Pizza & Policy: The Power of Blogs

Every week I hear about a new website or blog focused on some aspect of life in Greater Philadelphia. Maybe I’m a Luddite, but before moving to the region in 2005, I didn’t spend too much time on the Internet debating the merits of neighborhood pizza shops.

All of that changed after discovering PhillyBlog.com in 2006. For those not in the know, PhillyBlog, while not technically a blog, is a message board with thousands of users dissecting the minutiae of life, reporting neighborhood news, and hashing out the big socio-political-religious questions of the day. Recent threads range from “Hot wings that aren’t fried?” to “Greenspan’s incessant contradictions.” Every piece of news and type of musing imaginable can be found behind the virtual walls of the site; around 80% of threads focus on the Greater Philadelphia region, the rest on state and national issues.

Godwin’s Law notwithstanding, I am often surprised by the level of sophisticated discourse on the region’s economic challenges and opportunities. It might be true that in the world of Google, everyone is an expert, but in the world of hyper-vigilant PhillyBlog, no fact or innuendo goes unchecked. As a testament to the work of the Economy League, whenever we release a new report or study, a once-buried discussion thread invariably re-emerges citing our research for or against “x” project or initiative. (Full disclosure: I don’t discuss the Economy League on the site; see above reference to pizza.)

In the last 99 years, the Economy League has grown into an organization respected for its nonpartisan, independent analysis of the region’s strengths and challenges, and in the last decade has grown to face a world where Google and PhillyBlog experts examine the evidence for themselves. The filters of traditional media and representation of facts have been obliterated by Web 2.0, completely upending the way news is reported and public relations disasters (and successes) are dissected.

PhillyBlog.com is just one example of the power of citizen engagement to shape the discourse on nearly every point of policy in our region. Unlike some of the other locales I’ve worked in, our region supports a number of diverse, vibrant citizen-powered blogs that focus on more than just the latest exploits of Alycia Lane, such as Above Average Jane, Phillyville, SEPTA Watch, and Young Philly Politics. Because of these blogs’ ascendant influence on public opinion and fact-checking, traditional media outlets are forced to monitor, respond, and often report on the latest “flaming” in cyberspace. Self-made bloggers/experts are now regular sources for the likes of the Philadelphia Inquirer and the New York Times. Locally, the blogosphere was particularly influential in the recent Philadelphia mayoral race and continues to closely monitor the new administration in ways that traditional media cannot.

Throughout its history, the Economy League has welcomed and promoted initiatives to increase citizen engagement in public policy issues. After all, good governance and regional prosperity are only pipe dreams if residents of our region aren’t empowered to demand sound and effective public policy. While initiatives like our upcoming Budget Simulation Challenge and the Great Expectations’ “A City That Works” neighborhood forums are certainly powerful tools for citizen engagement, the home-spun blogosphere radically lowers the barriers of entry.

To tap into the influence and expertise of these new-fangled bloggers/experts/opinion-makers, the Economy League is hosting a Bloggers’ Lunch this summer to talk about the power of the blogosphere and to open dialogue directly with bloggers themselves as sources of fresh information. While traditional media outlets continue to play catch-up with the realities of Web 2.0, the Economy League is moving forward in embracing the still-nascent power of the blogosphere in promoting citizen engagement in Greater Philadelphia.

While I doubt we’ll be arguing whether Venuto’s is destroying neighborhood pizza joints at our Bloggers’ Lunch, I do know that a healthy conversation about our region’s issues is made all the more sweet with a fresh pie on the table.

-- Christopher Scoville, Communications and Development Associate

(Ed. note: If you’re interested in attending the Bloggers’ Lunch, please email cscoville@economyleague.org.)