The interesting idea that the history of blogging can be traced to the days of the American Revolution and of Benjamin Franklin is presented in the book The Rise of the Blogosphere by Aaron Barlow, Assistant Professor of English at New York City College of Technology of the City University of New York. This book brings insight to the readers about the cultural and historical account of the blog and analyzes a new technology that is becoming a part of the everyday life of Americans. The “blogosphere”–online political blogs– have grown in importance becoming a new development in American journalism. The author of this book considers that the “blogosphere” is a regression to the early American press, where the public opinion–”citizen journalism”, was carried through newspapers, pamphlets, and public debate.
With the press becoming more commercial during the 19th century and with the pratice of professional journalism, the public opinion was removed from politics. Since the 20th century up to date the main stream media have control over most of the news sources but the Internet now offers alternatives leading to a new era of “citizen journalism” through the blogosphere. The American people is adapting to this new way of public opinion and libraries as information centers should be a place where people can have accessibility to be part of this new movement.
After learning way too much about internet critic Andrew Keen and his elitist beliefs about who should be able to contribute ideas to the web of information, I was excited to hear about Barlow’s book and his assertions that citizen journalism was instigated by none other than Benjamin Franklin, a well-respected historical figure. Because of the accessibility of the internet and a seemingly human desire to assert one’s opinion, I fully encourage anyone and everyone to let the world know how they feel about anything, including, and especially, the political atmosphere we experience in the US. I believe the more we are exposed to varying ideas, the deeper we consider our own beliefs and values.