From your Chicago Sun-Times columnist, Jennifer Hunter…
But Sree Sreenivasan, new media professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, says the effectiveness of Web sites and blogs as political tools may only go so far: “It’s still a small percentage of people using these technologies.”
Most are young and what Sreenivasan terms “early adaptors.” And, as he concludes, the impact of young voters “is notoriously hard to predict.” It was thought they were going to turn out in big numbers in 2004 but that didn’t happen.
In the end, who has time to blog? After reading four newspapers each day and my e-mails and doing my work, I’ve had it. Blogging remains a luxury for the young — or the bored.
Bonus question of the day: How old are you?
Secondary bonus question of the day: Are you bored?
LIVE session coverage...
- A loyal reader - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 12:20 pm:
29, so where does that put me? And am I bored? Maybe. More like procrastinating. Err, umm, researching.
- Fire Ron Guenther - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 12:31 pm:
35, not bored.
- Just Wonderin' - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 12:36 pm:
59 and don’t have time to read four newspapers…
- Ken in Aurora - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 12:37 pm:
44, not bored at all - my work has lots of 2-3 minute gaps where I’m waiting for something, so I keep a browser window open all the time.
- a regular - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 12:44 pm:
am 36, and not bored a bit.
- RMW Stanford - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 12:46 pm:
I am 24, for a bit longer, and I am not particularly bored at all. I wish I had the time to be bored.
- Kiyoshi Martinez - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 12:50 pm:
22, not bored.
I’m a huge fan of microblogging (Twitter, del.icio.us).
- You can teach an old dog new tricks. - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 12:51 pm:
Close to 60 not bored at all….read way more than four papers (most on here, but also WSJ online, industry paper on line etc)
- S. Illinois - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 12:55 pm:
37 and not bored. Just avoiding work.
- so-called "Austin Mayor" - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 12:57 pm:
I’m somewhere between 30 and 40 — i.e. “not young” — and I’m reminded of my father’s wisdom: If think you’re bored, you’re probably boring.
And I’m not boring.
– SCAM
- i d - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 1:02 pm:
Over 50 and only bored when social conversations consist only of either sports or fashion. Wait, sports fashions could be the worst.
- Dave - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 1:06 pm:
I’m 47, rather busy (not bored anyway) and I have a blog! There must be something wrong with me.
- He makes Ryan look like a saint - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 1:11 pm:
46 w/2 jobs, no time to be bored.
- Rushmore - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 1:20 pm:
23 — not bored, just eating lunch at my desk and catching up on Illinois
- Squideshi - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 1:23 pm:
29 and definately not bored.
- Rob_N - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 1:27 pm:
Where’s “bored now”? ;)
He may fit the “bored” tag, but (no offense, b.n.) not the “young” tag. (Though he does have that young-at-heart vibe going on.)
I’m mid-30s and have no time to be bored.
Blog-pimping alert: I wrote about Ms. Hunter’s column yesterday after reading about it at Daily Kos.
Rich, feel free to delete if you don’t want the blatant self-promotion in comments. ;)
- IlliniPundit - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 1:29 pm:
32, and I don’t have time to be bored, let alone read four newspapers’ worth of repetitive, 24-hour-old news.
- anon - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 1:46 pm:
jennifer hunter is the youngest old person on an editorial board. i have two anonymous blogs and am hardly bored, i am almost too busy for work. and, i am 31 and have a family. who are these researchers?
- Siyotanka - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 1:48 pm:
NO time to be bored…
- shoo - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 1:50 pm:
25, too busy to read a newspaper (old news) or focus my time on talk radio.
- Pat collins - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 1:51 pm:
Egads, 2nd oldest! 48 (and very grateful for Ju’s wondering!)
Am I bored? No, too busy at work, too busy after with workout, more work (ugh) and my daughters. Not as much time for net as i’d like, either :)
- Siyotanka - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 1:51 pm:
opps…58…
- corvax - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 2:00 pm:
the new 30 (i.e., 50), not bored
- CubbieBlue - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 2:07 pm:
26– procrastinating, not bored.
- Ferdy - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 2:09 pm:
52, have a full-time job, have a full-time blog, have a life. Sometimes bored, but then who isn’t?
- A Citizen - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 2:10 pm:
64, not bored but certainly curmudgeonly. BILL, rescue me, surely you are the senior here.
- Bill - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 2:21 pm:
Sorry A,
Im 56 and not all that bored although it is a little slow today.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 2:25 pm:
23 and i read 5 papers and write 2 blogs(online) per day. Washington Post, NY Times, Chicago Tribune, Denver Post, Chicago Sun Times…
- A Citizen - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 2:26 pm:
Thanks, Bill. Damn ! Rich, what kinda retirement program have you in place ? How close to qualifying might I be ?
- bored now - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 2:27 pm:
heh. this question was just for me, right?
46. i’m incredibly BORING, but hardly bored. geez, i haven’t even figured out the streets and direction in chicago yet, let alone seen 6 of the 7 wonders of illinois. plus, i gotta admit, every time i’m on lake shore drive, i keep trying to figure out why my wife promised me i could surf lake michigan! gotta hurry, any minute now i will be returned to my alternate reality…
- Will - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 2:36 pm:
29. I also know that many of my most regular readers are reporters who somehow find the time to visit.
- JBC - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 2:38 pm:
24, Never bored
- Little Egypt - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 2:42 pm:
I’m somewhere between Jack Benny and Social Security but closer to SS. I’m technologically challengted but most definitely NOT bored. I can find most of the blogs I want to read but for the life of me can’t figure out where to go to vote for Paris Hilton to go to jail. Blogs are not going away and they will get much stronger as the computer generation continues to age (is that Gen X, Y or Z).
