A Baseline Examination of Political Bloggers: Who they are, their Views on the Blogosphere and their Influence in Agenda-Setting via the Two-Step Flow Hypothesis
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Work data:
Type of work: PhD Thesis
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e-Democracy | Politics and Political Science | Social Media & Social SoftwareAbstract:
This is a baseline examination of political bloggers, it profiles who they are, discovers how they view the blogosphere, explores their motivations for blogging, and researches their influence on the media agenda via the two-step flow hypothesis. Key political organizations were asked which blogs they read to create a census of influential political blogs. The respondents of these blogs hailed from across the country and the political spectrum. Data was collected via a SurveyPro online questionnaire and tabulated with SPSS. The data revealed that bloggers tend to be married, educated, white males in their 40’s. They are concerned about their reputation as contributors of an online rumor mill. Most do not blog professionally and are not making money from their blogs. The data also showed a digital divide between minorities and the poor and a gender gap among political bloggers.
