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By definition, a “blog” is an online journal or diary. The word is an abbreviation of Weblog, and today blogs are everywhere — including right here in Blount County.
When Blount County Mayor Jerry Cunningham gave his “State of the County” address at the Blount Chamber in early February, he opened by saying he needed to choose his words carefully or he would “get blogged.” Love them or hate them, local blogs have an impact and thousands of people read them every day.

Blog Web sites are usually maintained by an individual and have regular entries, descriptions of events or other material like graphics, video and links to other sites. They have been around since the late 1990s, but gained popularity in recent years as software became readily available that made “blogging” easier. In December 2007, blog search engine Technorati reported that it actively tracks more than 112 million blogs.

While a handful of blogs generate enough money from advertising to provide a viable income for their creators, most are simply a hobby maintained for the author and readers’ enjoyment. There is no real business model for hyperlocal blogs that focus on smaller communities like Blount County.

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs.

One local blog, called “Red Necks and White Socks — It’s Murville,” was created by Michael Thomson, a Virginia resident who grew up in Blount County.

After serving in the military, Thomson moved to Alabama where he served as Republican Party county chairman and state committeeman for nine years.

“Blogging is just something I do for fun,” Thomson said. “If I tried to make money on it, I’d probably hex it. Everyone needs money, but I don’t need that much. My wife is a rocket scientist, literally. She’s an MIT graduate and we moved up here for her job.
“Not making money on my blogs, I feel like I have more freedom with what I can say.”
Red Necks and White Socks — It’s Murville covers subjects ranging from development on Chilhowee Mountain and fluoride to alien abduction and genealogy. Thomson owns and maintains three different blogs.

“Rednecks and White Socks is the least active of my blogs,” Thomson said. “My primary blog is ‘Alabama Confidential,’ which has regular readers from around the world.

“My sites generate anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500 visits per day right now. When I’m writing regularly, which I haven’t been doing, they get between 5,000 to 6,000 daily hits.”

Few paid ads

In Blount County, one of the more widely-read blogs is called “Blount Views.” Created by Randy Neal — who is also the creator of the “Tenn Views” and “Knox Views” blogs — the Blount Views site focuses on politics and current issues in Blount County. Comments, which the general public can post below the subject entries on Blount Views, draw as much attention as some of the actual blog entries.

“People like the community aspect of it,” Neal told The Daily Times. “It’s a virtual town hall where people can comment.

“It’s like a letter to the editor — without the letter or the editor.

“I wanted Blount Views to be an outlet for the more progressive side of Blount County — there really wasn’t much of an outlet for that voice.

“There’s been some frustration in Blount County and it was like a pressure cooker. My observation is that it’s not all liberals or progressives on Blount Views but also the government watchdog groups.

“The ‘low taxes, less government’ crowd wasn’t the target, but they found common ground on Blount Views in wanting good government.”

In recent months, commentary and postings from Blount Views have been discussed openly by public officials at a variety of community meetings. Although many elected officials don’t agree with opinions expressed on the site, they recognize that many of their constituents are reading it.

Neal has paid advertising on his Knox Views site, which generates 2,500 to 3,000 page views (which some people call “hits”) per day, but not on the Blount Views site. With a full-time day job at a software company, Neal said he doesn’t worry that the paid ads are “few and far between.”

While most of the local blogs do not generate much money, some outside the local area do. Heather Armstrong, a 32-year-old, stay-at-home mom from Utah, started a blog called “Dooce” which now reportedly generates as much as $40,000 a month in advertising revenue. Unlike political sites or celebrity gossip sites, Armstrong’s well-written blog is entirely about her personal life — and about one million people visit it every week.

Politicians use blogs

Blount County Commissioner Mike Walker jumped into blogging about four months ago when he launched the “Commissioner Walker” site. He and Blount County Commissioner Wendy Pitts Reeves were recently recognized by the County Officials Association of Tennessee (COAT) for their blogs, which the association said were “valuable assets for communicating information.”

“In the beginning, it was a place where I could centrally locate information about what was going on in the county,” Walker said. “I just wanted a place to post the information I had as a commissioner and give people the opportunity to provide feedback on it.

“There are several blogs in the county — and you hear a lot of discussion about them.

“If people want to post comments on my site, I require them to leave an e-mail address and they can’t be anonymous. When you’re dealing with the county’s future, I don’t think you should be anonymous.

“My blog has been an effective way for me to get information out.”

Neal said that while some elected officials have embraced blogs, many of them simply do not understand the new media. He said on his Knox Views site, elected officials and members of their staff regularly get involved in online discussions over hot issues.

“At Knox Views, we’ve had comments come in from mayors and their staff members about specific issues,” Neal said. “It should be looked at by the elected officials like they would look at any other media.

“I would like to see more of the Blount County officials getting involved. They’re knowledgeable about the issues, and it would be great to see them getting on Blount Views and clarifying things for people.

“We try to keep it civil so people will want to participate. People won’t attend a town hall meeting if fists fly every time they show up.”