Vermonters venting hits the web

Author: Christine Fisher

Blogs, short for weblogs, constitute a new phenomenon that has experienced rapid growth in the past decade as more and more people become computer literate and gain access to the Internet. Once strictly relegated to the geek population, blogs are slowly but surely making their way onto the radar screens of the average Dick and Jane.

The beginnings of the blogging movement are often traced back to 1994, when a Swarthmore College student, Justin Hall, started publishing his diary, entitled "Justin's Links from the Underground," on the web. This first gesture has gone on to inspire a whole slew of other public diary-scrapbook hybrids: Xanga was launched in 1996, followed by Open Diary in 1998, and Live Journal and Blogger.com in 1999.

Blogs have already demonstrated their clout as a powerful political tool, as they played an indispensable role in both the 2002 resignation of Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott after he made a particularly un-politically correct comment at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party, as well as Howard Dean's 2004 attempt to capture the Democratic presidential nomination.

In the first example, mainstream media outlets failed to see in Lott's comment a veiled endorsement of segregation, but the persistent negative attention drudged up by bloggers regarding his uncouth remark eventually led to his decision to resign.

Assistant Professor of Political Science Bertram Johnson described the divide that exists between the formal journalistic world and the more difficult-to-regulate blogosphere: "Media organizations…create sets of informal rules about what constitutes 'news' and what can and cannot legitimately be printed. It is possible that blogs are a form of new media that bucks these rules. Anything can be printed, and whatever occurs to the blogger can constitute 'news.'"

Johnson also noted that for this same reason, "blogs can facilitate epidemics of rumor and amplify the fury of extremists on all sides…mak[ing] us less willing to listen to the views of people with whom we disagree."

For example, consider the description of one Vermont-based blog called Alphecca (http://www.alphecca.com): "an occasional blog by an independent, libertarian, gay gun nut from Vermont. Opinions about all sorts of stuff I know nothing about." This is then followed by a picture of a cute, cuddly little kitten next to a gun, with the caption: "Even my cats have guns!"

As for Dean's presidential campaign, he utilized blogs to extend his network of supporters and accumulate funding for his campaign. Although Dean lost the nomination to Kerry, his campaign will still go down in history as one of the most thorough engagements of the American public at the grassroots level, in part due to his willingness to take advantage of the nascent blog culture.

From the humorous to the serious to the just plain strange, here are a few homegrown Vermont blogs that definitely deserve a stop as you take a joyride on the Internet superhighway:

• Vermont Commons: People for an Independent Vermont (http://www.vtcommons.org/blog):

The slogan once went, "Don't mess with Texas," but as this blog reveals, Vermont is definitely the new Texas, with 8% of Vermonters favoring secession from the United States. Although Vermont has not been an independent republic since 1791, the creators of this blog yearn to reinstate this long-lost status.

• People for Naming a Mountain in Vermont Brokeback Mountain (http://www.brokebackmountainvermont.com/):

"Our wish is to dedicate our mountain as an 'eternal' tribute to a movie that changed so many lives for the better. This is the ultimate acknowledgment of gratitude, respect, and admiration for the movie, its author (who went to school and lived in Vermont) and actors as well as to the concept of love between two people, no matter what their sex."

• Hallucinogenius (http://effencrazy.blogspot.com/):

"I was raised by a pack of wild amoeba in a Petri dish…couldn't stand the heat of the Bunsen burner, so I struck out on my own…"

If you ever feel like an outcast, simply pay a visit to this site, an ideal reminder that there are always people out there weirder and crazier than you.

• The Deadbeat Club (http://deadbeatdirt.blogspot.com/):

"A place for fellow ne'er do wells to converge in an orgy of laziness and mindful mindfulness…oh, and watch cool videos."

Sick of refreshing your recently updated friends page on the Facebook? Has the novelty of the Aicha video finally worn off after watching it approximately 18,954,255 times instead of writing your history paper? If nothing else, blogs may very well be the next best procrastination method.

• 802 Online (http://7d.blogs.com/802online/):

The mothership of local Vermont blogs. If you tire of my selections, go here and strike out on your own, where you will find an extensive selection of blogs for your viewing pleasure, ranging in subject matter from veganism to astronomy.