Cornucopia

The Nameless Mormon Blogosphere

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The Revealer, a religion blog affiliated with NYU and the Pew Trusts, notes that while the Jewish and Catholic blogospheres have their own names (jBlog and St. Blog’s Parish, respectively) the Mormon blogosphere lacks any sort of nifty moniker. Such a deplorable situation clearly cannot be allowed to continue!

So, what exactly should we call the LDS blogosphere, which is getting rather large, interesting, and multifacted? (See our sidebar for some links). Here are a few ideas of mine:

The Blog of Mormons
Blogham Young University
Salt Blog City
Latter-Day Blogs
LDB’s (?)

My personal favorite is Latter-Day Blogs. It seems like the least unwieldy, while still sufficiently descriptive. What do T & S readers think? Any opinions on these options, and does anyone have any better ideas?

53 comments for “The Nameless Mormon Blogosphere”

  4. What about:

    The Kingdom of Blog?

    Hm…God/Blog

    The Kingdom of Bl(G)o(d)g?
    The Latter-day Kingom of Bl(G)o(d)g?

    It combins our belief in the Kingdom of God on the earth, the Latter-day historical moniker, the mormon love of fiction (by using piers anthony spelling); and even calls to mind the use of “g” and other letters to designate the “real” authors of the NT (or; we can let others think that if they will…)

    Or Latter-Day Blogs is just dandy too.

  5. I like “The Bloggernacle.” We even have a precedent. Around Church Headquarters, the new conference center is known as “The Meganacle.”

  6. I think I have to vote “The Bloggernacle” as well. Catchy, creative, and short. (And unlikely to offend anyone…considering our growing and pluralistic blogosphere)

  7. Not to be heretical, but the one that popped into my head:

    The Gadianton Bloggers

    I think Latter-day Bloggers is fine. Of course, the ‘day’ will have to be lowercased — otherwise people will think you all are RLDS. ;-).

  8. Kaimi — As long as it references “Zeezrom” in some way, I’m fine with anything.

    :)

    Aaron B

  10. Ideally, you want a name that achieves some sort of recognition among non-Mormon bloggers too. Not that Mormon bloggers are fighting for recognition in the general blogosphere, but it would help when and if we want to engage in larger theological/intellectual conversations with people of different faiths/intellectual perspectives. So one more vote for the Bloggernacle.

  11. Add my vote for Bloggernacle. That’s just awesome. Of course, people might confuse us with the sailing/pirate blog web (barnacles?). But then, I’m sure we’d welcome a few pirates posting around here. Arrrgh!

  13. I slightly prefer “Bloggernacle Choir” to just “Bloggernacle.” To the extent we want it to be a clear Mormon reference, plain-old “Bloggernacle” is less clear. Too much like “barnacle” or “debacle.” The “choir” bit would better reveal our Mormonness.

    Aaron B

  14. Too bad StBlog is taken, LDSBlog is clear, though the question is what captures personal identity. What is a phrase you could use and people would know what you meant and not feel that the concept is forced?

    They used to refer to on-line LDS posters as members of the virtual ward. I gather that has died out or someone would have mentioned it.

    Interesting comment, though it may be too soon for a good self-label.

  15. I like Aaron’s modifcation to “Bloggernacle Choir”. It gives a certain sense of community and participation beyond what comes from the simpler “Bloggernacle”.

  17. I’m partial to “A Marvelous Blog and a Wonder,” but I suppose that’s too long.

  18. Given that jBlog is already “out there” as an accepted term, how about “mBlog” for the Mormon blogosphere? It’s short and catchy.

    It occurs to me that about 70% of the mBlog (see?) visits T&S. So if we decide on a name and use it then the Mormon blogosphere has a new name. When T&S speaks, the debate is over.

  19. Okay, did a quick Google and both mBlog and moBlog seem to be preempted by the short form of the unfortunately similar term “mobile blogging.” But morBlog is pleasantly available.

    So I withdraw mBlog and offer “morBlog” as a candidate name. There’s also a subliminal hidden message to LDS bloggers: say it five times fast and you’ll hear “blog more, blog more, . . .”

