My Gripes of Wrath: Blogging and Public Opinion

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Blogging and Public Opinion

I've been wondering about the effects of blogging and whether the activity of reading other blogs has had any influence on our opinions regarding any issue. The issue can be political or social or otherwise. The point is, does the act of reading other blogs and the information we derive from these blogs affect our opinions?

I've made a POLL to find out.

Please vote and help me get a better idea.

BTW, see right hand of screen for voting.

21 comments:

Intolerant said...: Blogger positions on issues may not influence my opinions but they certainly open new perspectives. I found that following what I learned from a "new perspective" limited my expression and I ultimately set it aside for the sake of continuing from my own perspective again. If that makes any sense. What makes our blogs interesting to others I believe is the fact that we all have differing opinions and we like to see what they are. I really try not to argue with idiots who think they can come read my stuff and then call me names and criticize me for my views. To them I just say "move along" and leave me alone. I have a few regular visitors to Fed Up who NEVER comment. They just come and read. That's fine. What I write is not open to discussion, it's just my twisted sense of humor. You either laugh and take it for what it's worth or you get mad and get lost. I am not trying to get people to hate what I hate or like what I like. I just want to open it up for consideration and maybe get a few laughs in the mean time.; 4:16 am
Anonymous said...: I haven't really had this happen through reading blogs. I'd have to think real hard to a situation where I've questioned my beliefs...can't really think of one. But, I do enjoy reading various perspectives.; 5:16 am
none said...: I know blogs cannot change "hard wired" minds overtly. Often new ideas act like a computer virus that slowly works on the mind of the reader. If the ideas are sound and backed up with logic a well written blog can affect many people.; 6:35 am
Lexcen said...: Thanks for your comments, everybody.; 6:47 am
Kirsten N. Namskau said...: It has not changed my mind or opinions, but I have learned a lot about other people's mind and opinions...
Which expands my knowledge and acceptance...; 8:13 pm
Jim Belshaw said...: Lexcen, you already know that I think that blogging does shift opinions.

Speaking personally, I find that some blog posts shift my views at the margin. Over time, this builds to a more substantive shift.; 9:57 pm
Travel Italy said...: I agree with Jim, while I cannot say that any specific blog moves my opinion immediately, they do give a different perspective. Over time, enough opinions or viewpoints, can influence the direction of my thoughts.

Sometimes I do see a view that I had not considered, in these cases, if the blogger provides some unusual insight, I can reconsider my entire opinion.; 4:30 am
i-factor said...: oh yeah it does..in the long run.
Sometimes it gives you a different perspective of looking at things which you never thought of...and sometimes a new issue altogather.; 1:35 pm
Droid said...: Yes, definately. Through blogs you can learn a lot of facts and a lot of myths. The best way to tell the difference is by listening and debating. :)

I would vote, but I can't see a link to the poll.; 11:25 pm
jhrhv said...: I used to think very differently about the Middle East until I learned of the extreme hate and prejudice common among so many in the region. Through blogging I have become acquainted with some very violent and hateful people whose minds are like they are set in concrete on issues. Even though so many have no proof or evidence to back up positions that can only be described as beliefs since there is no evidence for so much of what they think is truth. When you point that out to them then they really go ballistic.

I find it shocking that some of these individuals seem rather educated yet are willing to form opinions not based on anything other than an emotional belief system without any hard evidence. Its amazing to me that so many people let emotion run their decision forming process over logic or hard evidence. I guess that really gets to the heart of your question. Even when faced with truth or evidence that contradicts what you may believe many people still choose to believe even though that belief might or has been proven not to be based on solid foundation.; 6:33 am
Lexcen said...: jhrhv, Your comment is food for another blog. Of course I agree with you but I'll save my words for another post.

steven, poll is on the right hand next to this post. You must have a small screen.

thanks again.; 6:55 am
Anonymous said...: jhrhv speaks of what NWO knows already. They know a majority of the people want to believe what they are told no matter how big the lie is. They not only continue to lie, but they make the lie even more incredible because they know it will continue to be believed. Throw in a little patriotism and "support our troops" and who could believe our troubles are rooted within our own government? Who could believe our own leaders would murder thousands of innocent civilians to steer support for their twisted greedy agenda? And if there is still any doubt, they give us the 9/11 Commission Report. The public is so frighteningly gullible it is sickening. And it is leading to the fall of America. Thank you GWB.; 8:39 am
ChrisinMB said...: jhrhv said, "I used to think very differently about the Middle East until I learned of the extreme hate and prejudice common among so many in the region.