- RBD - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 2:50 pm:
59 and as soon as I can figure out what to name it, I’ll start my blog. (It’s a new year’s resolution and I do tend to keep them.)
- Skeeter - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 2:51 pm:
41.
“Bored” is not the right word.
“Trying to clear my head between analyzing complex and at times, very boring documents” is more accurate. I look at the blogs so that I can look at the documents that I review with somewhat fresh eyes.
- HoosierDaddy - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 3:21 pm:
I’m 38. Not bored, just like to take a break for a few minutes a day and catch up on some politics.
- Rob_N - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 3:24 pm:
Rich, make the next question of the day “What title should we give RBD’s forthcoming blog?”…
- Levois - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 3:43 pm:
mid 20s and yeah bored but I have things to share with the world.
- John Ruberry - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 3:45 pm:
45. And too busy to be bored either.
- Curt - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 3:49 pm:
I’m 42…and yes, I’m bored with blogs.
- Way Northsider - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 3:50 pm:
47. Not bored. Can’t get depth of political news from newspapers. Blogs are the only way to go.
- Shelbyville - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 4:43 pm:
53 and bored.
- Carl Nyberg - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 4:44 pm:
Is there any research supporting Sreenivasan’s claims about blogging?
How corroded have the American elites become–an being a professor at an Ivy League school in NYC is pretty elite–that one could speak about an area under their expertise without having research to back-up their claims?
- bored now - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 4:46 pm:
so bored that i just heard the capital fax blog cited on npr’s atc, report about robo calls. they ran a piece of an anti-duckworth robo call rich posted…
- Carl Nyberg - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 4:46 pm:
That’s Jennifer Hunter speculating. Sorry….
Whatever….
Columnists feel threatened by bloggers because bloggers threaten their career paths and cushy gigs.
- Carl Nyberg - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 4:50 pm:
BTW, if the people who read blogs merely “have too much time on their hands” doesn’t this logic also apply to people who read newspapers?
If the only appropriate use of time is making money, organized religion, family, recreation and non-political charity work, doesn’t that imply newspaper readers are just a bunch of overpaid, undertaxed people that need to spend more time on things that are truly important?
- Cal Skinner - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 5:13 pm:
Am I really the oldest reading this at 64.8+ years of age?
- Justice - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 5:20 pm:
65 and not bored. Never have been and never will be.
- Arthur Andersen - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 6:42 pm:
51 and definitely not bored.
- Bill S. Preston, Esq. - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 6:46 pm:
26. Reading her column made me feel bored. Does that count?
- LG - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 7:08 pm:
54 and never bored.
- 32nd Ward Roscoe Village Resident - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 7:49 pm:
42 and also never bored.
- NI80 - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 7:54 pm:
25…and this is the only blog I read. I would hardly call it out of boredom, either. You’ve got some great, informative stuff on here Rich.
- Bobby Hicks - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 8:14 pm:
38, busy, busy, busy!
- Huh? - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 8:24 pm:
50 and having too much fun to be bored.
- Gadfly - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 8:37 pm:
Well, Google says the average blog is read by one person… Obviously, CapFax is not your average blog…
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/11/30/the-govs-hear-from-google/
- Jason Barickman - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 9:21 pm:
32 and not bored, just too busy to read newspapers and looking for a quicker way to get caught up on the news of the day, rather than the news of yesterday.
- OneManBlog - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 9:36 pm:
37 and not board…
Still not OneOldMan
- Policy Wonk - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 9:38 pm:
33 and not bored
- Bridget Dooley - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 9:40 pm:
29 and never bored! I’m way too busy for that.
- irishmom07 - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 10:35 pm:
I am 68+ and I am not bored. I read many papers onlline. I love this blog because there is so much about local politics. Even though I am retired, I have plenty to keep me busy and through newspapers online, keep me informed. In fact I am able to read newspapers from a lot of other areas online.
- A Citizen - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 10:49 pm:
Did I say 64? My goodness there goes my dyslexia again, I meant 46, Heh Heh Heh! Never mind about the retirement package Rich, I must have had a junior moment. There sure are some old, and some very young folks on here.
- kimsch - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 11:05 pm:
45 next month, finally finishing my Bachelor’s of Business, eBusiness next week. Going to start a Master’s as soon as I can, 6 year in kindergarten, 12 year old in gifted program, 16 year old special needs daughter. Definitely NOT bored.
- Saluki Yay-hoo - Tuesday, May 8, 07 @ 11:59 pm:
At 37, I’m not bored, just desperate for attention and apparently a late-blooming “early adaptor.†Still, a name like Sree Sreenivasan would be really cool. A gig at the Columbia U. School of J. would be pretty sweet too. But I need s’more data Sree. I mean sure, a small percentage of sincere and wonky people use “these technologies” toward civic ends, but it’s also true that only a small percentage of sincere and civic folks actually, ummm, vote. It’s funny because since the print and broadcast media can’t seem to generate more civic participation, it is automatically assumed that the Internet is supposed to be a panacea to cure our collective apathy, young, old or moderately indifferent.
Anyways Mr. Miller, you shouldn’t have taken the bait by taking offense at Ms. Hunter’s quippy conclusion. I doubt you and many of the other bloggy wonks who follow local or national politics closely were meant to be included in the civic continuum. She and Sree were centered on youthful bloggers, afterall, not us aging ones. We are a different demographic altogether.
Vote (blog/sing) or Die!
Saluki Yay-hoo
- Tessa - Wednesday, May 9, 07 @ 6:41 am:
Uh, 40, busier than ever and rarely bored. Not boring either, by most standards. Just working too much these days when not ushering the teen to sporting events.