Bloggers and the Principalia
Alex Maximo wrote a post entitled “A Principalia in the Pinoy Blogosphere“. An interesting post given the recent developments in our end of the pond people call the blogosphere. Or as Benj of Atheista.net calls it the Blogging Community (?). Personally, I think its less uniform and orderly than what some people think or hope just like society - a society of bloggers.
The piece covers the concept of blogging elite. And I would like to talk about three points regarding that piece and these three points are (i)Hegemony, (ii)Similarities and dissimilarities with the Principalia, and (iii) Authority and Influence
HEGEMONY
Hegemony has been described as the existence of dominance of one over another by a degree by consent. This the opposite of dominance by force. In other words its influence.
The key word here is influence and consent or acceptance. This means such a hegemony exist only because the influence is accepted. No one is forcing the other to accept it. A person or blogger of influence may yet be challenged and lose his or her influence.
In the society of bloggers the elite is not a social class but rather a group of people who have become successful and influential. How was this achieved? Was it inherited? Was it Divine Right that came down from the Heavens?
SIMILARITIES AND DISSIMILARITIES WITH THE PRINCIPALIA OF OLD
While it is true that there are similarities with the Principalia and the top bloggers it would be prudent to turn around and look at the rest of the blogging community and ourselves, perhaps you will see that a lot of us share those traits and not.
- Educated
- Can speak English
- Has access to the Internet
OK. Lets look at a few top bloggers: Abe Olandres of Yugatech: One of the top blogger or the top blogger in the country. Check his about page and you will find that Abe did not come from a family of means. All his life he got scholarships and worked hard to become a success that he is now. Others of the so called and often alluded to but rarely mentioned part of the blog elite like Noemi Lardizabal-Dado, Jayvee Fernandez and Gail dela Cruz- Villanueva come from well-to-do and upper middle class families but established their blogging careers by the sweat of their brows. The influence, if any, was brought about by work.
Education. I think it would be correct most of the bloggers, not only the blogging elite, are degree holders and students. In our country were the only means of economic upliftment is to send a son and daughter to school this is not surprising. Naturally the first people in line to be bloggers are those who got educated. And as to the popularity of English - it is the lingua franca of the world today. Mind you its not the biggest there is Spanish, Pu Tung Hua and Russian but it is the most widely used and understood. As such it is not surprising that English is used often. Even the debate about this majority is written in English. Bihira lang ang nag talakay nito sa Tagalog.
There maybe several similarities between the Principalia and the top bloggers but it should be noted that:
- There are also many similarities between the Principalia and the blogging community
- And in that light there are also dissimilarities between the all the top bloggers (and bloggers in general) with the Principalia.
AUTHORITY AND INFLUENCE
Do they rule the blogosphere? I don’t think so. Do they influence? Yes. Does this influence pass on from generation to generation like the Principalia of old? Remember it’s an influence that is accepted because of the person’s authority and this stems from a couple of things about the blogger: (i) reputation and (ii)writing talent - which may or may not be acceptable to some but has found its own set of audience and readers.
Do they have influence as a class or as individuals?
People of influence or authority has always existed through the centuries and in all societies. Influence and authority per is not bad. It is finite and it is how you use it that is critical.
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noemi Dado
Said this on September 3rd, 2007 at 3:18pm:very well said Juned. Maybe it’s just that these bloggers take initiative to start and actually implement a successulf project which makes them influential. A few examples (jayvee for introducing bloggers to mainstream media, Gail, Abe and Jayvee for the Blog awards and parteeh, Rico for the first network etc etc…And these projects do not benefit the individual blogger but the whole community as a whole. So there ’s nothing wrong with an elite group.
juned
Said this on September 3rd, 2007 at 3:44pm:Noemi, I do not even think of them as elite. Primarily, because it connotes an isolated group and denotes of snobbish quality, which they are not. All activities spearheaded by these individuals have been open to anyone irregardless of state in life. There was never anyone turned away at any activity nor anyone excluded. Issues were dealt with in a civilized manner.
The problem is when one resorts to labels is that it is the beginning of stereotyping and the appeal to emotion. A road when abused leads to Demagoguery - appealing to the popular prejudices, fears and expectations ( a destructive form of populism).
Bloggers and the Principalia « Life & Work With Ria
Said this on September 3rd, 2007 at 6:15pm:[…] blogosphere and the principalia of the Philippines during the Spanish colonization. Juned, however, begged to differ. Juned notes that the perceived similarities between the principali and the “blogging […]
noemi Dado
Said this on September 3rd, 2007 at 7:59pm:@juned- yes I agree …the labels. maybe for lack of better word and if used to describe such group, I find nothing wrong with “influential bloggers” who is just giving back to the community.
