Can the blogosphere be used to push boundaries and expand issue debate? Can it create the space for provocative and in-depth conversation that has the power to change people’s minds, and/or at least build broad coalitions necessary to create change?
What exactly is the blogosphere anyway? From the older word “logosphere” (from Greek ‘logos’ meaning word, and ‘sphere’ interpreted as world), it is a collective term used to describe all blogs and their interconnections. It is the perception that blogs exist together as a connected community (or as a collection of connected communities) or as a social network. The term “blogosphere” was originally coined as a joke (!), but now represents public opinion and enables discussion on literally every issue imaginable.
Young people heart the blogosphere! We spend a lot of time in (on?) it and why not? It gives us an excellent forum to take a look at what others think about issues we care about, stay in the know regarding news and events, and debate with one another. This last part of why we heart the blogosphere is worth a little consideration as we question how to craft meaningful debate online.
Climate activists increasingly use the blogosphere to extend conversations across traditional geographic boundaries. It is the hope of climate bloggers (many of us here at Breakthrough) that those not yet directly engaged with the fight against global warming can read up on what is happening. And that others who may not be convinced realize the importance of developing clean energy and climate solutions.
The Value of Controversy
If you take a look at posts that get heavy coverage online at different sites they are usually pretty controversial. It’s no secret that controversy sells; take a look at the 11 o’clock news on any TV station to get a sense of what pulls viewers in. Controversy takes on new meaning in the blogosphere as people can directly interact with one another and continue the conversation.
As noted on ItsGettingHotinHere, no one comments or engages with widely agreeable posts about uncontroversial thoughts, such as the need to curb global warming emissions ASAP. It is very important to tell our story and highlight victories (that is not what I am about to argue against). And while it’s nice to post about things we all can cheerlead around, but that cannot be as far as it goes. The climate movement can only grow when the conversation goes deeper than that, as we explore difficult issues that will certainly arise as we move toward creating our vision of a sustainable and just future. And it does go more in depth when we start to talk about how to best curb emissions and the future of global development.
When this happens, we need to be mindful about how the conversation goes deeper in order to nurture and promote meaningful debate and conversation. A pitfall: writing on blogs can get snarky, fast, especially in the comment section where the issue lives on (and commenters often sit behind the veil of anonymity). For example, comments on the post “Carbon Capture: Solution or Scam?” equated Breakthrough Gen’s Teryn Norris with Hitler, as a supporter of genocide (aka: international human development)! The comments were clearly hurtful, and many fell into the petty back and forth. Overall, it seems that the way a conversation devolves in the comment section is related to the overall tone of the post itself. Snarky name-calling is very different than controversy or exploring difficult issues.
Professor of Psychology Jonathan Haidt, author of The Happiness Hypothesis, asserts: “responses to threats and unpleasantness are faster, stronger and harder to inhibit than responses to opportunities and pleasures.” A negativity bias is clearly seen in the blogopshere, and it is not necessarily bad, but we need to be mindful of its seductive power in order to avoid meaningless name-calling.
Opportunities and Pleasures
The blogosphere is an opportunity to build coalitions and extend activism beyond traditional boundaries, as face-to-face interactions are not always plausible. I hope we can walk the line, raise heady topics and promote difficult conversations. We don’t want to fall into an “It’s All Good” mentality with one another, and we need to be open to differing opinions. It’s difficult to change people’s minds!
Can we work to make our posts thoughtful AND provocative in a way that grabs people’s attention, without being cynical or dumbing down the issues? Can we work to craft a positive framing message that resonates with and excites others? Is it in our nature to do so? The international conversation among young people, the movement itself, depends upon our ability to do so.
Good News
A good example of the beginning of this effort can also be seen at ItsGettingHotinHere with recent posts from the Breakthrough Generation regarding coal carbon sequestration and tough energy choices. Teryn and Jesse raised a controversial issue in a way that left space for an ongoing conversation (while there were certainly snarky comments thrown about). Other recent posts, including one on the Breadth of Activism, are more signals that the youth climate movement wants to move in this direction.
