1. WEEK 6: BLOGGING AND
SOCIAL MEDIA
Irina Belsky

2. MAPPING THE AUSTRALIAN POLITICAL
BLOGOSPHERE
(AXEL BRUNS AND DEBRA ADAMS, 2007)
Main Findings
1. The Australian blogosphere dominated by leftist perspectives
2. Mainstream media sparked the discussion of issues but not involved in
blogger discussions.
3. Bloggers did not hyperlink to primary sources of news
4. News media and politicians do participate but participation is limited
4. Bloggers will not always blog about the issue that’s big in the news. They
will blog about the things that are of interest to them
5. Hyperlinks point to the social conversational nature of blogs

3. AXEL BRUNS MORE
RECENT WORK (2010)
Mapping the online
community of Australia
The colours represent blog
communities talking about
different topics

4. PROMINENT BLOGS IN POLITICAL
BLOGOSPHERE IN 2010
Crickey,
Larvatus
prodeo,
Catallaxy
Files, Club
Truppo, John
Quiggin,
Unleashed,
Peter Martin

5. ANALYSING THE CURRENT BLOGOSPHERE
Is the political blogosphere more left or right
wing?
What types of blogs dominate the political
blogosphere?
What features do they have in common?

6. ANALYSING THE CURRENT BLOGOSPHERE
Blogs taken from Bruns
recent research
Leftist blogs: Larvatus
Prodeo, John Quiggin,
Crikey
‘Right’ blogs: Catallaxy
Files,
Centre: Club Troppo,
Unleashed, Peter Martin

7. ANALYSING THE CURRENT BLOGOSPHERE
In 2006-07, 64% of Australian households had home Internet access
and 73% had access to a home computer. Households with access to
the Internet increased by 4 %.
In 2008-09, 72% of Australian households had home internet access
and 78% of households had access to a computer. Households with a
broadband internet connection increased by 18% from 2008.-
Australian Bureau of Statistics

8. THE MALAYSIAN SOLUTION IN
THE BLOGOSPHERE
Malaysian solution: Australia will invest its
money to send asylum seekers coming by
boat to be processed in Malaysia. The plan is
to resettle these people in a third country.

9. Malaysian solution
view: mostly
opposed to policy

10. Malaysian solution
view: 18 comments
all of which opposed
the policy

11. Malaysian solution
view: Comments
criticized leftists for
not criticizing Gillard
enough

12. Malaysian policy view: analyses pros and cons yet shows more
support for the policy than criticism
Troppo contributors often tend towards an “essay blogging” style
rather than just short, link-based posts.

13. John Qiggin: No mention at all of the refugee issue. This is a personal
blog
Some are personal entries which have nothing to do with politics
He does have a broad base of followers who comment and have
discussions
Peter Martin: Personal blog that includes the articles of other writers
Lots of materials from other sources

14. Examples of Drum Unleashed contributors
Peter Lewis: director of Essential Media
Communications (EMC), a public affairs and research
company
John Menadue: founding chair and Board member of
the Centre for Policy Development.
Alex Pagliaro: refugee campaigner for Amnesty
International Australia
Malaysian Solution view: Criticism of the policy

15. ANALYSING THE CURRENT BLOGOSPHERE
Three categories of blogs emerge:
1.personal blogs by experts
2. group blogs created by experts
3.public sphere discussion by main stream
media that has features of blogs

16. 1. PERSONAL BLOGS
Highly informative content
Narrower target audience (but comments
still present)
High interconnectedness (Blog roll)
Created by a well informed individual

17. LAYOUT OF PERSONAL
BLOGS
John Quiggin
Interlinking with blogs in different categories
Peter Martin
Interlinking to other media sources, commentators
and resources

18. 2.GROUP BLOGS
Many contributors
created by individuals who are well informed
extensive comment discussion of issues
Hyperlinking
High interconnectedness (Blog Roll)

19. LAYOUT OF GROUP
BLOGS
Larvatus Prodeo: more professional: have tabs
separating posts into categories
Subscription option
Different comment options
Club Troppo: more like a personal blog with core
blogger contributions as well as comments
Few links to other sites/blogs

20. 3. PUBLIC DISCUSSION
BLOGS
High interconnectedness (through links to
other media)
Contributions by journalists and politicians
Large target audience
Multimedia platform

21. LAYOUT OF PUBLIC
DISCUSSION BLOGS
Crikey: Multiple column layout with ads,
category tabs, interactivity
Paywall model yet it allows articles by
readers
Compilation of blogs
The Drum Unleashed:
No hyperlinks inside articles

22. ANALYSING THE CURRENT BLOGOSPHERE
Traffic Rank of Blogs in Australia
1. ABC the Drum Unleashed (24th)
2. Crickey (631th)
3.Larvatus Prodeo (24,694th)
4. John Quiggin (48143th)
5. Club Troppo (54,124)
6. Peter Martin (no data)

23. ANALYSING THE CURRENT BLOGOSPHERE
Leftist perspective still more dominant
More interactivity and multimedia content
More mainstream media and politician
participation
Interlinking and multiple perspectives
create engaging blogs

24. ANALYSING THE CURRENT BLOGOSPHERE
Blogging is about engaging content...
So I leave you with engaging content found by
blogger Peter Martin....
Taiwanese perception of Australian politics
2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=RQ_s6V1Kv6A

25. ANALYSING THE CURRENT BLOGOSPHERE
Bibliography
Smolkin, R 2004, ‘The expanding blogosphere’, American Journalism Review
http://snurb.info/node/1369
Bruns A & Adams D 2007, ‘Mapping Australian political blogosphere’
www.mappingonlinerepublics.net
http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/07/26/welcome-to-the-malaysian-solution/
http://clubtroppo.com.au/
http://larvatusprodeo.net/
http://catallaxyfiles.com/?s=refugees
http://www.petermartin.com.au/search/label/column
http://johnquiggin.com/2011/08/17/crowdsourcing-the-links-between-climate-and-tobacco-
hackery/comment-page-1/#comment-156028