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When conservatives complain that the liberals are better in the blogosphere, they have a point. Conservatives have used technology like microtargeting to win elections, but the other side has excelled in building a blogosphere community.
Part of the reason for this may be simply that Democrats were out of power when the blogosphere came into existence. For this reason, they may have been more likely to embrace this renegade technology. Additionally, it may be that conservatives are more individualistic, and thus, less likely to work well in a community environment (proponents of this theory argue that there are just as many conservative voices, but that they are not pulling their resources).
While there may be some inherent reasons for liberal domination in the blogosphere, some of the problems may actually be our own fault.
One microcosm that might illustrate the problem is occurring right now at the Politics Online Conference in Washington, DC. Aside from the Townhall team (Kudos to MKH for her Golden Dot Award!), I have spotted a few fellow travellers, including: Patrick Ruffini, David All, and Robert Bluey. In addition, GOP strategists Paul Wilson and Becki Donatelli are both present. I also ran into with some of John McCain's web guys, last night. And Jim Rowley, Director of Direct Reponses of the RNC, and another Republican, John Simms, are on a panel discussion this morning.
Granted, it is very possible that there are other conservatives here that I haven't seen (or don't know). But it is also clear that a vast majority of the folks attending are liberals. Sometimes these things perpetuate themselves. Conservatives don't want to attend because most of the folks here are liberals. Of course, this thinking makes the problem worse...
The purpose of this conference is to learn from experts about how to use the internet more effectively. Surely, this is something that conservatives and Republicans can benefit from.
It's a shame more of us aren't here...
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