My name is Amanda Hoffstrom and I'm a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication. I am conducting research on an online community for one of my digital media classes, and have chosen the Your Voices—Minnesota Community blogs to study. My project includes a 10-page research paper (based on observations of the community and interviews with members and editors) and a digital media hub, which will include this blog and other online tools.
Your Voices is a collaborative blog space that brings together Minnesotans from different backgrounds to discuss current events and public issues. I grew up reading the Star Tribune and continually check the state's news, which is how I was introduced to this community. I think it is interesting because it is a place where non-journalists blog on a newspaper Web site. These bloggers use their full names and disclose employers and associations, while those who comment are less transparent. Not only do most of the commenters use screen names, but their comments "are moderated and will appear after review by editors," according to the site. In terms of legal or ethical issues, I want to know why the bloggers wanted to participate, whether they think their views can really be seen as separate from their respective employees or organizations and if they think controlled online commenting really contributes to a more lively conversation and debate for which the community seemingly aims.
To conduct my research, I have asked many of the Your Voices bloggers questions via e-mail and will be posting their answers to this site as well as using them in my paper. I also will be asking the community's editor questions about the blog.
I was truly surprised at the response rate of the community members, so I want to thank those who helped me out. Stayed tuned as I profile the bloggers a bit and post their responses.
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