Blog!: How the Newest Media Revolution is Changing Politics, Business, and Culture (Hardcover)

by David Kline (Author), Dan Burstein (Author), Arne J. De Keijzer (Editor), Paul Berger (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Blogging, at least in principle, is far from new. It could be argued, as the authors do, that Thomas Paine was a proto-blogger whose blogging paraphernalia consisted of pamphlets instead of free software and an internet connection. In this dense and entertaining analysis of the "new paradigm for human communication," journalists Kline and Burstein examine the notion that weblogs, or "blogs," are redefining journalism and media consumption and conclude that, while blogging may not signal the death of big media, it has measurably impacted everything from political campaigns-as evidenced by Howard Dean's presidential bid-to the life of former child star Wil Wheaton, who found his "second act" in a tell-all blog about the humiliations of show business. Soliciting the thoughts of well-known bloggers, such as Andrew Sullivan and Jeff Jarvis, the authors create a venerable blogosphere bible that navigates and interprets the cyber-verbosity informing the way journalists do their jobs, from fact finding to steering coverage. Using specific examples of blogger power, such as the release of an Iranian dissident from prison, and employing Q&A interviews with movers and shakers like Microsoft's Robert Scoble to discuss blogs' current and future marketplace utility, the authors offer a lot to consider about our information-saturated culture and what cream might rise to the top of it.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Just in case you've been living in the woods, blog is short for Web log, which is the online, collaborative, interactive, interconnected writing tool that is allegedly changing the nature of public discourse. Kline and Burstein, who also wrote Road Warriors: Dreams and Nightmares along the Information Highway (1995), are unabashed proselytizers, finding precedents for blogs in cave paintings and the "commonplace books" of later Europeans. Now, they say, blogging "may be nothing short of a new paradigm for modern human communication." After a persuasive introductory essay by Burstein, the book is divided into three sections: politics, business, and culture. Each begins with a thought-provoking essay by Kline and then includes interviews with and articles by a well-selected array of qualified commentators, including former Howard Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi, commercial blog mogul Nick Denton, and, surprisingly, former MTV veejay Adam Curry. Books on technology trends often have a short shelf life, but Blog! focuses on the larger issues that make this such an exciting cultural moment while steering clear of details that will date quickly. Well worthwhile. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: CDS Books (September 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593151411
• ISBN-13: 978-1593151416
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #749,908 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful book on blogging, November 21, 2005

By	siddhartha (ny) - See all my reviews

I thought this was a great book. So many people these days talk about blogs as though they are the answer to everyone¹s prayers or written by rightwing nuts. This book showed that the blogosphere, like society, is full of people from all walks of life, and it showed just how useful blogging can be in the
worlds of politics, business and culture. There¹s a little bit of
something for everyone in here.

I admit that I skipped a few of the business interviews when I found nothing there for me but if you run a large or small
business I¹m sure you¹ll find those parts interesting.

My personal favorites were the politics and culture essays, especially the interview with Michael Chabon¹s wife Ayelet Waldman. The introductory essays were also good giving a balanced introduction to each of the chapters and all of the commentary pieces pulled from newspapers and magazines were entertaining.

The book had a tendency to repeat itself slightly with different
interviewees saying the same thing in different ways, but I suppose you can¹t help that when you are interviewing so many different people.

On the whole I would say this looks like one of the best books out there on blogging at the moment.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blogging and street cred, December 11, 2005

By	Craig Buck "I think, therefore I read" (Sherman Oaks, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

David Kline and Dan Burstein have been around for decades as respected author/journalists. They may not have great "street cred" among bloggers, but I've never expected a crime reporter to commit murder before writing about it and I certainly wouldn't trust a political writer more because he were a politician. This book is a critical investigation into the many ways that blogging is rapidly changing our world -- from culture to business to science to politics -- and in the arena of such trend-synthesis, the author/editors reek of cred. The essays are far-reaching and insightful, and the analysis pulls them all together clearly and cohesively. A virtual Bible of the Blogosphere.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Goes beyond the "me too - how to" books on blogging, September 30, 2005

By	Dana Vandenheuvel "Dana VanDen Heuvel" (Green Bay, WI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

David and Dan really got it right with blog!. They take a meta view of the blogosphere looking at the political, business and cultural implications of blogs as a metaphor for the changes taking place in how organizations interact with their constituents.