From a Singapore Angle

Part 1|2|3

Some quick observations, and passages that caught my eye while reading the three ST articles. I've numbered the three articles #1-#3 in the previous post and references to them will use these numbers.

As indicated by the title of the lead article, the focus is on the possible political implications of the blogs in Singapore--whether politics "will go to the blogs". As Leslie Koh puts the question:

[D]o blogs have the power to influence politics? Few policies and political happenings here escape the sharp eye, keen debate - and acidic criticism - of blogs. One blogger is even pushing for his choice of the next president. Can blogs sway voter behaviour? (From #1)

I'm saving that issue for the last.

Let's get this out of the way: I'm tired of getting upset about the "blog = online diary" and "blogger = online diarist" (see this). In any case, the writers do add some nuance to the simplistic equivalences. In fact, their take on the general nature of blogs is fairly accurate:

They're called blogs, short for Web logs, and started out as online Web diaries. Unfettered by moderators, Web log writers - bloggers, thank you very much - can wax lyrical about anything they want. They can treat their websites as private diaries, commentaries, or even personal news sites. (From #1)

Blogs, short for weblogs, are webpages which can function as online diaries, commentaries or personal columns. (From #2)

Much more can be said, but let's leave it at that.

Some interesting figures. On the number and rate of growth of blogs:

THERE are 10 million of them [blogs] already, and they're growing at a rate of 38,000 a day. (From #1)

Worldwide, there is an estimated 10 million of them, with a new one reportedly created every 2.2 seconds. (From #2)

On the scene in Singapore:

Several estimates put the number of blogs here as anywhere between 2,500 and 15,000. Technorati, an Internet search engine which monitors blogs, lists 220,000 blog entries (called posts) mentioning Singapore. But those mentioning Singapore politics number just 4,500 or 2 per cent. (From #2)

I would love to know how that is calculated.

On the top blogs in the US and Singapore:

The top blog in the US, Boing Boing, boasts 22,500 links and is read by more than 50,000 people a day. Top local bloggers like mrbrown, Xiaxue and Mr Miyagi get anything from 3,000 to 8,000 hits a day, and between 500 and 2,200 other bloggers refer to their popular websites. (From #2)

Hmm, interesting; The Truth Laid Bear paints a slightly different picture. Boing Boing is ranked 11th (by links), after Instapundit, Daily Kos, Powerline, Michelle Malkin, LGF, Captain's Quarters, Eschaton, Josh Marshall, Volokh Conspiracy and Drudge.

On blog readership:

A 2003 survey done by Pew Internet and American Life Project, a research group that studies the impact of the Internet, also showed that a dismal 4 per cent of Americans went online for information and opinions...

Their potential readership here is more than one million - the number of active Internet users in Singapore. A Pew Internet and American Life Project study in January also shows that 27 per cent of all online users do read blogs. This could translate to 270,000 blog readers here. (From #2)

That's a lot of Singaporeans going online and reading blogs. It would be interesting to know how many of them do so "for information and opinions" on a regular basis, and if so, what websites do they turn to for that.

On the attention that some organisations/important people pay to blogs:

TRANSPORT operator ComfortDelGro is one Singapore company which monitors its reputation online. Its staff members log on to read online forums and blogs to keep tabs on what is being said about transport services. With a planned fare hike on the horizon, it knows it may have to protect its reputation and counter criticism on all fronts.

According to the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, the Government keeps an eye on all feedback it gets online, including blogs. 'However, it is not practical, if not impossible, to keep track of everything that goes on over the Internet,' stressed a spokesman.

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) said it would respond only when a blog was brought to its attention.

As blogs explode in popularity and reach, organisations here are slowly waking up to the potential of this new medium to make or break reputations. (From #2)

That last bit about A*Star is presumably consistent with the additional, 'say, by it's own chairperson'. Also:

At least one political group is watching the blogging scene closely: the youth wing of the People's Action Party. Says Mr Donald Aw, Net coordinator of Young PAP: 'Our YP website has a very active discussion forum, and we may consider having a blogging facility if there is sufficient interest.'

And at least one politician has personally joined the blogging scene - Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC MP Penny Low, who has a blog on this year's National Day Parade MoBlog website.

On what Singapore's bloggers have been up to:

Come July, there will be a convention of Singapore bloggers, for the first time, organised by bloggers themselves...

In Singapore, bloggers have been following local news closely, from research agency A*Star's dealings with blogger Chen Jiahao to the Great Casino Debate and transport fare hikes.

Some news saw its first light in the blogosphere, then picked up by the mainstream media. One example is the questioning by the police of film-maker Martyn See, who made a documentary about opposition politician Chee Soon Juan.

Academics say blogs have had an impact on the traditional media, and have become a source of information and opinion. Blogs may also help get like-minded people together for a common cause.

There is currently one blog campaigning for former top civil servant Ngiam Tong Dow to be Singapore's next president. (From #2)

On whether blogs are private or public:

Bloggers argue that they are private, in that they write about their personal lives for their friends. Most blogs are read only by a small group of people and so can be said to remain 'private', argues Singapore Internet Research Centre executive director Randolph Kluver. It is often difficult, he notes, for an Internet user to come across a blog accidentally, unless he knows of the blog and is looking for it. He adds that as much as 16 per cent of the Internet is the 'Dark Web' - parts of the Internet untouched by search engines, which no one ever sees unless they know the exact website address. But others point out that anything put on the World Wide Web is, by definition, public, since anyone can read it.

"Often difficult", but hardly impossible. (Some relevant discussion on this issue on this blog here and here.)

All in all, quite possibly the most sympathetic--and objective--reporting on the general terrain of the Singapore blogosphere I've seen in the local MSM so far. Koh and Ho had done their homework well: kudos.

Now on to the "million dollar question: Will blogs have much political impact in Singapore?" (in a forthcoming post)

update: More by Mr. Miyagi and Mr. Brown (thanks for the browning).