Know Thy Blogger
With the proliferation of paid bloggers on the campaign trail (NATIONAL JOURNAL 10/31/2006)), it is important for readers to know thy blogger. To this end, let me suggest a non-mutually exclusive blog typology:
• News. These are the blogs where you go to find the latest news, popular or obscure, political or non political, partisan or nonpartisan. Some focus on a few stories, others are aggregators.
• Independent Opinion. These bloggers state their personal views, make judgments, promote ideas and issues they care about.
• Expert. These are blogs written to share the expertise of the author. Lawyers writing about their specialties, doctors writing on health websites, etc. Though some are more expert than others.
• Campaign. Whether it is political, issue, or product focused, these blogs are written by people who are paid, or otherwise compensated. A subcategory would be campaign volunteer blogs. They don’t get paid, but they take marching orders.
• Corporate/Organizational. These blogs are public voices for the organization or company. They may be written (or ghost written) by the chief executive, by the communications department, or by the guy who runs the copy shop, these are sanctioned voices of the organization.
• Social. These are blogs written for friends
• Family. And family.
I think I got all of them. Any other suggestions?
In any event, not all blogs are created equal. They don’t always fit in one category only. And they will blur lines at times. But it is good to know before you buy what you read.
As for me, I write two blogs: Moving Targets and DrDigiPol. I get paid by Care2 to be the editor of Moving Ideas, which includes writing Moving Targets, but my charge is to write what I believe. DrDigiPol is mine, and mine alone. I write it because I like to write about what I do and what I have learned as a digital political strategist. Moving Targets is a bit of a news blog, definitely an opinion blog, and occasionally a campaign and organizational blog (when our members post guest pieces to talk about their own issues and campaigns). DrDigiPol is an opinion blog and tries to be an expert blog. And since it focuses my strategic thinking, it is somewhat the voice of the Internet Advocacy Center.
So have I clarified it all to you? Or befuddled you beyond hope?
In any event, know thy blogger. They used to say you get what you pay for, but since you pay your ISP and not your bloggers, you get what you know and what you believe about the mind on the other side of those words. Know thy blogger.
Cross posted on Moving Targets.
And see ePolitics.com for Colin Delany’s take on the topic.