  21. While Bloggernacle is catchy, creative, and short, Bloggernacle Choir is not.

    Some object on the grounds that a choir is a better analogy than a space. Note that the founding metaphor of the blog community is spacial–the blogosphere. Note also that a choir is rather more directed and harmonious than we expect to be, that admission to it is controlled by the choir whereas admission to the sacred precincts of a tabernacle is at least in conception controlled by God. While singing ought to be an act of praise, we tend to think of it as entertainment, whereas we are always aware of our presence before God in a tabernacle. Getting down to specifics, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is a somewhat unhip public relations gesture. It serves to present an friendly face to an antipathetic world, and is thus at root defensive. The tabernacle, on the other hand, is the sacred space that conceptually contains the world; it is at root expansive.

  22. Last comment before I get back to work.

    1. morBlog
    2. Bloggernacle
    3. virtual ward

    HOUSE OF PAYNE

  23. Adam, until you reminded us of the sacred character of the tabernacle, I was more or less partial to cloggernacle. After that reminder, I’m less sure that it is a good name. Some of our discussions are inappropriate to a tabernacle, though they might be all right in the foyer of the ward. So, unless you’ve got a good justification for using bloggernacle in spite of its connection to the sacred, I think I prefer morBlog.

  24. I’m not sure how to explain the typo in which I typed “cloggernacle” instead of “bloggernacle.” Perhaps it has something to do with my redneck Southern heritage.

  25. I thought about that, Jim. Here’s my response: first, if we were calling ourselves the Tabernacle I think I’d object. Bloggernacle tones down the sacred meaning enough, I think, while still keeping some of those overtones of acting before the eyes of God. Also, in Mormonism, the Tabernacle isn’t exactly a temple. It’s a holy building and holy space, true, but one in which musical concerts and Journal of Discourse talks on farming methods can still be appropriate. It’s almost the Mormon Public Square.

  27. ‘Bloggernacle’ still takes it for pith and rhythm. Too bad temple square isn’t called Tabernacle Square, or your suggestion would have some cool resonances and double meanings.

  28. Adam, I accede to your wisdom. You’re right about bloggernacle; it works, suggesting the right kind of connection to the Church but allowing for a lot of things that might otherwise be proscribed.

  29. I really like Hie to Koblog and the virtual ward, but I thought of Liahona List or The Liahona List. I know Liahona is a bit overused, but isn’t it a nice idea that we can be a beacon of light for the rest of the online world? Cyberward is another idea.
    Just throwing a few ideas out there. Can we have an official vote sometime? Or am I too late?

  30. Sorry to interrupt this conversation, but I have a question and I need an answer quick. Does anyone out there know if Terry Tempest Williams is still an active member of the Church? I am giving a little intro tomorrow to her book Refuge which we are reading in preparation for our big conversation on Mormon women next week. I know she hasn’t been excommunicated, but I need to know if she is active. This might seem minor, but it is more important than you think.

    Does anyone know for sure?

  33. Thanks Nate!

    She does write in _Leap_ that she wept through the big BYU sesquecentennial celebration in 97 and says, “I do not believe that there is only one true church. I weep because within my own homeland I suddenly feel foreign, so very, very foreign.” However, in recent interviews she refers to her Mormon upbringing and culture and the way her Mormonness influences her worldview and her work, so it was hard to know for sure.

    This reminds me of the thread “Keeping the Faith” that your Mom started. What makes someone Mormon anyway? If you self-identify as LDS is it enough? This was a heated question during the ERA debates, but I don’t hear it discussed much anymore as vehemently–not even around the homosexuality issue. It seems like one might be able to be openly pro-gay marriage and not attacked as unfaithful or apostate. It is too bad that the women who were openly pro-ERA were not so lucky. By the way, I’m surprised no one has mentioned it, but did it strike anyone else as surprising that homosexuality was NOT mentioned in Conference? I was relieved, but surprised. Do you think that they are trying to prevent another Prop 22 PR nightmare? I can assure you that lots is being said on the stake and ward level in MA, but maybe this caution in GC is deliberate and partly a result of the “predicament of respectability” that Mauss discusses in _Angel and the Beehive_. What would Mauss say about the relative silence on these kinds of specific issues in Conference? Is it just too public a space, too open to scrutiny to discuss anything specifically, even if some members are working like soldiers in a battle on the local level?

