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Thursday, February 14, 2008
Blog Burst! Two new sites hit Cincinnati blogosphere
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
Photo courtesy of here.
Two new blogs have surfaced, adding unique perspectives to Cincinnati’s thriving independent media community: Just for View, and Fear and Blogging in Cincinnati. It will be noteworthy to observe which of these blogs will develop long-term staying power, carving out a niche not already serviced by other local blogospheric offerings.
The Fear and Blogging site seems to offer standard fare: among its initial entries is a piece about Chris Dole, who made his own blog splash when he entered the race against Greg Hartman as an independent candidate to protest the backroom deal cut between local Republicans and Democrats.
I think the entry is good, but pretty standard. The entries, at least so far, are exactly what you would expect from a “political blog.” And with its standard Blogger template, one must wonder whether Fear and Blogging will be around for the long haul. In my opinion, they’ll need to develop a niche if they expect to develop long term readership.
And developing a niche is exactly what you’ll find at Just for View. The author takes a critical and intellectual position towards new design elements in Cincinnati, considering how they affect a sense of place and community. Here is a sample from a recent post called ”Public Spaces of Diverse Publics”:
The idea of “thirdspaces” is a buzz word in planning and design circles. The basic idea is that they are the places that we occupy when we are not at work or at home. While they may not be public in the traditional sense of the word they are public in the sense that they do not explicitly exclude anyone. This contemporary nature of public space is a blessing and a curse. While they may not explicitly exclude anyone some people are just not desirable, and there for intentionally left out of programming.
One criticism I hear a lot about the progress happening in Downtown and OTR is that they seem to appeal only to a certain demographic. I agree that often little is done to mediate between the seemingly disparate groups in Cincinnati.
Fountain Square is often cited as an example where the tenants and events seems directed at a targeted groups. I have had experiences in Fountain Square that counter this notion of homogeneity, but I think it is a reasonable claim. The “plaza” in front of P&G is a notorious examples of a private public space.
I understand that it is important to draw people to these places so they can see for themselves that worthwhile things are going on and these people very little would be going on.
But I want to know if there can be more of an attempt to create public spaces, traditional or contemporary, that foster more diverse uses, users and possibilities for interaction. Could a more deliberate attempt be made and still capture the range of people this city should be accommodating. Or are we just all that different?
Both of these new blogs take very different approaches to the concept of politically relevant blogging. While Fear and Blogging does not have a particular niche per se, it has more general appeal to a standard audience. Just for View, on the other hand, offers a niche approach with detailed writing from a particular perspective, but admittedly not everyone will interested in that niche (which is probably just fine for the author of that blog).
In any event, take some time to visit our new neighbors!
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15 Feb 2008 at 03:07 am | #
Thank you very much for the plug. We at Fear and Blogging in Cincinnati hope to stick around for quite some time and contribute to Cincinnati’s diverse blogosphere. It feels great to have the support of the Cincinnati Beacon.