posted by Jaclyn Sakow on December 12, 2007

Ray Oldenburg’s book, The Great Good Place, outlines a problem in America’s suburban communities. We are desperately missing a “third place” away from home and work, such as a pub or coffee shop. He argues that third places are “essential to the political processes of a democracy (67)” because they allow people to come together as a community and openly express any political idea. He notes, “More than anywhere else in colonial America, the taverns offered a democratic forum. There protest gelled into action and the organization of the revolution and the society to follow were agreed upon (67)”. While suburban sprawl may have done away with physical “third places” in American society, the virtual communities of blogs have taken over as a forum for public discussion. Much like American suburbs after the 1950’s “white flight” movement, the blogosphere tends to be a place that is overwhelmingly white. Another thing it has in common with communities of the 1950’s is its lack of outspoken women.

These factors seem strange when one thinks about the democratic nature of blogging. Anyone who has an idea and a computer with an internet connection can do it. So why is it that the blogosphere tends to be predominately white males? Wouldn’t those who are represented the least in mainstream media, like minorities and women, be the most eager to engage in blogging?

While blog culture functions in a way that seems open and democratic, it is actually exclusive for a variety of reasons. Newsweek technology columnist Stephen Levy argued that “some clubbiness is involved” in his 2005 article “Blogging Beyond the Men’s Club”. He makes the point that many top tier white male bloggers provide links on their pages to other white male bloggers. Yet, in the title of his column he alludes to a type of organized front that white men use to keep women and minorities out of the blogosphere. Rather than being a conscious act of racism or sexism, I argue that the “show and tell” culture of blogging itself leads to a homogenous top tier.

White men who blog probably like to read the blogs of people with an outlook on life and politics similar to their own. Consequently, they link to these sites because of their shared interests… and a cycle forms. White men were at the top to begin with because they were the demographic at the forefront of web technology. In addition to this, major media coverage of blogging usually mentions only established blogs like Daily Kos or Instapundit – feeding this cycle and determining which blogs get read.

This blogging cycle is detrimental, especially in light of a 2007 ASNE survey which found that diversity in the traditional newsroom is slipping. It pointed out that the percentage of minorities and women in daily newsrooms decreased slightly in 2007. If the populations who distribute both mainstream media and blogs are not heterogeneous, then it would follow that the news produced does not offer an accurate depiction of these communities or news that is consistently geared towards them. Much of mainstream media is downright offensive to minorities; depicting black men as constant threats to the safety of others, when more often than not they are the victims of violent crime. With few black men in the media industry, little of the information that is distributed ever gets disputed publicly and myths ensue.

With no real entry barriers, blogging is an open mike to dispute any dubious notions or half truths provided by mass media. While this is true, few want to spend time and effort to write something that will collect dust in the recesses of cyberspace and have little or no impact on the intended cause. While cyberspace can have colossal impact on a grass-roots level -as seen in Howard Dean’s meteoric rise and fall during the 2004 Presidential race – it is only as good as the amount of people it reaches.

Although it is clear that blogging can be a powerful mechanism for change, it needs to be able to reach a large enough audience or be picked up by mass media to really diffuse information among the populous. Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga’s book, Crashing the Gate, discusses “people-powered activism” (172) which melds traditional grassroots efforts and “netroots activism” (172) stirred up by blogs and websites. They cite an effort against Wal-Mart which used the websites WalmartWatch.com and WakeupWalmart.com as an example of “people-powered activism”. “A Zogby poll in November 2005, found unfavorable opinion of Wal-Mart soaring. A large majority of Americans (65 percent) agreed that Wal-Mart had a more negative public image now than compared to the previous year” (172). So the potential for minority groups or women to change public opinion and dispute negative stereotypes is there, yet the information does not often get enough distribution.

Black bloggers are getting a meaningful message across, but the problem is that it’s mostly falling on deaf ears. While a study undertaken by Brown University researcher, Antoinette Pole, found that “blacks comprise less than 1 percent of political bloggers”; it also found that a majority of black bloggers use their blog to engage in political advocacy, raise money for charitable causes, or encourage readers to vote. They also cover a wide variety of mainstream news in a way that is more meaningful or pertinent to them by giving a minority perspective on events.

