Blogging Its popularity and consequences
Everybody’s doing it.
Many Finnish politicians have been using blogs to convey their opinions. 78% of Finnish MPs have written a blog article the past month.*
Minister Stefan Wallin’s blog article gets often media attention, for example, from HBL.
Blogging is a good way to easily reach citizens, but it can also have some serious consequences.
*Source: Hufvudstadsbladet, July 12, 2009
Blog: the official statement ..Stefan Wallin (SFP) skrev ett inlägg på sin blogg där han beskrev ett kulturministermöte i Reykjavik där man bland annat diskuterat fildelning och Pirate Bay. Wallin lovar i sin blogg att vidta "nya mått och steg" i kampen mot piratismen. Page 19, Hufvudstadsbladet, May 11, 2009
It is safe to say that what a politician writes in their own blog can be considered official and the blogger takes the whole responsibility. Which leads to this case
Blog: controversy Halla-ahos bloggande synas i rättssalen Det åklagaren ser som flagranta exempel på hets mot folkgrupp och brott mot trosfrid ser stadsfullmäktigeledamot Jussi Halla-aho (Sannf) som berättigad kritik mot medierna och statsåklagarämbetet. Page 2, Hufvudstadsbladet, August 26, 2009
What you write on your own blog can possibly lead to a court case. Anyone is free to upload and write anything they want on their blog. But with care.
The Final Word
The immense freedom that comes with blogging means that one needs to take care of their own writings.
There are still many questions to be resolved, like how one should measure authenticity of a blog. What if a blog blows away?
When used in care, blogging can be a useful and fun way to communicate with people.