"Excuse Me, Do You Have a Blog?"

This article, published in The Straits Times on last Wed, 27 Sept, easily caught my eye. The title: "Politicians are going to the blogs". Hey, I'm a blogger too. People from all walks of life are fast taking up their space on the blogosphere.

The article reported that "more than 50 million blogs had been created by last month - and the number is doubling every six months". It was interesting to read of how politicians is using this media to generate interest and support. Some interesting points that I picked up from the article:

1. According to political advisers, blogging is meant to let politicians communicate directly with voters in a folksky style.
2. Blogging is politically significant, precisely because it is not a tool of the elite.
3. Bloggers can impact the popularity/'fate' of politicans.
4. Virtues of blogging as a medium: speed, spontaneity, interactivity and the vast array of information and expertise that millions of bloggers can bring together.
5. Vices of (political) blogs: favours instant response over reflection, commentary over original research as well as stream-of-consciousness over structure.

I'm gonna check out the blogs links in the article...