Blogs as an Open Forum

At "Bloggernacle Night" last week, Nate proposed the idea that LDS blogs represent a "public space" where LDS issues can be presented and discussed, giving due credit for the general concept of a public space (where free discourse can flourish) to Habermas. I'll give a few links where one can read about that general concept, then note how I think LDS blogs fit the schema in some ways but not others. I'll sometimes use the term "open forum," which does a little better job of capturing whatever it is that LDS blogs as a group represent vis-à-vis the larger LDS community.

The Public Sphere
You can get a working knowledge of the concept by reading the Wikipedia entries on Jürgen Habermas and Public Sphere. By public sphere or public space, Habermas is referring to a forum for the discussion of politics and economics — public policy stuff — that was relatively independent of Church and State. Habermas traces the emergence of such a public space to the coffee houses of London in the 18th century, its contribution to the development of liberal democracy, and then its eclipse during the 19th century as capitalism and the rise of a mass media squeezed out authentic and open discussion.

So, following this line of thinking, the modern media reflects political control, advertising, and general PR messages designed to make vested power groups look good and generally manipulate the masses: The Media as an endless parade of 30-second sound bites trying to control your mind and generally succeeding. Average citizens don't get much of a chance to be heard in the debate, but the real point is there simply is no public debate anymore. Do presidential debates actually debate anything? Are "town hall meetings" actually meetings of townfolk or just staged media events? Are most news stories carefully researched and objectively written, or are they just recycled press releases from government agencies and corporations? Enter the Blog, which has made a non-trivial impact on mass media and national politics. Blogs have shaken up the political and media status quo and empowered a previously unheard strata of society ... you and me, average citizens. Blogs seem to provide not just the possibility of different content but also a forum where free discussion (some productive, some not) occurs.

LDS Blogs as an Open Forum
The public space concept is enlightening, but how much of it applies to the narrower question of LDS blogs? Let's restate the narrower question in the context of the public space discussion above: If we consider LDS blogs collectively as an open forum where various LDS religious issues (history, doctrine, and practice) can be discussed independently of Church and State, what is likely to develop? Is it a good thing or a bad thing, and for whom?

Yes, I think you can shoehorn LDS blogs into the concept of a public space and get some mileage from it. LDS blogs are a truly open forum. Topics do get raised and discussed in LDS blogs that aren't raised and discussed in any public Church setting. And blogs are blessedly free from institutional supervision — a correlated blog does not seem like a workable concept. Some might argue that this "open forum" function has been provided by the general Mormon Studies community for the past fifty years, but I would argue that the academic "conference and journal" model followed by that community limits its impact to a fairly small audience. The blogging audience dwarfs the Mormon Studies audience by several orders of magnitude. LDS blog content is literally available in less than 60 seconds to any person on the planet who can Google desired search terms.

But there are differences. The public space Habermas outlined was a forum for discussions that supported revolutionary change in government and society, part of the Enlightenment project. Some might argue that modern political blogs aspire to that role, but not LDS blogs, which are more like an adult alternative to golf, crochet, or television. A superior alternative, IMHO, but not part of a program for overhauling the Church the way discourse in a Habermasian public space treats public policy issues of significant import for society. And while an open forum fosters more wide-ranging discussion of some topics, the spectrum of opinion on religious issues one sees in the B'nacle isn't much different from what exists in the Church as a whole.

Just to put in a parting good word for blogs, Nate also made passing reference to what I call the Google shelf-space argument: LDS blogs put relatively positive treatments of LDS issues into many Goodle search result pages, including the messy ones that don't get discussed or text-catalogued for official LDS sites because they don't get discussed there. In a perfectly correlated world, if LDS.org were the only LDS website, online search results on LDS topics would be flooded with sites unfriendly to the Church simply because there would be no competition for that valuable resource. But as it is now, there's a good chance some LDS blogs show up on the first page or two for many searches. Hopefully, First Contact (when a GA first mentions LDS blogs in General Conference) will take note of this valuable service that LDS blogs render to the larger LDS community. Open forums aren't such a bad thing.

Comments

[Nate Oman]

"LDS blogs...are more like an adult alternative to golf, crochet, or television."

My vote for best Bloggernacle line this week.

[Eric]

Thank you Dave. I admit that I occasionaly question the value of all of this. Your thoughts here help.

[Hellmut Lotz]

Blogs are transforming Mormon culture in one important way. They put an end to the silence, which characterizes so much of the Mormon experience. There are many, many people that do not dare to share their feelings about the Church with their spouse, their parents, and their children.

By providing a space for people to communicate more authentically, the Internet is making a meaningful difference in the lifes of many Mormons. One cannot change patterns of communication without transforming a culture.

