The good, the bad, and the ugly (whistle sound here)

Posted at 2:31 PM on October 23, 2006 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

I'm on a panel next week which is going to explore how bloggers and the Internet are changing politics.

I don't ever prepare for these things since I'm still wrestling with the whole idea in the first place. I can think of a dozen reasons why bloggers are good for democracy.

I can think of a dozen why they're not. Here, for example, is one practice that will make the cut. Rest assured, the practice spans political allegiances. It's silly.

I'm a cynical idealist. I like to think people in politics want what's best for the future of the Republic. That would involve actions that lead to a well-educated public, making informed decisions. The decision, itself, is almost irrelevant as long as it's informed.

That's the idealist part.

The cynical part is that there's too many lazy people playing into the hands of people in politics whose livlihood (or success) depends on lazy people.

And a lack of ethics.

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Comments (1)

You obviously didn't read Chris Bowers' original post very carefully. He's seeking out MAINSTREAM news stories for his googlebomb project. In other words, he's not doing a traditional googlebomb because he's not smearing anyone, just working to educate voters.

Granted, he's doing so in a partisan way, but he's limiting himself to news that has been professional vetted and published as fact. Can you googlebomb someone with facts? Not in the sense your links imply. The word is more complex than you seem to realize.

If you'd let me know where that blogger ethics panel's going to be I'd love to attend just so I can learn at the feet of the media masters.

Personally, I've used googlebombs to all but shut down a sleazebag con man based out of the Atlanta area, and have used googlebomb strategies to curb hate speech by some overly enthusiastic online political smear merchants.

If you need someone to speak on behalf of Googlebombs at your ethics conference, I'd be more than happy to step up.

Posted by Mark Gisleson | October 23, 2006 5:21 PM

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