The impact of blogs is overstated

Bull Moose has a good post up today about the blogosphere and its place in contemporary politics.

Excerpt:

Moreover, it is a delusion to believe that the blogosphere is representative of anything but the hundreds of thousands of scribblers that join in this marvelous medium and the few millions of good folks who read it. The Moose is always struck by how few people actually read a blog or even are familiar with their existence - even those who are politically active. Of course, it is also true that a diminishing number of people by the day read mainstream newspapers and journals - not necessarily a healthy phenomena for a functionary democracy.

So, alas, it is generally a good thing that the blogosphere provides an opportunity for more and more Americans who want to get engaged and sound off. However, we should keep it in perspective. The blogosphere is generally an ideological hothouse that does not reflect the everyday thoughts of Americans. In that way, it is much like talk radio.

I generally agree with the points made in the post. It's easy for us bloggers to sometimes overstate our influence and take ourselves too seriously. Blogs are serving a good purpose as a watchdog of politicians and the media. It's important to maintain some level of humility though in the midst of fulfilling that role.

Marshall Wittmann, author of Bull Moose blog, is Sen. John McCain's former communications director.