Sunday, June 29, 2008
A Google/Blogger Anti-Anti-Obama Bias?
I certainly hope not. However, this post from Newsbusters is troubling:
This is not a good thing.
Whether this is intentional or accidental, Google/Blogger needs to figure out a way to stop this.
As an addendum, I should note that I stumbled across the Newsbusters post via a cool Facebook app called "Blog Networks." In addition to allowing bloggers to build their own fan base on Facebook, it also gives readers access to random blog posts. This is another reason why I find myself becoming quite the Facebook evangelist. FB has reportedly recently passed MySpace as the worldwide leader in social networking -- though MS still leads in America. This should give Google/Blogger impetus to get its act together, re:the above problem. As powerful as Google is in the technology area, it's not the only game in town.
There are a lot of Facebook users out there and something tells me they won't like any insinuation that Blogger is being manipulated for political purposes. As my friend Steve Clemons noted not too long ago, Facebook has become a major player itself in the news dissemination/political organization/"ideas" marketing realm.
|
It turns out that there is an interesting pattern where it concerns the blogs that Google's Blogspot team have summarily locked down on their service. They all belong to the Just Say No Deal coalition, a group of blogs that are standing against the Obama campaign. It seems the largest portion of these blogs are Hillary supporting blogs, too.One respondent to the post asks if it isn't possible that Blogger automatically "locks" a blog that it gets "spam" complaints about. Blogger does that for sites that could be deemed "offensive." So, if that is the case, then it behooves Blogger to realize that that policy could be easily abused during a political year. Indeed, already other Commenters are talking about flagging various pro-Obama blogs as "spam."All I can say is, WOW! If Google is willing to abuse its power like this even against fellow leftists, what does it plan against conservatives, the folks Google hates even more!?
Here is a list of the Blogspot blogs that have been frozen by Google thus far:
- Blue Lyon @ http://bluelyon.blogspot.com
- Come A Long Way @ http://comealongway.blogspot.com
- Hillary or Bust @ http://hillaryorbust.blogspot.com
- McCain Democrats @ http://mccaindemocrats.blogspot.com
- NObama Blog @ http://nobamablog.blogspot.com
- politicallizard.blogspot.com @ http://thelizardannex.blogspot.com
- Reflections in Tyme @ http://reflections-in-tyme.blogspot.com
This is not a good thing.
Whether this is intentional or accidental, Google/Blogger needs to figure out a way to stop this.
As an addendum, I should note that I stumbled across the Newsbusters post via a cool Facebook app called "Blog Networks." In addition to allowing bloggers to build their own fan base on Facebook, it also gives readers access to random blog posts. This is another reason why I find myself becoming quite the Facebook evangelist. FB has reportedly recently passed MySpace as the worldwide leader in social networking -- though MS still leads in America. This should give Google/Blogger impetus to get its act together, re:the above problem. As powerful as Google is in the technology area, it's not the only game in town.
There are a lot of Facebook users out there and something tells me they won't like any insinuation that Blogger is being manipulated for political purposes. As my friend Steve Clemons noted not too long ago, Facebook has become a major player itself in the news dissemination/political organization/"ideas" marketing realm.
Labels: Facebook., Google, guest bloggers, liberal bias
