Analysis 2

In class I found an online blog called “Social Justice: Discussions on Poverty and Social Stratification in American.” This blog focuses on a “social conscience” and views social justice or injustice as society’s treatment of their people (http://socialjusticeblog.blogspot.com).  In the first blog post of the site, published on December 31, 2005, the author explains the purpose of the blog. He or she writes that it is not meant to be persuasive or a place for rhetoric, but rather a springboard for discussion to consider current issues. Some of the current issues that the author writes about include high SAT tutoring costs in relation to affirmative action and Medicaid barriers. Although this blog was written from December of 2005 to September of 2006, the issues discussed are still relevant and controversial today.

Longaker and Walker define ideology as “a set of presuppositions that influences most everything” such as personal and professional relationships (185). The conditions that Longaker and Walker set is that the presuppositions must be held by an entire group—societal class, community, culture, etc. Ideology plays an important part within blogs because it provides a common ground between the audience and the author without any direct interaction. This blog goes one step further to investigate and question the ideologies of American society such as issues of minimum wage and The American Dream. The author’s two posts on The American Dream on July 25^th and July 27^th 2006 are completely contingent on a particular ideology. Without a previous notion of The American Dream, a set of ideas in the United States based on socioeconomic mobility, success opportunities and promised prosperity, the author’s argument would be rendered useless. Thus, discourse over this subject and the author’s opinions are enhanced by her reference to Horatio Alger’s rags-to-riches book “Ragged Dick.” The understanding of the blog is partially dependent upon the ideology on which it is built. Ideology, however, is only part of the story because it doesn’t exist without the author’s rhetoric.

History is extremely important within this narrative as well. History creates a social and cultural context for the current events that the blogger writes about. In addition, history is used as evidence for his or her claims. In the post on July 19^th 2006 the blogger references the 1997 congressional minimum wage freeze. These little bits of evidence scattered throughout the blogger’s posts goes one-step beyond ideology. Ideology is the foundation for a conversation on this medium, an online blog, and the evidence steers the way for discourse. The book references and details of congressional legislation shape the written argument and reflect the opinion of the blog’s author on top of a particular historical and ideological context. History further feeds into the presuppositions that impact the blog’s discourse.

After reading through the posts, I was intrigued by the ideas and arguments addressed, but I was left with tons of questions. When looking through a blog, it’s not just about the text, but the gadgets and information provided by the author as well. This particular blog only had an archive gadget on the right side of the screen to navigate through all of the posts. Discourse on the internet is contingent upon ethos, the skilled presentation of a rhetor’s character. So how can I trust a blog with no information about the author? The author reveals certain personal facts within his or her textual posts such as his or her hometown of Chicago and an email address at the bottom of the page, but nothing substantial. The author uses facts and links to newspaper articles as evidence for his claims, which garners the author some persuasion, but something is still missing to me because of the lack of a concrete identity.

In the end, the dialogue that the blog presents is dependent upon a particular ideology. In the Social Justice blog regarding poverty and social stratification in the United States, the ideology assumed is obviously American democracy. Then it is important to look at the voice of the author, in this case a socially liberal writer. With these things in mind the dialogue on the screen comes to life and opposing views can duke it out in the comments section. All of this is contained within a shared ideological foundation.  Ideology is crucial, but without the author’s identity something is missing.