Heather MacDonald of National Review wrote a downright racist article outlining her thoughts on why many minority blogs do not reach many people. “As for minorities, the skills gap in reading and writing means that, at the moments, a lower percentage of blacks and Hispanics possess the verbal acumen to produce a cutting-edge blog. For decades, blacks and Hispanics have scored 200 points below whites on the SAT’s verbal section. Black high-school seniors on average read less competently than white 8th graders; Hispanic 12th graders read only slightly better than white 8th graders. And those are just the ones who are graduating”. MacDonald’s point is marred by her inappropriate jab at minority teenagers and vast generalization. Just because many minorities are educationally disadvantaged, does not mean that there aren’t some who are eloquent and well educated. And there are no minority bloggers who constitute household names.

One power that does seem to be emerging is a type of synergy between different groups who are underrepresented by mass media. Many minority blogs link to other minority blogs. For instance, the blogger on theunapologeticmexican.org includes a section on his website called “companeras” where links to Asian American, African American, feminist, and other Latino blogs are found. This is a unique act of solidarity among the distinct racial groups and an idea that could eventually make a minority bloc into a majority of readers.


Women’s entrance into the rough and tumble world of blogging has been especially difficult given the macho “smackdown” attitude many bloggers take towards each other. I thought most journalists or other females in high ranking professional careers were self assured and seasoned enough to take the criticism of op-ed or blog writing. To my surprise, many women bloggers had reservations about becoming part of blog culture because of its harsh nature.

New York Times op-ed contributor Maureen Dowd, who I had always imagined to be an exceptionally brazen woman wrote, “In 1996, after six months on the job, I went to Howell Raines, the editorial page editor, to try to get out of the column. I was a bundle of frayed nerves. I felt as though I were in a ‘Godfather’ movie, shooting and getting shot at. Men enjoy verbal dueling. As a woman, I told Howell, I wanted to be liked – not attacked.”

Another notable female blogger, Ann Althouse, hits the nail on the head when she wrote that “we [women] (generally) feel worse when we are attacked, but that we are (generally) more likely to be perceived in a negative light if we do attack.” It is not only that women are sometimes more sensitive to the vitriolic remarks made by other bloggers, but that they are treated more harshly than men for the comments they make. Traditionally, women have been raised to be sweet, kind beings to others. To nod, smile, and play a subservient role to men; and I think most of the women who are bloggers today were subject to this school of thought. While girls today are still likely to be socialized into the role of passive observer, I think this is beginning to change. Many women are taking important roles in the workforce and the classroom, the only way to access most of these roles is to step out of the female norm and speak up for beliefs or ideals.

A female blogger and lawyer, Christine Hurt, says, “we should teach our girls to speak up without fear. To raise their hands and volunteer, even though they may be completely wrong. To disagree with each other without fear of losing respect or friendship. To not fear having others disagree with them. I have noticed that although there are few female law professor blawgs, there are plenty of female law student blawgs.”

In addition to the fact that most white male bloggers don’t include links to women and females are often intimidated by the blogosphere, there is also the fear of sexual threats that stifle and may scare away some female bloggers. A Washington Post article describes, “As women gain visibility in the blogosphere, they are targets of sexual harassment and threats. Men are harassed too, and lack of civility is an abiding problem on the Web. But women, who make up about half the online community, are singled out in more starkly sexually threatening terms – a trend that was first evident in chat rooms in the early 1990’s and is now moving to the blogosphere, experts and bloggers said”. A professor of information science at Indiana University, Susan Herring, thought that early adopters of blogging were not as nasty as they have become today, “Even as recently as 2003, it was relatively rare to find negativity on blogs”. This trend may be part of the cultural borrowing that seems to be occurring between blog culture and cable news “Crossfire” culture, both of which involve more verbal battle than academic debate.

And the nature of verbal abuse is something that is distructive and a force that is tearing political parties and neighbors apart in this country. The new blogosphere frontier is exciting because it’s still in a developmental phase. If we learn to nurture this environment and use it for all it’s glorious democratic potential, the blogosphere could be a “third place” worth keeping.

Like Steven Levy, who called out to the unheard minority in his Newsweek article, I would also urge some of the top tier bloggers to participate in a more inclusive community and link some sources other than white males. There is a desperate need for community cohesion in a society as fragmented in space and political ideology as ours is at the current moment. Adding to the diversity of opinions represented would do nothing to Daily Kos or Instapundit, except make them fresher sources which relate to a wider audience.


Works Cited:

Armstrong, Jerome and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga. Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People Powered Politics. Chelsea Green Publishing Company: White River Junction, VT. 2006.

Oldenburg, Ray. The Great Good Place. Marlow and Company. New York. 1999.