I was actually the opposite, had started with a VERY bad opinion then over time, by chance, found some very decent & good people. Don't mean to sound like a bleeding heart weenie, but I have to admit it was a bit of a shock & made me reevaluate my opinions drastically.

Unfortunately my biggest disappointments come from much closer to home. The radical leftists here can be pretty shocking. Personally I find Westerners who support Jihadists more disturbing that than the Jihadists themselves.; 6:10 pm
ChrisinMB said...: oh, one more thing,
What little faith & trust I had in the MSM before has completely evaporated due to blogs.; 6:21 pm
Little Lamb said...: They haven't influenced my opinions, but maybe I haven't read enough of them for my opinion to change.; 10:07 pm
jhrhv said...: chris in mb, I met some nice people also from the ME. That is what I expected. To clear it up a bit. I thought that Arab’s were being put in a very bad light and that they must be the normal people you meet in everyday life that the vilification was where the MSM was misleading. Certainly all the Arabs from many nations I meet at work are rather nice and polite and often people with a good sense of humour just like any people there are the good the bad and the ugly. So indeed I met a fair share of normal people from different Arabian nations on blogs who looked at what I would call believable reports of situations and use words like responsibility, ownership and bad governance to put fault where it seemed to belong. Then there are those who all that is wrong with the world is either due to Israel the Little Satan or America the Great Satan. Then there is the other groups of white supremacists and neo-Nazi types who share the same beliefs more or less.

I guess it was then when I met up with the huge number of those types that I saw that there are so many of these hate filled people who do not value logic and reason who can not be spoken to and weigh nothing against any fact that it changed how I think. I thought well of course these evil people are behind 9/11 of course Israel has to fight these stateless terrorist people that keep attacking them. The option of not fighting back from free nations is to accept defeat and your own demise. You need only look at so much of the EU where these radicals are wreaking havoc and influencing politics and tradition. It almost makes we wonder if they EU is going to sit on its rump again while the forces of evil gain strength while they sit their and watch and do nothing about it.; 12:36 am
Lexcen said...: jhrhv, the forces of evil isn't a nationality, it isn't an ethnic group, it is an ideology. An ideology that has emerged out of a religion that exists in the ME. If you want to understand this better I suggest The Lucifer Principle by Howard Bloom ISBN 1 86448 200 1; 6:29 am
Little Lamb said...: Lex, have your views and opinions changed since reading blogs?; 1:12 am
Lexcen said...: Lamb, it's not often that people change their opinions. That's why my poll was worded with "influence" as the deciding factor. Yes, of course we can be influenced. I was just wondering what percentage of people had been "influenced" by reading blogs.
As for me, after trawling through countless of blogs at random, it changed my opinion about how many people were interested in poetry.
Reading countless of blogs about Islam also has influenced me a great deal but hasn't changed my opinion, just reinforced it.
The reason for the poll was a thought of another blogger (Jim)who
sees blogging as a means of influencing political views.; 7:05 am
Jim Belshaw said...: Lexcen, you know, I almost rest my case. You started me on one element of my current writing. I influenced you to run this post and the blog. In similar vein, Neil has certainly affected my ideas and I his.

There is no way any of this would have happened without blogging. Link to this my point about large numbers. All these changes are small, at the margin. You are not going to get me to shift my core views, nor me yours. But multiply all these small shifts by millions and change happens.

We are both promoting David's Italy site. David is using his site to promote certain messages. Italy is central to these, but so is the concept of quality. David gets the message across to one tenth of one per cent of his visitors. I forget David's numbers, they are way higher than mine,but suddenly you have a number of people who have absorbed David's message.

And so it goes on.

I am not sure that it is politically correct to use Mussolini as an example. But part of his message that I agree with was that you could break one stick, but put a bundle of sticks together and they could not be broken.

When my daughters were very young I used to give them a match (I still smoke, but that's another story) and tell them to break it. They did. I kept on increasing the number of matches until they could not break them. Then I would tell them to stick together.

I am not making a political statement here, I am talking about process. When the number of people wanting change get to a critical mass, change happens.

For better or worse, you have inspired another post!; 6:55 pm
Lexcen said...: Thanks Jim, you're too kind. I'll have to keep my head from growing too big - start to think that I have influence over other people. I'll take a cold shower, and then maybe compose another blog :); 8:46 pm

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Blogging and Public Opinion

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