Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

It was Live blogged" here at Political Cortex (and updated), which simply meant that a few bloggers reported their experience of the speakers and breakout sessions as they happened. It was an interesting and fun experiment that added a remarkable dimension to the event.  

Sco, at .08 acres and a Donkey (you'll have to visit the site for an explanation), has a good run down of the proceedings. Beyond 495, one of the conference organizers, also has posted part-one of her report on the event.  

For further reports and commentary on the proceedings, check out the Massachusetts section of LeftyBlogs.  I hear there may be pictures of Blog Left posted soon as well.

I mention all this, because blogs are not only terrific platforms for publishing and discussion, as we are doing here, but also for organizing, and discussion and evaluation of organizing methods and experiences.

In my talk, I emphasized that the blog audience is naturally limited. Not because there are not a lot of blog readers. But the audience is self-selected, and pretty much limited to those who are already involved in blogging. But that number is very far from everyone who most needs to be able to use the powerful tools of the blogosphere -- including this site. This means that those who want to use Political Cortex as part of their organizing efforts, should consider if there are people who they can teach how to be involved, or to use this, and other blogs effectively.  It is utterly normal that some people need to be coached, encouraged and shown specific things. Not everyone finds computers, the internet, and the many oddly named aspects of the "blogosphere" immediately accessible. In fact, much of this is difficult for some people to imagine, lacking any frame of reference for the extraordinary things that are happening out here in cyber space. My mother who remembers when the old sci-fi comic strip "Buck Rogers" was new, thinks of much of what we are doing as Buck Rogers come true.  

It is our job to figure out who in our lives, should really be participating; finding out if there are areas of knowledge and skill development that would allow them to read and navigate the site and/or meaningfully participate.  Are there equipment or software issues?  Are there ways to easily help?

I believe that part of the action agenda of those who share our concerns -- is going to need to be enhancing our capacity to use this medium effectively.  While I do not view the internet as a panacea, if you are reading this, odds are you agree with me that this site, and blog technology in general has the potential to make a difference. The question then is, how does it fit in our lives? And what do we all need to do to maximize our effectiveness in how we use this remarkable new media and organizing platform?

One possibility is blogger training seminars -- in our churches; universities; political groups; and more.

Topics might include:

How to participate in scoop-based sites like Political Cortex and Talk to Action.

How to set up your own blog

How to make blogging a useful tool in your political work

I have no doubt that this will emerge as a whole new industry over the next year. But I also know that most of the training that goes on -- will be conducted by people who know each other, who already share common interests and concerns. Do you know anyone who you think could use a little help?