Channel NewsAsia reported on the heightened blog activity in the run-up to the General Elections (GE) 2006.
According to the report:
One indication was that before Parliament was dissolved, the number of blog articles on the election numbered about 20 a day.
This number doubled to more than 40 after Parliament was dissolved in the run-up to Nomination Day, and it averaged over 190 during the nine-day election campaign.
The interest has not waned even after the results, with 195 blog articles posted daily since Polling Day.
One blog received about 5,000 to 6,000 hits, double the usual number.
With Singapore providing such easy Internet accessibility, it is no wonder that we seeing this trend of blogging activity happening here.
Perhaps it is not that Singaporeans are apathetic in regard to local politics, but rather finding a suitable avenue for them to express their opinions without fear of reprisal. With almost no barrier of entry to set up a blog, a blog author can begin publishing their opinions online, inviting feedback from readers, hence creating healthy and lively political discourse.
As Goh Kheng Wee, managing director of NexLabs, said in the report:
“I think it’s the first time citizen journalism is really taking its form in the Singapore election. Of course in the last election in 2001, blogging did not exist. Citizen journalism — probably the best expression is in blogs and it was very prevalent in this election here. A lot of people took it upon themselves, felt empowered by technology to report what they see, feel, hear from each election, giving detailed accounts online with the hope of sharing that account as accurately as possible.”
We are witnessing a ’subtle transformation’ of our political culture, as the Internet begins opening up as an alternative media for the public to discuss and to inform opinions as they would have probably not done so in the past.
I am certain that we will see this kind of blogging activity the next time the GE comes around.
