Interesting research about how the left and the right use blogs differently, from the Berkman Center at Harvard:
In this paper, we revisit [previous] findings by comparing the practices of discursive production and participation among top U.S. political blogs on the left, right, and center during Summer, 2008. Based on qualitative coding of the top 155 political blogs, our results reveal significant cross-ideological variations along several important dimensions. Notably, we find evidence of an association between ideological affiliation and the technologies, institutions, and practices of participation across political blogs. Sites on the left adopt more participatory technical platforms; are comprised of significantly fewer sole-authored sites; include user blogs; maintain more fluid boundaries between secondary and primary content; include longer narrative and discussion posts; and (among the top half of the blogs in our sample) more often use blogs as platforms for mobilization as well as discursive production.
Full abstract
Entire paper (PDF)
Max – I wound up reading the whole thing because the link to the abstract needs registration. I’m glad I did.
<
p>First – they use Kos and Instapundit as equivalents, when Glenn Reynolds is nothing but an aggregator (like Drudge), not a blogger. They take a campaign site like Romney2012 and call it a blog. They call Town Hall a blog, when it’s a clearinghouse for columnists like Krauthammer and Will. They believe that left leaning blogs are more participatory, but they are comparing apples and oranges. If they had gone to a forum, like RepublicanOperative.com they would have seen a more participatory model. While its content is reprehesible, a blog like Stormfront is actually highly participatory.
<
p>I would respectfully suggest that their research is based upon data which demonstrates a greater personal familiarity with ‘left leaning’ blogs. To wit – cited as an example of a right-leaning blog is – capecodporcupine.blogspot.com
<
p>If they are reduced to scrounging up MY obscure blog to show they have examined conservative blogs, then then aren’t looking hard enough.
Peter, the point is that they picked the most popular political sites that used a blog-style format. Sure, there are plenty of more participatory conservative blogs, but the sites that get the most attention on the right are (or at least were in 2008) the ones that spewed content, while the ones that get/got the most attention on the left were those that were more participatory.