The Resistance of Hidden Group in the Blogosphere: Watch out! Your Enemy Might Make a Blog About You, Babe!

NOW, let’s talk about the media we use, the BLOG! Blogosphere is a medium that reaches a worldwide community, is unbounded by time and geography. Practically, blog users must affirmatively search the blog, thus many scholars argue that blogs attract homogenous group readers or niche audiences who have pre-existing interest to the issue or particular subjects (Terrilli&Arnorsdortir, 2008). Mark Warren Liew, in his study on the exploration of student resistance, contends, “an informal blogosphere thrives beyond these official uses, characterized by all manner of backstage talk, from casual chatting, joking, and banter to vicious complaints, slander, and rumor” (2010, p. 306). Thus, individuals or groups use blogs to express their opinion towards authoritative objects, such as religious leaders, teachers (yeah, the teacher that become the “student enemy”), governments, legislators, and maybe you ... With the freedom of expression in the blogosphere, individuals or groups are able to publicly humiliate, criticize, and mock the authoritative objects. This expression is a part of the resistance towards the hegemonic culture or dominant publics. This is include corporations or conventional mass media.

 As Samuel Terrilli and Liney Inga Arnorsdottir contend that blog is not a “no choice” area, where people have no choice to consume the message, people need to affirmatively search the blog (2010), just like you end up finding this blog. For example, a medium such as a public advertisement sometimes “imposes” its message on the audience. However, blogs are located in a virtual area, where people choose to search it, click it, open it, and eventually read or consume the message. Blogs are not a “pop up” media (taaa daaa…), where people can get a surprise because the message suddenly appears and audiences are “forced” to see it (I’m a bit hyperbolic here). Therefore, in terms of choices, exposing blogs’ messages requires more effort because blogs are in a virtual free public access; people have to search for this blog, and eventually decide to look at the content (audience “on demand” process).

The nature of the blogosphere, also determines the typological audience from this message. The audience who do not demand to search for a particular message will not get exposure to it. Amanda Lenhart and Sussanah Fox also pointed out the homogenous audience and the niche community of the blogosphere, providing a unique audience and community interaction.

“HOT” IDEAS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH:

a.     Exploring the conversation in the blog about the form of resistance from “opposition” group of society to government or dominant group

b.     Search for visual production as a symbol of resistance in the blog

c.      (this one a bit scary) find “unique” group such as terrorist group, polygamist group, or rebellion group, and observe their conversations in the blog.