The Politics of the Blogosphere

Candidates for political office often run advertisements that portray opponents in a damaging light. Likewise, bloggers are beginning to take an increasing amount of liberty in their negative portrayal of certain individuals who are viewed as influential throughout the blogosphere.

1938 Media has made some waves in recent weeks with his sometimes heated, often satirical criticisms of what many consider to be some of the blogosphere's most influential players. First, let's consider the much maligned repeatedly as an opponent of PayPerPost, even labeling the company as "stupid and evil". Feldman, however, had some choice words for Calacanis in an October 23rd video blog entry. He Robert Scoble in to the fray. When I asked Robert for his taken on it, he told me, "I thought it was funny." Calacanis, however, would seem to be less jovial in his attitude toward Feldman's criticisms, as multiple attempts to contact him for a response have went unanswered. Feldman's venomous volleys, however, haven't been limited to just Calacnis. antics as well. So what is point of all this mockery? Well, other than my personal amusement, I believe it all hinges around the concept of blogosphere politics. Bloggers, like politicians, serve a constituency. For most politicians, it takes years of careful planning and perfectly executed strategy in order to build a solid constituency of voters. In the same respect, bloggers are always looking to add to their viewership; and election results are tallied in terms of page clicks and community feedback rather than raw voting numbers. So while Feldman's tactics could be perceived as underhanded, he is accomplishing his goal. More people are taking note of 1938 Media and his video blog. Is it moral? That's debatable. Is it effective? Most definitely. Add to Del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit | Furl Joe is a staff writer for latest ebusiness news.