Alex
Said this on September 4th, 2007 at 7:48pm:Great take, Juned.
I think limiting the concept of the Principalia in the older Hispanic context is quite limiting. While I use it to describe the so-called “blogging elite,” one has to further define the finer details of this elitism. Is it it defined by politics? Socio-economics? Popularity? Influence?
Some scholars view the elite as a dynamic bloc, not necessarily inherited as you may have defined it. It may involve complex processes of recruitment and transitions. Some sort of transience of members but not that particular bloc.
Hegemony, as a concept, is neo-Marxist so I think it belongs to a school of thought that may be in contrast with the concepts of Divine Right or social contracts.
Sure, the influential bloggers you have named may not necessarily born with silver spoons in their mouths. However, you have to consider these in a synchronic manner than a diachronic one, observing things particularly in the point of time where these bloggers exuded influence as bloggers, not necessarily their origins.
Whether this so-called elite or principlia or mob/mafia (according to Jon Limjap) is a good or bad thing, it would depend on how you view things.
The Construct by Alex Maximo - Commentaries on social media discourse - : Initial problems with the concept of a blogging principalia
Said this on September 4th, 2007 at 8:57pm:[…] Juned reacted to my previous post on the blogging Principalia which I think, is a valid one based on the meager definitions that I’ve made. Here’s my reaction though: I think limiting the concept of the principalia in the older Hispanic context is quite limiting. While I use it to describe the so-called “blogging elite,” one has to further define the finer details of this elitism. Is it it defined by politics? Socio-economics? Popularity? Influence? […]
Marcvill
Said this on September 5th, 2007 at 1:38am:Very insightful post. It’s all about the labels that we associate to these Movers and Shakers of the So-Called Blogging Community. Sometimes, they are labeled as Influential. Sometimes, the Mafia. I can picture Yuga blushing and chuckling as he reads this post. Hehe.
reyna elena
Said this on September 6th, 2007 at 7:44am:interesting post. wish ko nafeature ako. nag-a-araro lang po ang reyna nong panahon nang hapon. pero nakapayong naman ako kaya namaintain ko kagandahan ko. unlike yuga and everyone, wa ako influence. well, i do it through harassment. me perdible ako tsaka manyeeka. but i wish to be saksis one time or another ever ever
juned
Said this on September 6th, 2007 at 8:43am:Alex, Thank you for the points and Interesting follow-up post.. Just to answer your points briefly.
1)I think that is the problem with using the terms Principalia with out limitation and scope. Words and terms have very powerful meaning in terms of culture and history.
2) There is an old tale where a king once tested three wise men to describe a beast while they were blindfolded. Each described a different beast. The thing was each of the wise men were taken to a different part of the beast. And in fact all were in fact describing the same thing. For me the definition of elitism covers three or more different factors and probably a combination of all.
3)Probably the most important factor that would define an Elitist is Attitude towards others. It is not the fact that you are rich or successful but how you relate to others. You may be rich or poor. Handsome or Ugly.A group or an individual. You became en Elitist by the way you interact with people.
4)Hegemony might be a new term in terms of political discourse but the phenomenon itself is not. Hegemony is a term that labels something that occurs. A term that is not greater than the action it labels. Surely, acceptance of a Hegemon is not isolated to post Marxist Earth. Julius Ceasar was an elected Consul and an elected Dictator for life. Athens was a democracy where class struggles often occur. I think you will find that hegemony and nearly all modern definitions are found through out history. Even divine right or social contract involves initial consent or acceptance.
In the end I think irregardless of dimensions and there are many an elitist is defined critically by his or her attitude towards others.
juned
Said this on September 6th, 2007 at 8:45am:reyna elena,
At least may Imeldific moment ka. Dapat may tagapaypay ka din.
Sigurado akong sakses ka sa larangan mo 
baratillo @ cubao » Blog Archive » Are you elitist?
Said this on September 6th, 2007 at 9:10am:[…] was answering some comments on one of my post when I wrote this. Might be useful now considering the talk of elite and elitism. What defines or […]
Prudence
Said this on September 11th, 2007 at 8:29am:“You became en Elitist by the way you interact with people.”
— I very much agree. As an example, I don’t believe that just because some people prefer to use English as their language they’re already elitist (some people have that notion that you have less love for your country and for your fellowmen when you use English). It’s just that these people are used to speaking the language and are more comfortable with it. So, in blogs, if people choose to use English, it doesn’t mean they’re elitist or trying to be cool. It’s just that they’re more comfortable using it.
You do not define an elitist merely by his language preference, his TV-viewing preference, or his choice of friends.
juned
Said this on September 11th, 2007 at 9:33am:@ Prudence, Thanks for agreeing.