Virginia Bloggers Debate the Blogosphere: Whither the Southeast?

This week, some of Virginia’s leading political bloggers are debating whether the medium has run its course or grown stale. Opinions vary about the efficacy of blogging as a political tool, the etiquette of good political blogging, and whether the exponential explosion in the sheer number of blogs and bloggers is helping or hurting public discourse. Still, blogging has fast become part of life in Virginia politics and on the national scene.

Is this the case for the rest of Dixie?

As technology shifts and more households gain Internet access, will blogging as a tool of citizen activism become par for the course? In a region like the Southeast, where small towns, rural counties, and mid-sized cities are not served by large media conglomerates, blogging seems to have the potential to redefine the social and political fabric. In an age where large corporations, wealthy donors, and ideological elites of all stripes still exert heavy influence on public policy, is blogging swinging the pendulum of accountability back into the hands of the average citizen? The answers are far from certain but seemingly worth exploring.

It would be interesting to hear views from across the region on this emerging issue.