HW 19: Web of Influence

On page 85 in Blog!, specifically the second paragraph, Drezner describes how blogs affect U.S. politics. In other words, blogs have a huge influential effect on today’s society. For example, Trent Lott, a U.S Senate majority leader had to resign in 2002 because of his comments made about Sen. Strom Thurmond’s birthday party. At first, the media didn’t focus much of their time on the controversy. They brushed it underneath the rug. However, word spread like wildfire on the Internet. Many bloggers discussed the subject and had heavy debates about it. After intense attention online, the media had a renewed attention to the matter and it became headline news. Media interoperated it as insignificant and rarely brought it up, while amateur bloggers felt that it was tremendously important. Bloggers revived the subject and Lott was forced to resign. It is pretty remarkable in this example to see how much power and influence bloggers have received over the last five years or so. In short, bloggers seem to have gained an edge over the media. One subject may not seem important to CNN or Fox, but it could be to several hundred bloggers. Several hundred can turn into thousands quickly, and those thousands can overrule CNN’s agenda and force the media to cover it. It’s incredible to think that in this short amount of time, blogs have gained so much power and influence in our society today.