Liberal Burblings

Archive for the ‘Blogging’ Category

Stephen Tall, Head Boy of the LibDem blogosphere, has asked for thoughts on the state of our little corner of the interweb. Here goes:

What are the greatest successes of the Lib Dem blogosphere?

1. The LibDem aggregator. It’s simple and very effective and I am yet to see anything even approaching it from the other parties. In particular, the democratic egalitarian nature of it is a wonderful re-statement of the spirit of our party.

2. LibDemVoice is excellent

3. Lots of new blogs are starting all the time. Some go quiet, some suddenly have a growth spurt, but it all gets reflected in the aggregator. I see lots of youngish people blogging, which is good.

4. I think the greatest success of the LibDem blogosphere is to give like-minded people, scattered all over the country, and the world, a sense of community and identity. It is marvellously identity-reinforcing to be able to share views with people you know will broadly agree but also take issue as necessary.

What are we, collectively as bloggers, failing to achieve?

Well nothing really. It’s crazy to see this as some sort of competition. We all have busy lives and families/partners. We shouldn’t beat ourselves up about something which, in its proper place, is just a hobby.

How does the Lib Dem blogosphere compare with those of the Labour, Tories and other parties’?
I can’t really say. I don’t read them in large quantities.

How helpful is blogging as a campaigning tool (are there examples of it making a real impact)?

Unless you get up to the DailyKos levels, I don’t think it has a great impact but it is important that it is there. It is a supplement to other forms of campaigning and can often spearhead campaigns.

What do you think the next year holds in store for the Lib Dem blogosphere?
More blogging. Very often blogging tends to get more exciting when there are exciting events happening – e.g the expenses scandal. With the election coming up, things should get interesting. I hope we can dissect the vacuum at the heart of the Tory party (if it is technically possible to dissect a vacuum, which I doubt) and display the truth of what is there (again, if that is possible). Cameron’s statement that he would like to clear Parliament Square of protestors to make it look tidy suggests that a Tory government will be the opposite of liberal and allow plenty of mileage for exposure.

Many congratulations to Nich Starling, the Norfolk Blogger, for his excellent coverage of the Norwich North by-election.

The by-election seemed to come as a remarkable piece of serendipity for the NB. You only have to go back to 16th April and he was thinking of knocking blogging on the head:

Oh I just can’t be bothered

I am wondering if it really is time to knock this whole blogging business on the head. After 30 months, thousands of postings, lots of ranting, and lots of time wasted, I really am finding it very difficult to summon up the energy to write anything that is not only interesting to someone else, but is of interest to me…

But, along came the by-election, bang on cue, and the NB was on the spot at the right time…there followed a glorious stream of posts. Every piece of literature was photographed, every twitch of his letter box chronicled, every Tory car drawing up outside noted. Wonderful!

And what is even more wonderful is Nich’s Pauline conversion on the Twitter front. As recently as February, the NB was referring to Twitter as “Tw*tter“. I wrote at the time:

The dear old Norfolk Blogger really has got a starling in his hard drive over Twitter. His site now has a “Tw*tter” box in the sidebar with these updates:I am using my computer (1 day ago)I ate my tea and went to the toilet (3 days ago)Are you really that sad that you honestly want to keep track of everything I do ? (About 38 years ago).

Nich has also done a posting entitled Twitter? Get a life! When I suggested he would be using Twitter soon, Nich replied:”Paul, i won’t be twittering for one very simple reason, I have a life ! All the reasons people have given for using it so far centre around the fact that they seem not to have a life an like knowing the laundry details and habits of people are really are unimportant”….You know, I think he’s coming round….

Well, with the onset of the Norwich North by-election, the Norfolk Blogger is now a fully fledged Tweeter. It’s a remarkable turnaround! He’s now got 216 followers and has tweeted 68 times with such updates as:

Am sitting 3 yards from Anita anand and 5 from John pienaar.10:03 AM Jul 14th from TwitterBerry

And try as I might, I can’t find a single Norfolk Blogger tweet about going to the toilet and having tea.

There’s a wonderful tweet from Nich this evening:

The one big pautive of the campaign ? I am enjoying politics again and want to be politically active again.

Marvellous!

Following on the two LibDem Voice posts on this subject, the Newbury Weekly News this week carries the following article:

Blog bogged down by political comment

NEWBURY MP Richard Benyon has been forced to take his blog offline less than a week after its launch.

Parliamentary authorities told Mr Benyon that it could break strict rules about MP’s communications expenses, because it contained party political comment on a website funded by the taxpayer.

Mr Benyon said: “MPs of all parties do this, but because I had said something that was slightly lighthearted but party political, I’ve had to take it off.”

The offending entry criticised Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s speech at last year’s party conference, while claiming that Conservative leader David Cameron had given “the speech of his life”.

Mr Benyon promised the blog would return on a separate website.

Following on the two LibDem Voice posts on this subject, the Newbury Weekly News this week carries the following article:

Blog bogged down by political comment

NEWBURY MP Richard Benyon has been forced to take his blog offline less than a week after its launch.

Parliamentary authorities told Mr Benyon that it could break strict rules about MP’s communications expenses, because it contained party political comment on a website funded by the taxpayer.

Mr Benyon said: “MPs of all parties do this, but because I had said something that was slightly lighthearted but party political, I’ve had to take it off.”

The offending entry criticised Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s speech at last year’s party conference, while claiming that Conservative leader David Cameron had given “the speech of his life”.

Mr Benyon promised the blog would return on a separate website.

BBC London covered this story at lunchtime. A blogger has got 3,000 unique visitors in the last few days (wow! – but it is, no doubt climbing, after being splashed over the TV news and today’s Metro free paper) by having a rant about National Express on his blog - I hate National Express. He’s even intimating “direct action” with a poll.

It’s all a long way from Neil Hannon’s ode to the eponymous company, which I provide by way of attempted balance:

National Express

Take the national express when your life’s in a mess
It’ll make you smile
All human life is here
From the feeble old dear to the screaming child
From the student who knows that to have one of those
Would be suicide
To the family man
Manhandling the pram with paternal pride
And everybody sings “ba ba ba da…”
We’re going where the air is free
On the national express there’s a jolly hostess
Selling crisps and tea
She’ll provide you with drinks and theatrical winks
For a sky-high fee
Mini-skirts were in style when she danced down the aisle
Back in ’63 (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
But it’s hard to get by when your arse is the size
Of a small country
And everybody sings “ba ba ba da…”
We’re going where the air is free
Tomorrow belongs to me
When you’re sad and feeling blue
With nothing better to do
Don’t just sit there feeling stressed
Take a trip on the national express