The Blog: an Accepted Vehicle for Minority Views?
During the lecture it was suggested the blog is a valuable resource for raising minority views in the West.
While this statement maybe gathering force as blogging becomes more common, this medium is still far from being universally regarded as authoritative. Here at university, this is particularly true for research based assignments, where one would hope the expression of minority views are taken seriously.
I argue from first hand experience. Last year I submitted a 2000 word essay on the war in Iraq. During my research online I stumbled across a blog written by ‘Riverbend’, supposedly a young Iraqi woman living in the war torn country.
Thinking I had discovered an original primary source advocating a minority take on the conflict, I used it extensively. Later, however, it was clear from the feedback and marking that greater weight should have been accorded to ‘expert’ evidence.
I understand a reason behind this might concern the veracity of such posts: how can we be certain that Riverbend is not some university student in the US attempting to protest against the regime and the war? All posts are indeed critical of both and regular access to a computer and internet in Iraq during the war arouses some suspicion.
Nevertheless, as blogs become more multimedia, video and photographic evidence should be sufficient to counter this problem.
Whether blogs will ever receive the same weight as more traditional authority such as books and journal articles is far less certain. At the very least the potential to gain a graphic insight into the reality behind mainstream portrayal of current events means the blog deserves considered attention. Markers should not be so quick to dismiss them as elaborate fiction.
Has anyone else experienced a similar reception when using blogs as authority in their essays? Is the blog now becoming accepted as authoritative? Will it ever receive the same weight as more traditional research mediums?
While this statement maybe gathering force as blogging becomes more common, this medium is still far from being universally regarded as authoritative. Here at university, this is particularly true for research based assignments, where one would hope the expression of minority views are taken seriously.
I argue from first hand experience. Last year I submitted a 2000 word essay on the war in Iraq. During my research online I stumbled across a blog written by ‘Riverbend’, supposedly a young Iraqi woman living in the war torn country.
Thinking I had discovered an original primary source advocating a minority take on the conflict, I used it extensively. Later, however, it was clear from the feedback and marking that greater weight should have been accorded to ‘expert’ evidence.
I understand a reason behind this might concern the veracity of such posts: how can we be certain that Riverbend is not some university student in the US attempting to protest against the regime and the war? All posts are indeed critical of both and regular access to a computer and internet in Iraq during the war arouses some suspicion.
Nevertheless, as blogs become more multimedia, video and photographic evidence should be sufficient to counter this problem.
Whether blogs will ever receive the same weight as more traditional authority such as books and journal articles is far less certain. At the very least the potential to gain a graphic insight into the reality behind mainstream portrayal of current events means the blog deserves considered attention. Markers should not be so quick to dismiss them as elaborate fiction.
Has anyone else experienced a similar reception when using blogs as authority in their essays? Is the blog now becoming accepted as authoritative? Will it ever receive the same weight as more traditional research mediums?
posted by Anonymous at 5:40 pm
1 Comments:
Yes, it's interesting isn't it? Blogs still suffer a credibility deficit. I guess there will be many people with a Luddite prejudice against something which appears only in the digital ether and not in the revered printed page. But as kAT says, this may be as much to do with the type of source and the perspective that was appropriate for the points you were making. It is necessary to distinguish between first person perspectives (experiential and/or opinion-based discourses) - which can, of course, be extremely valuable in their own right - and an academic analysis carried out 'at arm's length' by someone who is (a) required by their profession to weigh up competing viewpoints (which does not mean they're required to be impartial in their conclusions) and (b) subject to peer review when they seek to have their research published. Sure, the line is not always that clear! But generally speaking, blogging is going to fall into the former category rather than the latter.
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