Comments on: Ruddblog: populist masterstroke or full of fail?

By: Stilgherrian

Stilgherrian — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 22:06:34 +0000

@Martin Hoare: Actually, Mr Turnbull already has a blog. Which he hasn't posted anything on since March. Even his dogs have a blog. They've posted much more recently. Indicative of where the true power lies? @Rick68: OK, you win.

By: RICK68

RICK68 — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:38:34 +0000

IT can’t be any worse than Bolt’s blog — -now can it?

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:06:26 +0000

remake meant to be remark.

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:05:14 +0000

I haven’t seen it as yet. Will do so after this.
Almost anything could be better than Malcolm Turnbull’s Tweet photo. Zing!!! All those shiny, white snappers, count them.
I don’t mind the thought of Kevin Rudd blogging per se, although Stilgherrian’s remake about blogging is spot on where he describes a blog as an on-going conversation. The thought of time limits (come back next Thursday) would/does make me wonder if his staff are doing them. Conversely, had John Howard started to blog, I’d have imagined the message was in code and saying ‘Next Friday will be Krystallnacht, will all members of the Brown Shirts and the SS please attend’.

By: martin hoare

martin hoare — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 10:30:42 +0000

all i can say is reguardless of my political preference.
i am glad to see and read it NOW..
thank god this kind of poll grabbing wasnt around in hawkes or frazers time
as i think their blogging would have been enough to put
a gun to your head… i am all for it.. come on malcom !!!!
get on board……………..

By: SeantheBlogonaut

SeantheBlogonaut — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:45:16 +0000

I was thinking to myself last night. Would I be bothering to check out his blog, if he weren’t the PM? While I am willing to let this blogging PM have a bit of time to get into his blogging groove at some stage I will be asking what is the point - Is he engaging, is he less boring than his normal mass media profile?

I feel that he doesn’t get IT (web 2.o,social media, etc). Hopefully I am wrong, but then again outside of him making decisions affecting the country he’s boring as bat shit as far as I have observed.

By: Stilgherrian

Stilgherrian — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:16:32 +0000

@Anthony David: Well, you’re right. 374 comments as of just now. That suggests a healthy interest and traffic level for this first post — but then Mr Rudd is the Prime Minister, so he does have a little bit of profile. I’m willing — nay, eager — to be proven wrong on this one.

So, for me the questions still are…

1. Will Mr Rudd interact with the community which will build up around this blog? Or will he effectively walk into the room to make an announcement and then walk out and leave everyone to it?

2. What actually happens with these discussions, particularly if they produce a consensus at odds with government policy?

By: Anthony David

Anthony David — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 06:27:06 +0000

I agree with the control-freakery observation. Despite that, the flurry of comments left by people in response to the KRudd PSspeak-fest suggests to me it has worked well as a “first post”. He did choose a controversial subject, with hordes of people sharing snippets of ignorance and insight.

By: Keith is not my real name

Keith is not my real name — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:33:55 +0000

Yeah I agree Michael Tatas, that would be a huge plus.

By: Michael Tatas

Michael Tatas — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:04:49 +0000

When the Prime Minister posts in the comments personally as Stil has just done, then maybe i’ll think he’s doing this to actually open up a dialogue with the online community.

Though you can hardly blame him for not wanting to. Have you seen the sort of comments people make on news.com.au?

By: Keith is not my real name

Keith is not my real name — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:58:30 +0000

By: Stilgherrian

Stilgherrian — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:51:36 +0000

@ Liz45 Agreed, Rudd’s government is doing some good work on openness and allowing critical opinion. Despite some more paranoid comments elsewhere, I don’t think the PM’s office would be so stupid as to moderate out al dissenting voices. It’s more that the dynamic of commenting is going to be stilted.

@ Keith is not my real name: I “used” to give you the shits? You mean I don’t any more? Bah. Must. Try. Harder.

By: Michael Tatas

Michael Tatas — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:48:25 +0000

“or is it just spin in different format”

Moderated comments during business hours, 24 hour turnaround, closing off of the comments?

I think the answer would be “yes”.

Hopefully future posts won’t be as cringe inducing as some of his recent musings on Twitter. They seem to have been written by a moronic 14-year old girl, not the Prime Minister of Straya.

By: Keith is not my real name

Keith is not my real name — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:37:35 +0000

I think your being to hard on him Stil, at least they allow opposing POV, unlike…well, we all know who

Bloggers often take awhile to get into their groove, you used to give me the shits

By: SeantheBlogonaut

SeantheBlogonaut — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:13:32 +0000

Wait a second while I fan myself

I personally can’t wait to see If he blogs about the filter. I really would like to know his personal perspective.

Though are we asking for too much honesty? Is the fact that heritage media and the opposition will exploit any honesty something that will stifle discussion?

Should we even be calling it blogging?

Will I stop talking in questions?

By: Liz45

Liz45 — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:06:49 +0000

“A conservative control-freak organisation like the Prime Minister’s Office needs to loosen its sphincters slowly. Especially with a conservative control-freak Prime Minister.”

Yeah! Just like Howard!I believe, that any journalist who spoke ‘out of turn’ was given the cold shoulder - permanently; any not for profit organization that differed with Howard had their funds either removed or cut back, and as with George W’s visit a couple of years ago, Howard kept the invitation list, costs and who was taking care of security a secret. For the first time in our history, there were foreign agents in our national Parliament with loaded guns. Howard kept that close to his chest didn’t he, and as I recall, didn’t even get Parliamentary approval.

I’m not going in to bat for Rudd, but his “control freak” behaviour pales into insignificance compared to Howard’s. It would take many pages to list Howard’s contempt for open government, and history has shown, that most in his government didn’t have the guts to disagree with him, even if it meant they’d have a better chance in the last election - he controlled everything!