Abstract

There was never such a thing as true freedom of speech. In the past, in order to speak freely you had to have access to a printing press, a newspaper, a radio or a TV station. And everywhere you had to get past the editors. Only members of the elite ever did – the articulate and well-behaved 'representatives' of ordinary people. But those ordinary people hardly, if ever, had a chance to speak publicly and freely.

Until now. The age of blogging has begun. The internet revolution has given us all a chance to be irreverent, blasphemous and ungrammatical in public. We can reveal secrets, blow whistles, spill beans or just make stuff up.

The old elites don't like it. In fact, they really, really hate it. Blogs are commonly shut down, and bloggers are silenced, reprimanded and fired from their jobs. Suddenly modern liberal society reveals a repressive face that few of us knew existed.

Should we behave ourselves? Should we fall silent? Absolutely not! Let's call them on their hypocrisy. Let's demand that modern liberal society lives by the principles it claims to embrace. Bloggers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your gags.

'Fun to read. It makes a strong case for the democratic power of blogging and the Internet. A form of empowerment for the voiceless.' —Ronald Eyerman, Professor of Sociology, Yale University

There was never such a thing as true freedom of speech. In the past, in order to speak freely you had to have access to a printing press, a newspaper, a radio or a TV station. Until now. The age of blogging has begun. The internet revolution has given us all a chance to be irreverent, blasphemous and ungrammatical in public. We can reveal secrets, blow whistles, spill beans or just make stuff up. The old elites don't like it. In fact, they really hate it. Should we fall silent? Absolutely not! Let's demand that modern liberal society lives by the principles it claims to embrace. Bloggers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your gags.

'Anyone eager to understand how cyberspace has changed our possibilities and how it often remains trapped in grim social contexts would do well to read Erik Ringmar's ‘A Bloggers Manifesto’.' —Norman Solomon, Author of ‘War Made Easy’

'Erik has an engaging style of writing and I thoroughly recommend that anyone interested in anything more than the superficies of blogging read this book.' —The Blog of Dave Cole

Erik Ringmar is Professor at the National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.