Regular readers get it.
So do people who understand the internet -- the difference between sites, their features, followers, and content management. While it may indeed be a "world wide web" of data and domains, it is comprised of individuals who use it for various reasons and anything seen in real life can be found reflected within this virtual world.
This globally used tool gives us access to information, putting a new meaning on an old advertising slogan: let your fingers do the walking.
Since 1995, it has been changing how people obtain information from traditional classroom settings or libraries and media outlets, to providing anyone with internet access the means to research and develop their own understanding on anything of interest. Along with many databases or other official records, users can now access video history and verify content from multiple sources. Internet users can easily learn and write about various topics, share resources, socialize or play, and stay instantly connected to anyone almost anywhere in the world.
In our own little speck on this planet, the NRV alone has over a dozen "new media" outlets and at least as many individual writers (bloggers) who maintain their own websites. (See the "Author Recommends" tab on this page for several examples.)
Regular readers get it. Mostly. Maybe. Sometimes? There have been false allegations or untrue statements made by elected officials about who writes what where.
It seems to be a tactic to generalize, making demeaning comments about all "bloggers" which, based upon some comments left on the blogs, has been effective -- at least with some readers. An example includes applicants for a senior position with the town being warned "We have bloggers." These same officials then cry foul when commenters behave exactly the same way when giving their own opinions about a Christiansburg civic group or on more relevant public issues.
Generalizing may be easy, but the internet and video also make it too easy to go back and verify who wrote or said what where. Not that that means anything -- look at national politics and you may find numerous examples where elected officials contradict themselves -- so perhaps this is simply seen as acceptable behavior nowadays, especially if it comes from an acquaintance.
Blog posts and the links create a library for citizens -- voters -- to tap into today. Unlike pre-2007, there's quite a bit of information about Christiansburg government out there including official records not provided on the town's own passive but updated website. These other sources offer tools for forming one's own opinion, and agreeing or disagreeing with the comments elicited.
The existence of this information is itself one reason for the increasing volume of generalized negative comments about bloggers or new media sources. It dates back to before the days when local newspapers did not (or could not) routinely cover Town Council meetings. The upcoming town elections may be another reason the volume is being turned up -- serving as a smoke screen of misinformation and getting voter focus off real issues. This is shooting the messenger and the message (often done by those who are in positions of authority), who are giving their own first-hand view of public business.
You might also ask why so many people who have something to say online are "anonymous" around here -- but the answer is clear: Most people are unwilling to personally put themselves in a position where they may become the subject of demeaning responses.
Hopefully, Christiansburg citizens -- voters -- are sophisticated enough to verify information and form their own opinions. Hopefully, upcoming town elections will draw out larger numbers of well informed voters.