Cornucopia

Bloggernacle in the News

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In the online Deseret News: “Today in the Bloggernacle,” with links to posts at BCC, Nine Moons, and Millennial Star. I’ve seen similar posts in recent weeks (such as here and here) under different titles but with the same format, so this appears to be a new regular feature. Just one more reason to check spelling and grammar before you hit the “post” button.

A couple of questions for T&S readers. Has anyone seen this feature in the print edition or is this just an online item? Personally, I see this as another sign of a new openness to “new media” (including but not limited to blogs) by members of the Church and Mormon culture generally, spurred by Elder Ballard’s recent positive comments along those lines. Are there any other recent examples anyone has noticed?

14 comments for “Bloggernacle in the News”

  1. No examples, but a thought on the possible effects of Mormon blogging:

    I recently got exposed (and subsequently addicted) to dooce.com; the visibility she has is incredible (which may mean anything or nothing to pro-Mormon bloggers: her success is a compendium of talent, luck (starting in 2001), and hard work). Southern-ish Evangelical-types like Rocks in my Dryer (Presbyterian) are very popular (and I would imagine influential) in the Momosphere.

    I sometimes feel jealous of those who are able to express faith (I love Jesus!) or disbelief (dooce) so unselfconsciously and who are encouraged by the other members of their Christian community (or fellow tequila-swillers, as the case may be). And I can only imagine what would happen if we had our own super-bloggers (maybe we do, and I am just out of the loop, I mean, even further than I thought). I guess by super I mean that they would be also mainstream and not \”just\” Mormon.

    Despite Elder Ballard\’s comments, some (many?) in the church are quite suspicious of blogs. For everything from (understandable) fear of general internet wickedness to fear of groups of seditious \”intellectuals\” taking it upon themselves to expound on church doctrine.

    So we face skepticism from other Christians on the outside and skepticism from other Mormons on the inside.

  2. Dave,

    D-News is putting out a weekly section (Thursday) called Mormon Times. So I assume the Bloggernacle sampler will be a regular feature. D-News also looks like it has recruited its own bloggers and will join the ‘nacle in some sense.

    See http://www.mormontimes.com/

    Note that FAIR is heavily featured in the site’s Q and A link.

  3. Note that FAIR is heavily featured in the site’s Q and A link.

    And then note how unfortunate that is.

  7. “So we face skepticism from other Christians on the outside and skepticism from other Mormons on the inside.”

    I have been Mormon blogging since 2002 and I can’t think of any reaction from fellow members of the church more negative than disinterest. Perhaps I am just clueless or lucky, but I think that there is more paranoia among some Mormon bloggers than the level of persecution merits.

  8. I should qualify my last remark by saying “negative reaction in the real world.” I have been called to repentence once or twice by commenters, but frankly I figure that trolls are par for the course on blog comments, and I don’t care that much about their comments. I just figure that any community has its trolls and Mormon trolls are just trollish in Mormon ways.

  10. One of my posts got featured. As well as others on Mormon Mentality. They like us, they really like us.

  11. And I might add that some ward members got wind of a blog entry I made in January and I’m in hot water over it. So be careful. I never saw that coming. It wasn’t about the church, it was actually quite profound, with an unfortunate sentence at the end insulting some people in my ward. It’s karma and I’m taking my lumps.

  12. Nate,

    I hope I am not paranoid, at least not about this kind of thing. I forwarded a recent post from T&S (about The Old Written Order of Things, Feb 8) to some family members who are really into “the unwritten order of things,” and was surprised (though I shouldn’t have been) by the response.

    I really enjoy T&S for its content, and for the exposure it gives to other bloggers of interest through posts like this one.

    thanks!

  14. Bloggernacle is a feature of mormontimes.com and does not appear in the Thursday print section \”Mormon Times.\” We have not formally rolled out mormontimes.com, but it is up and running and can be found at that address online. I am very interested in any suggestions or thoughts you might have. Thanks.

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