mínima vital? ¿Por qué?”
4. DISCUSIÓN DE RESULTADOS:
5.3. FINALIDAD DE LA PROPUESTA.
The Weblog or blog arose during the late 1990s. During this period blogs consisted of hyperlinks and a little commentary on other interesting sites discovered on the internet (Blood, 2000). Notably, at this time the internet was in a considerably less structured (and easily searchable) state than it currently assumes. Therefore they were then both a source and a means of transmitting information to those that would stumble upon them. They have since evolved to cover all spectrum of intentions. With the incorporation of a comment functionality in 2002, encouraging greater interaction between the blogger and the reader, the internet was declared open as a space of discussion and debate (Domingo & Heinonen, 2008; Garden, 2012). Under the rubric of citizen journalism, some have even gone as far as to say that the internet and blogs have the potential to usher in a new era of civic participation, reinvigorating the public sphere (Kahn & Kellner, 2004; Kerbel & Bloom, 2005; Poster, 2001). Further, it has been argued that they can encourage expertise sharing and facilitate cross-‐institutional collaboration (Huh et al., 2007). Whilst with their less formal structure, range of information covered and the diversity of authors that often take part, blogs are frequently perceived as and used to offer a more personal side of an organisation (Sprague, 2007). They have become so widely accepted that no self-‐respecting media outlet, corporation, cultural institution or political party would be caught without one (or more), as part of their social media arsenal.
Not all view blogs with such rose tinted glasses. Keen (2007) claims the unmoderated nature of the blogosphere (Web 2.0 in general) has the ability to undermine authority, potentially spreading unfounded and unsubstantiated rumours dressed in the guise of news and the truth. Galloway (2004) and Terranova (2000) posit blogging (amongst other user-‐generated content) as exploitive free labour, reinforcing neoliberal capitalism. Research by Herring, Scheidt, Wright and Bonus (2005) has suggested the level of interaction and social critique evident in blogs is often exaggerated. Lovink (2008) goes one step further pointing out audiences rarely, if ever engage in interaction because there may be no audience at all.
Technologists’ visions aside, even though blogs primarily operate in much the same manner as more traditional media, the one-‐to-‐many model, their credibility as a trustworthy source of information has grown. Several studies have suggested they are amongst the most trusted online sources available (Johnson, Kaye, Bichard & Wong, 2007; Johnson & Kaye, 2009; Kaid & Postelnicu, 2007; Mack, Blose & Pan, 2008). Far from being irrelevant whispers from cyberspace, blogs are often referenced by traditional media sources and can have real life consequences (Lorenzo, Dziuban & Oblinger, 2007; Tremayne, 2007).106 From the humble number of twenty-‐three recorded in 1999, the blogosphere has since exploded, with two popular platforms, Tumblr and WordPress are currently reporting over 250 million individual blogs, and posts that range into the billions between them (Blood, 2000).107 Although dominated by personal journal-‐like examples, these numbers attest to the blogosphere’s firm establishment as part of modern digital culture.
Like the rest of the wired world, Māori have taken to the blogosphere with enthusiasm. Used as a space for informing members of an iwi about recent or up-‐and-‐coming events, expressing individual or group opinions, thoughts and criticisms, Māori use of blogs is broad to say the least. In part, this diversity has made pigeonholing blogs a rather arduous task (Garden, 2012). Nonetheless, several have assumed the role of the citizen journalist, where not being part of a journalistic institution, they are practicing
106 As exemplified by the blog Whale Oil (http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/), see
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-‐living/30013080/whaleoil-‐down-‐due-‐to-‐dos-‐attack.
107 On 6 February 2014, WordPress reported 75,272,821 blogs, http://en.wordpress.com/stats/.
participatory journalism, which according to Bowman and Willis is defined as the following:
The act of a citizen, or group of citizens, playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information. The intent of this participation is to provide independent, reliable, accurate, wide-‐ ranging and relevant information that a democracy requires. (2003, p. 9)
Whether from a generalised, non-‐specialist basis, such as Maui Street or Tu Mai Te Toki, to those who work within specific areas of law and politics like Ahi-‐kā-‐roa and Ka Tōnuitanga.108 These blogs are being used to analyse and critique information, while attempting to start a conversation on the issues covered. These actions are precisely why Castells (2008), Kerbel, (2005), Kahn and Kellner, (2004) saw blogging having the potential to re-‐empowering the public sphere.
However, this is one of the potential iterations a blog can assume, and one that has perhaps been over valorised (Butt, 2008). From music and politics to cooking and travel, blogs can be very specific in focus or a selection of unrelated thoughts, links and images. In analysing research around the various iterations a blog can assume, Garden (2012) has observed an inconsistent or at times non-‐existent definition of the term in academic research. She does not intend a hermetic term be developed, fore as she clearly illustrates, blogs are many things to many people. But rather when undertaking research into this field that an appropriate referential frame is in place, ensuring the clarity of what is actually being examined. Therefore, here a blog will be determined by the affordances of a reverse chronology, a commentary facility, and the ability for readers to follow, reblog, like (or note in some platforms) and of course comment. It can contain but is not limited to the posting of images, videos, and essays. There is a degree of overlap between the affordances of a blog site and a social networking page but they are not the same. It is important to reiterate that social networks predominantly work with pre-‐established social circles, maintaining connections in the real world (Boyd & Ellison, 2007; O’Carroll, 2013a). Blogs can and do operate in this manner but in general are focused expressions of personal interest aimed at a much broader audience where no pre-‐existing connection is required.
108 Maui Street, http://mauistreet.blogspot.co.nz/, Tu Mai Te Toki,
http://tumaitetoki.blogspot.co.nz/ Ahi-‐kā-‐roa, http://ahi-‐ka-‐roa.blogspot.co.nz/ and Ka Tōnuitanga, http://katonuitanga.com/