Was Eleanor Rigby a blogger?
January 29, 2007
MEDIA ADVISORY
Where do all the lonely people come from? University of Calgary professor Dr. Michael Keren has found the answer to the question the Beatles asked 40 years ago. The lonely people are blogging, an activity marked by a deep sense of melancholy and social withdrawal.
“Bloggers think of themselves as rebels against mainstream society but that rebellion is mostly confined to cyberspace, which makes blogging as melancholic and illusionary as Don Quixote tilting at windmills,” he says.
In Blogosphere: A New Political Arena, the first book to examine weblogs, Keren asks: Is the blogosphere a new political arena in which serious concerns about real suffering of real people in a real world are communicated and acted upon or is it merely a gathering place for the powerless citizens of the early 21st century?
“Weblogs promise liberation and a freedom of expression not found in any other medium,” says Keren. “But, bloggers do not take advantage of this liberation. Bloggers have compared their writing and ideas to the great conquests in history, yet despite their excessive use of words, they conquer nothing. In the blogosphere, the death of an aging cat is on the same emotional level as an earthquake in Pakistan.”
After 40 years, Keren posits an answer to the Beatles' long-asked question: The lonely people come from every country, profession and ethnicity and they belong in cyberspace, or more accurately, the isolated, lonely world of weblogs.
Who:
Dr. Michael Keren, author of Blogosphere: A New Political Arena, professor and Canada Research Chair in Communication, Culture and Civil Society.
What:
A media availability to interview Dr. Michael Keren about his book: Blogosphere: A New Political Arena
When:
Tuesday, Jan. 30, 10 am – 12 pm (Note correction: availability for media interviews: Tuesday, Jan. 30)
Where:
The Loft, a cybercafé located on the fourth floor of MacEwan Student Centre.
For a map of campus go to www.ucalgary.ca/map
Media Contact:
Jennifer Myers,
Senior Communications Manager,
Faculty of Communication and Culture
University of Calgary
Email: myers@ucalgary.ca
Phone: (403) 220-4117
Cell: (403) 801-3965