Blog @ MoreWhat.com

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Conservative Thoughts

What attracts the public interest in the news or other forms of communication is sometimes described as a window on who we are. More than once an article or report has appeared criticizing the popularity of various stories, television programs or trendy phenomena or fads that define the state of mind of the public at large. More than one social observer has offered results of studies done examining our attraction to various media or activities. Quite often those results are a less than flattering appraisal of our suggested priorities. Yet we sometimes wonder why the world is in the state it is. Today might not be one of those times. Not if the most popular news tallies are an indicator. While there are still the attractions to celebs and gossip, etc., the top news items viewed today from several sources renew hope we may actually be paying attention to worthwhile news and events.At one source the top five news stories are as follows: the number one was another item on the Columbia University story about inviting the Iranian President to speak at the campus. This follow up is about Bollinger inviting students to the mansion for a discussion about his remarks at the time. Regardless of your opinion on the episode, it is better that there is interest in this story than the number two. Even though one can make the case that some eeleb stories have some value as they pertain to social behavior in general and what is acceptable and what is not.

The number two story is, go figure, about Britney Spears. A topic that many people avoid like the plague. But then there are an easily equal or greater number who monitor Hollywood sagas as if it were a life and death situation. In the unavoidable receipt of more than we really needed to know, at least this installment deals with a judge’s patience wearing thin as he is faced with a rebellious defendant again and a recent development where the ’singer’ may lose custody of her children do to her continuous missteps. Conan O’Brien made a joke about giving custody to BS or Kfed and that the judge had searched unsuccessfully for a third option. Let’s just say the whole thing only proves some people should not have children. Unfortunately, the population of wealthy, dysfunctional humans may have just risen a bit.

Third, fourth and fifth place based on popularity at the first news source are, in order, a story on the battle in Washington over the SCHIP legislation, the ‘phony soldier’ story and who said what or not, followed by another iPhone offering where Verizon claims their entrance into the fray will outdo Apple. To that one can say, ya, whatever.

Honorable mentions may have been more impressive as they dealt with Senator Craig, copyright law, the state of food safety, trapped miners that survived, Justice Clarence Thomas, history, sports and weather phenomena. It is a sizable improvement from recent observations of domination by stories on gaming, electronics, sex, death, accidents, felonies and other less admirable features of society in general. Maybe there is hope for us yet. That is if what is found popular among a few unscientific tallies provides any valuable insight.

The other sources offered most popular counts on world affairs like Burma and the war in Iraq as well as getting tough on illegal drugs and some off the wall humor (something about viagra and mice). The place where the discussions seem to get a little more specialized and perhaps polarized are in the blogosphere.

With Technorati displaying an estimate of more than 50 million blogs in the sphere it is no surprise that the number of topics offered and addressed is quite large also. The top tier of sites seem to reflect the popularity and trends present in data available elsewhere. There is no denying the success of YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and other ‘community’ or social networking venues. Other sites focusing on the internet, tech, electronics or those built to be all-in-one portals rank high based on their relative success. While there are many blogs and issue-based sites on the internet, a couple of questions remain. Will those who manage public affairs, political or issue-based sites, as well as their audience, reach a level of influence equal to organized lobbies? Can the power of the internet transform public opinion into real solutions?

While the popular news tallies and other internet rankings suggest the public is seldom focused on critical issues of the day, some recent events suggest there is power for public issues through the internet. An example would be widespread urging from the blogosphere to contact Congress when amnesty was proposed for illegal immigrants earlier this year. How much of the effect can be attributed to the blogosphere is unknown. But what is known is that the phone system for Congress was effectively crippled by the sheer quantity of the incoming calls. Both sides of the issue were displeased by the proposal. The legislation ultimately failed.

With a little more organization and concentration of effort there is the real possibility the internet can prove to be the force some claim it is. If that force can be focused on truly critical matters on a regular basis the real value of the technology may realize its most honorable feature. That being the pursuit of solutions in the public interest.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson’s Website, third world county, AZAMATTEROFACT, Faultline USA, DeMediacratic Nation, The Populist, Shadowscope, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, The Bullwinkle Blog, Cao’s Blog, CommonSenseAmerica, Conservative Cat, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 5th, 2007 at 4:05 pm and is filed under Public Affairs, Technology, wordpress, Politics, youtube, internet, blog, News Media, Opinion, myspace, facebook. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.