[Naiah]

"forum for discussions that supported revolutionary change in government and society, part of the Enlightenment project."
I'd actually say that there is a revolution of sorts taking place person-by-person in this forum. (continues in two quotes...)

"Some might argue that modern political blogs aspire to that role, but not LDS blogs, which are more like an adult alternative to golf, crochet, or television."
Except that none of those are anywhere near as addictive. Ok, crocheting, maybe... ;P

"A superior alternative, IMHO, but not part of a program for overhauling the Church the way discourse in a Habermasian public space treats public policy issues of significant import for society."
Well, we are a church made up of and led by the members, right? So, overhaul the minds of the members and you overhaul the church. Granted it's not any kind of an administrative or doctrinal overhaul, but in providing a forum for discourse on one's faith, it allows for the refining of that faith. Call it part of the church's three-fold mission--"perfecting the saints." By pooling our knowledge and refining our individual syntheses, we perfect how we each function in the church and in society in light of our faith. It's a bit of a grass roots revolution, reaching, as you mention, a much greater segment of the church population than Sunstone and the like, and giving whoever chooses a voice in the discourse. This 'open enrollment' also allows those with lesser knowledge and experience to jump in and take part in discussions that will enhance their knowledge, learning as they go from the other participants, which is another way in which they are able to attract, include, and keep more people tha the traditional mormon studies crowd.

"And while an open forum fosters more wide-ranging discussion of some topics, the spectrum of opinion on religious issues one sees in the B'nacle isn't much different from what exists in the Church as a whole."
Ok, on the narrative level, I totally agree with this statement, but I think we would imply different meanings. I would add the caveat that in the church as a whole you have an amazingly diverse spectrum of attitudes and beliefs (all the way from literal acceptance of every word of scripture and every word breathed by GA even when contradictory to suggesting we 'girlcott' the temple until they change the ceremony) which is, in fact, reflected in the 'nacle.

[RoastedTomatoes]

I agree with Naiah; the Mormon blogs as a whole aren't revolutionary in agenda (although perhaps some specific sites are), but they're still revolutionary within modern Mormonism. The mere existence of a forum for faithful Mormons where the agenda isn't set by the Correlation Committee is a revolution in form, if not in substance.

[danithew]

Very interesting post Dave.

I think open discussion of topics that were not being discussed, from both scholarly and non-scholarly approaches, is a very significant thing.

There are other factors that could eventually play a role as well - as the LDS blogging community becomes more and more entrenched.

Over time the LDS blogging community might develop projects to which individual members will contribute and which might in turn attract more participants. There have been stabs at creating scripture commentary and that sort of thing. I don't think they have really taken off all that much -- but there is potential for the LDS blogging community to put together some kind of online project.

I also think that it is only a matter of time before at least some LDS blogs begin to generate consistent income from ads -- income that could be either be absorbed by the authors or turned to some kind of charitable purpose. I see you are plugged into AdSense. I'd be curious what T&S or BCC: could make if it plugged into that system.

We've seen that people create banners for their blogs or LDS blog feed sites and that they've been put in sidebars. How long will it be before LDS business starts investigating the value of ads in LDS blogs? There are already entrepreneurs in the LDS blogging community. They might find that their LDS blogging friends would be supportive of their business efforts and would help advertise their products.

I'm sure the LDS blogging community will go in all kinds of interesting and productive directions. I'll definitely be interested to see what happens.

[Dave]

Interesting thoughts, danithew. I put up the ads about the time I upgraded to Typepad Pro, which runs about ten bucks a month. I figured it was a fair way to defray those costs. It's interesting to see the ads that run through the ad box. For example, Deseret Book now runs ads. I'm just waiting to see an LDS.org ad show up ... FYI, I don't pick the ads, Google does all that, although I can (and have) blocked particular ads that I find offensive or for some other reason deem inappropriate for my site.

[danithew]

Dave, I experimented a little bit with zazzle.com (creating t-shirts, cards and the like) and also with AdSense. Zazzle.com gives an artist 10% of the value of the products sold. I also tried AdSense.

What impressed me is that I earned more from a click of AdSense ads than I did from selling a product with Zazzle.com.

[annegb]

I watch TV and iron while I blog. Honestly. I do. Well, I post, then I iron, then I check, with the TV on at all times. Really.

danithew, Lisa on FMH said something to me about you suggesting these ads. What do you think of them? I've never noticed anybody had ads, but maybe I will now.
It seems somebody said something once, and I did it a few times, then I forgot.

just answer on e-mail, will you, I won't answer, I promise. gardnera@netutah.com

[danithew]

Hey anne ... i wrote you an email. You're welcome to email me anytime.