Shot In The Dark: MOB: Class of '06

June 07, 2006

MOB: Class of '06

I think I can say on behalf of my fellow Northern Alliance bloggers that one of the things of which we are most proud is the Minnesota Organization of Bloggers. This non-partisan group has evolved into one of the most dynamic metacenters around and, unlike many previous "alliances", has remained a fairly vital force.

Now, things go in cycles, fits and starts. While the MOB has seen a pretty steady coming and going among member blogs, there have been peaks as wells as plateaux. One of the peaks was the "Class of '04", a big surge of blogs that started around two years ago. Many of the blogs that started back then - KvM, MDE, KAR, NiGP, Centrisity and others that got rolled out about that time have become essential daily reads (and I know I'm missing several others that I enjoy quite a bit).

Bear in mind, the MOB is non-partisan; the MOB doesn't fundamentally exist for political reasons, and in fact MOB parties are refreshingly non-political. Most of the MOB blogs are conservative/Republican, it's true; Minnesota is an epicenter for conservative blogging; a non-partisan blog alliance in Berkeley would probably have a plurality of leftyblogs. That being said, bloggers of all stripes are welcome.

So I have two points here:

First; if you have a new blog that needs a plug, leave a comment with a link (*).

Second: One of the highlights of the NARN/MOB year is the time around the State Fair. We usually have one of our semiannual MOB parties around then (plans currently pending); we also have a "New Blog Day" at the NARN broadcast at the State Fair, wherein we give new bloggers a chance to give themselves a plug live on the show. So - if you're thinking about starting a blog, you would do well to give yourself three months' head start and get rolling on it; it'd be cool to have a blog-in-progress all up and running by fair time, wouldn't it?

Of course it would!

* vandalism will be ruthlessly mutilated.

Posted by Mitch at June 7, 2006 08:21 AM | TrackBack

Comments

mitch, any idea why there are, from what you said, considerably more right wing blogs than left in MN?

Posted by: Fulcrum at June 7, 2006 09:22 AM

I've posted on this in the past. Part of it is that the mainstream media and institutional culture in Minnesota is so relentlessly left-wing, and has left so little outlet for right-wing views and opinion; when "do it yourself" media became available, there was (and remains) a deep reservoir of dissent that for the first time has an outlet. It helps that people like Lileks, Powerline and the rest of the NA blogs (Fraters, Ed, the Scholars and myself - the "Class of '02) were ahead of the trend and got the exposure we did, as early as we did. We were there ahead of the rush - "on the ground floor", if you will - which gave us an opportunity (I say in all humility) to serve as a jumping-off point for a lot of newer blogs.

I'm not actually sure that there ARE more right than left blogs in MN; I think that the right-blogs are better-"organized", more motivated, and have better exposure. I'd also say that the overall quality of writing on the right is much better, on average. I realize this is going to sound snarky; that's not my intention. But the typical Twin Cities' leftyblog's tone is that of of a snarky, petulant adolescent; most conservative blogs sound like they're written by adults, people who know how to reason. There are exceptions on both sides, of course; there are several leftybloggers (Chris Dykstra, Rew, Flash, Chuck Olson (whenever he omits the words "Served" and "Owned" from his postings) and a few other) that actually write well and have some command of logic and fact. Too many of the rest are angry, snarky and just not *interesting*.

Another problem - almost none of them have a sense of humor. Rew, Olson...who else? Most of them froth and sputter and fume - very few have the ability to poke fun at an issue or subject like Ryan Rhodes, Elder, Saint, Katie from "Yucky Salad", Learned Foot, Sisyphus or Tracy Eberly do; there's something to being able to not only tackle an issue, but to entertain. "Cleversponge's" protestations aside, there are precious few leftybloggers in this area who can make you smile as well as grind your teeth; Twin Cities leftyblogs are about as entertaining as a NOW meeting.

I keep going back and forth on writing a real post on this. But there's my impressions, for what (very little) they're worth.

Posted by: mitch at June 7, 2006 09:39 AM

Hopefully MOB-worthy, my blog (click on my name) is a forum to experiment whilst learning HTML, and an art therapy outlet when I have time to use PhotoShop (samples: http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b302/Minnesocold/franken_teeth.jpg and http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b302/Minnesocold/KARowley.jpg )

Posted by: Nancy at June 7, 2006 09:41 AM

interesting...thanks for your thoughts

Posted by: Fulcrum at June 7, 2006 10:33 AM

Ahh...the Minnesota State Fair. That is where I met up with most of the MOB back in early 2004. It is amazing how it has grown since that time and the force behind all of that was the NARN gang. Ick, now I am approaching a sappiness that makes my internal grouch feel gooey inside. Long live the MOB, long live NARN and for those that are not with us, let them eat scotch eggs!

Posted by: Jordan at June 7, 2006 11:52 AM

That is an annual event...the new blog thing? Dang. I didn't know about that.

Posted by: Tony at June 7, 2006 01:07 PM

Proud to be a MOBster since December 2005.

http://bradley1969.blogspot.com

Posted by: Brad Carlson at June 7, 2006 01:14 PM

Thanks for the kind words. I do try to get a smile from readers while I rant about the evil liberals and moronic Republicans. (We all know that real conservatives like me are perfect!)

I guess the Anti-Strib falls into the Boom class of 2005. We'll have to try for the Largest Crue of Wingnuts award, or Best pictures on Friday.

Please let us know as soon as a date is set for a MOB event.

Posted by: Tracy at June 7, 2006 01:14 PM

Mitch,
I've discussed the possibility of holding the MOB summer party in Duluth with Douglas Bass over the past several months.

Duluth is beautiful this time of year, and we'd love to host the MOB meeting/party. We've grown our blogging numbers in the city from just lonely little old me to a current total of at least 7.

I'm happy to help set up the logistics in town, so just let me know.

Also, If the NARN is looking for additional affiliates I have some connections with the AM station management in Duluth and I'm sure they'd be interested in talking to someone about simulcasting the weekend content.

Posted by: Erik at June 7, 2006 03:21 PM

Hey, how about the class of '03?

I think I started blogging _before_ I knew of the MOB, though I can't be sure about that. Meeting some folks through the MOB has been one of the benefits of membership, though.

As for viewpoints and tone ... Let's just say that petulance is not inherent to any ideology. On the other hand, having your guys "out of power" can lead to some pretty interesting behavior (see: Clinton haters).

Posted by: PolicyGuy at June 7, 2006 09:53 PM

Can I claim a senior citizen's discount by being part of the Class of '02??

Posted by: Kevin at June 14, 2006 02:23 AM