world.
People quit the organization in disgust. Komen’s reputation as a woman’s healh
advocate was devastated

10. Protestors of Komen’s Policy

11. Within days, Komen changed its stance. But this is a great, current example of how
blogs and social media changed the world, if only just for a moment. Blogs bring a
social commentary to the zeitgeist that encourages debate, dissent and sometimes,
action.