It is painfully obvious that the inception of social media has caused a glut of information in the world today, where people have the luxury of expressing their views and venting their frustrations at individuals or agencies that rub them the wrong way and remain anonymous. Incidentally, the government and politicians have not been spared the wrath either, because political analysts are always casting aspersions and showering accolades, on wayward and visionary politicians respectively. This paper, therefore, seeks to bring to the fore, the dynamics of political blogging and its effects on the political arena, and the economy as a whole.
The bill of rights in most countries gives people the freedom to express themselves responsibly, and blogging presents people with the opportunity to air their views on the conduct and dispositions, of the people that represent them at national assemblies. With the click of a button, a blogger can cheaply give a detailed analysis of the political scene in a country, which can be disseminated to an enthusiast of political satire and literature (Pole, 2010). The public, therefore, creates a virtual forum where they intimate their views on the state of the political scene, and express their views on how the ruling elite, should step up their approach to leadership. Moreover, politicians most of whom are social media-savvy nowadays, get the opportunity to strike a chord with the electorate. They achieve this by taking sentiments that reproach them, as areas of weakness that they need to work on. Additionally, they are accorded the privilege of joining these discussions and espousing the reasons why they take certain political stands, that seem outrageous at face value.
By and large, political blogging gives politicians a cheap means of selling their political manifestos in the electioneering period. It is a very affordable campaign tool that politicians hold dear because their supporters can easily get updated on developments that take place in the political scene. A best-case scenario would be where a politician uploads a campaign video, where he or she endears himself to the public by expressing his or her innermost feelings about a pertinent matter or apologizing for offending other politicians, or the public in general.
On the flipside, political blogging also has its downside because politics is a very dirty game, and for the most part, bloggers who are cynics tend to sit on moral high grounds, that most human beings cannot reach. The penultimate consideration about political blogging is that society expects politicians to be demigods with unblemished pasts. The reality on the ground is that every human being has a skeleton or two in his or her closet. Bloggers only see the specks in the eyes of politicians but fail to notice the logs in theirs. Politicians like all human beings are entitled to making one or two mistakes while in office.
While some level of criticism is vital in improving a person’s character, we should take cognizance of the fact that some bloggers abuse the freedom of expression and engage in hate speech in certain blogs (Hass, 2011). This is quite distasteful and tends to antagonize the politicians with the general public because they are viewed as non-performers with selfish interests. This can make the ruling class become unruly and enact legislations, which are intended to punish the public for their hostility towards them, which indirectly harms the economy as a whole.
Political blog spots will continue mushrooming on the internet for years to come, so we must learn to live with online political discourse, whether positive or negative (Russel & Echchaibi, 2009). Responsible blogging should be encouraged by companies that host bloggers online, because sentiments that are ill-motivated, which do not conform to ethical standards of writing, only worsen a political crisis that a nation may be going through.
References
Hass, T. (2011). Making it in the Political Blogosphere: The World’s Top Political Bloggers Share the Secrets. Cambridge: Lufferworth Press.
Pole, A. (2010). Blogging the Political Policies and Participation in a Networked Society. New York: Routledge.
Russel, A., & Echchaibi, N. (2009). International Blogging: Identity, Politics, and Networked Publics. New York: Lang Publishing.