What are Candidate Blogs For?

[PresidentObama]

The candidates clearly have different views of what their blogs are for--a dedicated newspaper? an organizing hub?--and who they are for--supporters? bloggers? curious? With the help of oh-ate, here are some preliminary observations:

<snip>

Edwards’ blog is for a little bit of everything, largely to be shared with a sympathetic community. More than any other candidate, Edwards uses his blog for press releases, community rants, fundraising, calls to action – a blend reflected in the the refracted home page. The blog feels like it was modeled on an online news magazine like Slate or Salon, with different sections of the paper including different predictable elements. With blended content, it appeals to a blended audience of new and old supporters. It even includes news that has no direct mention of Edwards.

Obama’s blog is for emphasizing and celebrating popularity. Almost every post is a description of a massive Obama event, with pictures and descriptions of enthusiasm.The audience is a blend of people who like Obama but are nervous only about his popularity and those who are prone to bandwagon advertising – it may also be directed at the mainstream media. With titles like “Cleveland Rocked,” and “Word on the Street from Austin,” “Barack is coming to Cleveland,” the blog embraces a rock star metaphor for the campaign. The pictures, often at odd angles, as if in a fan’s scrapbook, underlines this theme (as I’ve said elsewhere, I think this is a dangerous approach for Obama).

Chris Dodd’s blog is for proving that he’s viable. Every blog post is titled “What they are saying: (date), and includes affirmations of his intelligence and respect. I think the audience is the mainstream media and donors who want affirmation that they are not crazy supporting him. I find the tone of his blog surprisingly easy on the ear, if not profound – my guess is that it goes through less review and therefore sounds more human than other sites.

http://techpresident.com/node/112

I'm really interested in the websites of the candidates obviously, and I like to see how they are using and vitalizing MySpace and other social networking sites. This basically covers one's opinion of the different blogs, but I find a lot of truth in it. A lot of people are using them for different reasons. Obama to talk about enthusiasm about his campaign, Edwards is a little of everything, and Dodd is making the case he's viable for 08'