8354 Media Ecology, Cascades and the Political Blogosphere, Jeff Swift

http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3744/3118

First Monday 16(12), 5 December 2011
Cascades and the Political Blogosphere
Jeff Swift

Despite the fact that political blogs seem to be just as dominated by elites as traditional journalism, networks of individuals play an essential role in spreading arguments in the political blogosphere. The hyperlinking economy of political blogs is powered by competition, elevation, and access. This economy values networks of individuals just as much as — if not more than — it values elite top–tier bloggers.

Conclusion The theory of cascades helps us understand the nature and effects of the political blogosphere. The traditional reputational and informational cascades are common occurrences in the political blog economy, occurrences that define the power this new economy introduces into the business of advocating and opinionating. Political cascades are driven by hyperlinks, credibility, and diversity, all of which bring new understanding to the role cascades play online.

The hyperlinking economy in political blogs is powered by competition, with the niche–specific blogs competing with the general interest intermediaries to provide the most relevant and timely information to the people most interested in that information. The hyperlinking economy also features a powerful elevation function, with the top–tier elite blogs promoting the best ideas and ignoring the low–quality ideas that are so often written in political blogs. This economy would not be possible without the wide access of the blogosphere, with barriers to entry being a few minutes, access to a computer and an Internet connection, and a good idea. Political blogs are also empowered by the chance for anyone to become an influential blogger. Not every blogger can necessarily begin a cascade of ideas, but cascades can be started by anyone — elite and non–elite alike. This opportunity increases the quality of these blogs by providing an opportunity for everyone to be involved in a substantial way.

The credibility of the poli–blogosphere comes not from top–down “elites” and “experts” who are given credibility by their past, but by networks of individuals who earn credibility because of their relationships and arguments. This credibility shapes and channels cascades from individual to individual and from group to group. As has been found in previous research, cascades can be started by elites and by non–elites alike, but can only be sustained when non–elites are actively engaged — elites can’t do it alone.

Overall, the theory of cascades demonstrates that the political blogosphere is not just adding echo chambers and stifling discussion. The political blogosphere is providing additional ways for good ideas to be recorded and shared, enabling certain kinds of discussion, spreading the responsibility and ability to engage in the marketplace of ideas, encouraging involvement, and providing the opportunity for the public sphere to thrive in the digital age.

Future examinations of the political blogosphere should move beyond the partisan linking practices that have been the focus of previous studies, and will take into consideration the effects of cascades. For example, future studies might track the influence of the blogosphere on political engagement, examine what factors must be present in order for meaningful discussion to take place on political blogs (remembering that not everyone need be involved in such discussion for it to be effective), examine characteristics of the most popular blog–induced cascades to identify trends in online political behavior, or compare disagreement among partisan blogs with disagreement across partisan lines to distinguish between different kinds of digital disagreement. The blogosphere is always changing — growing and adapting with new information, technology, platforms, and actors. As such, it is a phenomenon that should be monitored closely until the day it fades from importance on the political scene. And that day does not seem to be coming any time soon.
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