I was Wrong… January 26, 2007
Posted by Matt in blogs, CYFSWatch, Defamation, Law, Lectures, Web 2.0.trackback
After the lecture we were talking about reflexive interactions. In our group, something which I suggested, was that we weren’t really having much of an effect on society. Compared with the older days of protest and stuff – we seem apathetic to the cause. I mean what difference does sitting writing a blog make compared to protesting in the streets.
This was until the whole CYFS website thing blew up. Suddenly a blog was created in order for those who were unhappy with CYFS services. (some of them are rather intense stories, which may or may not have happened – I’m not here to judge) Suddenly its all on.
Now I don’t agree with the methods per se, but I sympathize with the creators and posters. Who do you talk to when no one else will listen? A similar situation happened a few years back regarding fathers unhappy with the Family Court (there is a blog entry about this on the CYFS site too) and as a male I sympathize with this sentiment. I guess the hope for the people posting is that they will change perceptions and institute change and reformation. This is exactly what should happen in a democracy where freedom of speech is encouraged.
But what I find most interesting is how it has spread so quickly via word of mouth and through the media. The fact is once the trains are in motion (and the amount of hits it is getting) is evident that it has momentum. Will it change it? I sure as hell hope so. Because if even half of it is true, then gosh. But on the other hand what if 75% of it is untrue, it is fairly unfair to those being named and shamed if the information is wrong.
So maybe the blogs are more powerful than I first thought…but look out Lawyers are next on the agenda…
Sorry this is about the lecture on Tuesday. Forgot to mention it. My laptop sort of died (well the powercord did) so i cant use it atm…
Hey Matt. I completely agree with you. Blogs can be a powerful tool for circulating ideas. They can also enhance the democratic process by subverting the dominant media sources. The thing we need to understand is how people react to online information? Does it make them act in congruent ways? Or does it make them more apathetic, because they have a virtual outlet online? These are some hard questions to answer.
Hey Matt, its amazing how the internet today is having a great effect on society. Lately if you look at the news there are so many reports on the internet, interesting sites, and debates and all sorts of topics related to this topic. The great thing about the net is that anyone in the world can access it and therefore making it easy to get the message to millions of people and therefore having a greater effect than a group of people going into the streets of Christchurch and protesting about a certain thing. Another thing I would like to add is the Riverbend blog. After hearing about this from a student during Monday’s lecture I have told a few of my friends to see it and they’ll probably tell a few of their friends, etc and so word-of-mouth is a powerful player especially in the internet.
Yeah. Riverbend is really interesting. I think we are a bit cynical (in terms of coverage of the war) because the majority of the coverage that we see is more tended toward the troops, so we dont really know how it is affecting the people of Iraq.
Through the internet now, and this particular blog we suddenly can get the perspective, unedited and frank, from those who are directly involved in the aftermath of this ridiculous war. And i wish that those who read the blog and supported the war can actually look at the words of a brave iraqi who is trying to get her message out to the world.
I am so happy that democrats got into the house, so they are shutting down bush’s desperate attempt to send more troops into iraq.
I would just like to add my two cents worth. I was just starting to post on CYFS Watch last night when it was pulled. As I said in one post, while I don’t condone violence and threats, etc, I can understand it; I can understand how people are now getting totally frustrated. New Zealand, like other western nations, is a so-called democracy, but it really isn’t. When a bill like the smacking one is likely to be passed when 80% oppose it, we are not talking about democracy, are we?
What we are seeing in NZ and elsewhere are countries run by minority groups and political correctness. In NZ’s case feminism and political correctness have been the driving force behind our demise. They are the driving force behind education, affirmative-action type policies, and they now control all government departments; they are the silent communists that have entered through the back door.
They are now so much in control of ordinary citizens, it’s almost impossible to turn it around. It doesn’t really matter which major party you vote for; they are both centrist. While I thought we had a chance of turning it around with Brash with his political-correctness eradicator, I am not at all sure about Key (John-Boy Key). I emailed Key and cc’d my email to all National’s MPs about my concerns over the termination of the PC Eradicator port folio. To my surprise, he emailed me back assuring me that he was concerned about political correctness…..ra, ra, ra.
If we have any notion of stopping the Bradfords of this world, we must first eradicate the PC culture that has infiltrated every part of New Zealand society. The very first place to start is at schools; we need purge feminism and political correctness from education and start again with more pragmatic men being in control. Children need a balance between male and female, and they are not getting it at present; between solo mums and female teachers, what male influence are our children being exposed to?…Very little indeed.
Now returning to the point at hand, if CYFS Watch really want to make a change, they need to do a lot more than a website. While blogging is a good method to convey messages, it doesn’t really resonate with politicians. I know this from my own experience with my anti-political correctness blog; it’s not enough. It is time to start hitting the streets in mass protest, much the same way as Islamists get exposure. Or for that matter, the same way as Bradford, herself, got exposure. You have to milk the media, the television media.
When I return to New Zealand in September this year, I intend doing this. Ranting and raving on blog sites is not enough.
My blog for those who are interested is: www. friedbrains.com
PS. I am also the cartoonist for the Campaign Against Political Correctness in the UK.
Hi Tezza.
Thanks for the post. It was really interesting. And congratulations on your site. Its really interesting.
I must say that i do agree with what you have written. The purpose of this particular blog was for requirements for a Sociology university paper about Networks and the Internet. And it was highly interesting that this particular blog occured during the course.
I also study law, so i am somewhat privy to the happenings of whats going on with the family court and the treatment of males, and to be honest it really is disgraceful the obvious conception that females are generally more fit to parent their cihldren then males. The treatment by the FC is just wrong in my opinion. I know that fathers are feeling the same. I have a few examples, but because of confidentiality reasons i’m not willing to discuss. But there certainly are cases out there…
I mean it is intersting how fucking PC we are now. We arent allowed to smack our kids anymore? Hell i got a clip round the ears when i was little. I may have had one or two times where it was a bit more, but i probably deserved it. But i think the point i’m trying to make is that i think i turned out alright. I certainly am not a P-Dealing addict who is in and out of jail…
But is it just us trying to spin ourselves out of the real issues? I mean i dont know how not smacking our kids is going to stop kids having sex at a very young age and having kids (of which we have a fairly high teen pregnancy rate) or the fact that some parents just arent actually fit to be parents. A report was released recently (this week) where we were ranked one of the worst countries in the developed world for treatment of children. How is this goign to stop child abuse.
Or is it just a moral panic in response to the fact that our kids are dying. I mean hell a kid was stabbed during a domestic just last week. Tragic. But whats the solution? Is there one? I dont think there is.
I applauded the CYFSBlog, i think its important that those who dont have a voice be able to get their stories out there. I didnt agree with teh idea to name and shame the workers and especially not to provide adresses or contact details. I also disagree with the choice to threaten Ms Bradford. I think that it just went a bit too far and the person who was moderating the forum made a poor error of judgement in posting that and subsequently her contact details.