Re: Strategies for Conservatives on the Web

Comment posted re: Strategies for Conservatives on the Web:

Trends and personality don't favor conservatives on the web

There are a couple of things that make me suspicious of conservatives using the web as effectively as progressives.
First, in general, the early adopters that get out well ahead tend to stay well ahead.  The experience in using and advancing the technology is not as easy to grab hold of as it looks.  The number and complexity of progressive websites is way out ahead of conservative ones, and while conservatives catch up the progressives will continue their march forward.

For example, it has taken many cycles for the Democratic Party to develop a voter database system with anything like the sophistication of the Republican Party's -- and it isn't clear that it will have caught up in the 2008 cycle.

Second, personality differences.  The use of church networks gives a great example: although liberals go to church too, they simply have not chosen to politicize their church-going, even though they  could.  It isn't in their DNA.  Conservatives have that problem on the web.  The conservative way of doing things, hierarchical and hate-radio “ditto-heads” style doesn't add much to their effectiveness on the web.

In Oregon, the difference between the red blogs and blue blogs is enormous -- not just in number and sophistication, but in the mode of engagement and dialogue and organizing -- the red blogs I've found and followed are mostly more like a web version of reich-wing hate radio with ad hominem attacks and fonts changing colors and sizes with exclamations and underlines everywhere.  It may serve to keep themselves angry at us, but it doesn't appear to be having much affect on the Republican establishment or way of doing conservative business.