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August 18, 2004
Why blog?
On the internet, SNP stands for Single Nucleotide Polymorphism - something apparently in genetics! That's what you get if you search on Google. There is little Scottish SNP presence on the web.
However the net offers exciting opportunities. Unlike traditional media, there is no institutional bias against new ideas. The rapid transmission of new thinking is what it is all about. Costs are low (in the case of The Skakagrall about 30 pounds). No trees are cut down. Distribution is free. A particular blog may be popular or it may not, but either way it beats writing protest letters to apathetic local Labour MPs.
One isolated blog may make a contribution to the spread of information, but several or more blogs interlinked in a group, and combined with news feeds and press releases offer greater possibilities. Having set up this kind of 'smart' network, people are no longer dependent on newspaper and TV presentations.
This year, in the face of Republican-controlled television and newspapers, the grassroots organization of the US Democrats has been to a great extent internet-based: 35 bloggers were accredited to the Democratic Party convention in Boston.
Like the Democrats, the SNP has everything to gain from international media that owe nothing to London, its trashy, old-fashioned newspapers and its broadcasting!
Posted by Simon Holledge at August 18, 2004 02:05 PM
Comments
Amen to that Simon! I agree. I'm not an SNP supporter (still hoping that - if Labour fails to rediscover itself - the Lib Dems will come to the rescue...we English don't have the option of claiming independence!) but the blog movement is well-suited to the SNP's needs. If you succeed in starting a grassroots SNP cyberbase (and I applaud your excellent efforts), you'll initiate an exchange of ideas that has been hitherto impossible due to the hegemony of big media.
My feeling is that Scots want to believe in controlling their own destiny, but many don't believe it's anything more than a romantic dream. Blogging might cause the independence movement to take off, and give ordinary people a mechanism for discussion, opinion-forming, and activism. Certainly the old SNP party leadership could do with such a kick up the backside.
The SNP website is poorly designed (what's with the frames? And where are the blogs?). Why is it taking British political parties so long to wake up to the zeitgeist and use the web to their advantage?
Posted by: Amy - not a Tory, but a site I help moderate at October 25, 2004 02:16 AM
Thank you. That's a terrific endorsement of what I am trying to do.
Regarding English independence, I am all in favour of it. There could be many benefits.
We are not going to have a rational structure of government in Britain without an English parliament. The present system whereby Scottish MPs can vote in unpopular measures south of the border is irrational and unsatisfactory.
What is happening with the SNP site when you view it? (I was having trouble with Safari/Mac but they corrected the specific problem involved.)
Posted by: Simon Holledge at October 25, 2004 12:51 PM