Blog as Political Weapon: FIRST EXAMPLE
Sunday, November 6th, 2005
QUESTION:
Do you think the Blogosphere, as it is today, could influence a national Election?
Don’t answer too fast.
Yeah, so do I.
Allow me to introduce you to DOTXXBLOG, or as I dubbed it at launch: An Early Experiment in Networked Politics. I created it simply because I care about the issue and because I was curious what effect I might achieve using a blog as a political weapon.
It still feels a little silly rolling off my lips, too — 
— BLOG = Political Weapon.
Yet, there it is… undeniable.
I won’t waste your precious attention on another long exploration of how little we anticipated these developments, how incredible it is that — here we are — at full gallop AGAIN, because the technology is literally exploding in our very hands, even as we are trying to fashion weapons from it. Let’s just consider that preface digested.
For a background on the .XXX top-level domain, there’s no better place for a balanced nutshell, with both sides fairly represented — both pro-XXX and con-XXX, than the DOTXXXBLOG site itself. That’s one of the needs I wanted to address. As important as this issue is, I was aghast at how little engagement there was between the sides — directly, not by way of court filings and petitions, but in the same room working towards resolution. There was no formality nor indication that anyone was trying to create some.
I became frustrated. (more…)