    Wow, how’s that for rambling! : )

  34. I enjoyed the Bloggernacle and Koblog ideas. However, the Koblog moniker won’t be recognisable to most. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is so famous, that Bloggernacle will not only bring recognition but will also elicit a chuckle. I couldn’t help but grin when I saw that one.

  35. I enjoyed the Bloggernacle and Koblog ideas. However, the Koblog moniker won’t be recognisable to most. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is so famous, that Bloggernacle will not only bring recognition but will also elicit a chuckle. I couldn’t help but grin when I saw that one.

  36. My personal favorite was the Cyber Ward, or what about Cyber Stake, a more broad aproach to the organization of the church, that holds up the tabernacle of the kingdom of god- we as members of the church are truely what holds up the tent so why not use the symbolism that has already been given us!

  37. Another Adam, eh?
    This sort of confusion of names is exactly why I dislike the web’s informality.

  38. Don’t fret, Adam Greenwood, your style is inimitable. Only the careless could be confused.

  39. I’m going to take that as a compliment while there’s still ambiguity.

  40. Well, I’m doing a GOOGLE for VIRTUAL WARD LATTER-DAY and this page comes up almost first so you guys are doing something right. :-)

    Off to see if you’ve really got a virtual ward here, because I need one….

  41. One more question, folks. You seem to take the “line upon line” doctrine a little too seriously. Is it something I’ve got set wrong, or is all the text piled up on itself so that it’s next to impossible for me to read? There is no blank space between the lines!

  42. Sheri Lynn,

    I am not sure what you mean, but I think it’s something going on with your computer rather than the site.

    Where do you not see space? Do you mean that the text is not double-spaced? Or that you are not seeing space between individual entries? Or something else altogether?

  43. It might be easiest if I emailed a screenshot to you? Then perhaps you would know if it’s me or if it’s you, and see the problem. I have problems with my retinas so I really can’t read text this way. It’s like the lines are scrunched down into each other on the home page and at the top of each page (the main essay.) The comments look fine.

  44. Mormon Blogosphere
    First, my apologies for yet another navel gazing post about the blogs, Mormons and the Mormon Blogosphere, but I had to thank The Revelator for the link noticing my blog as well as Times & Seasons. And thanks to Brayden King for suggesting my blog. Kai…

  45. Better than the ‘Interdependent Web’…
    Jeff Sharlet (The Revealer) is out with his butterfly net, catching religion blogs and pinning them into their proper drawers: The Catholic bloggers call themselves St. Blog’s Parish; the Jewish bloggers (scroll down) apparently prefer “jBlog”; and the…

  46. Better than the ‘Interdependent Web’…
    Jeff Sharlet (The Revealer) is out with his butterfly net, catching religion blogs and pinning them into their proper drawers: The Catholic bloggers call themselves St. Blog’s Parish; the Jewish bloggers (scroll down) apparently prefer “jBlog”; and the…

  47. Better than the ‘Interdependent Web’?
    Jeff Sharlet (The Revealer) is out with his butterfly net, catching religion blogs and pinning them into their proper drawers: The Catholic bloggers call themselves St. Blog’s Parish; the Jewish bloggers (scroll down) apparently prefer “jBlog”; and the…

  48. We blew it people! Yesterday was the first year anniversary of Grasshopper’s suggestion that we call the Mormon Blogosphere “the Bloggernacle Choir.” Was it really only one year ago? It seems like so much has happened since then. I suggest that from now on we commemorate March 23rd as Bloggernacle Day.

    [I happened looking this up because I was considering adding a little bit to the Wikipedia entry on “Bloggernacle” — maybe give Grasshopper the credit he deserves.]

  49. Oh, in case you don’t know where to find it … see comment #3 on this same thread.

  50. Nate,

    Just saw this thread for the first time. I have never heard the term “meganacle” though I have heard “the great and spacious building”.

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