I am launching a blog aggregator that will include bloggers from across the political spectrum.
It's called Opinions Canada.
If you're a member of the Blogging Tories, LibLogs, Blogging Dippers, GreenBlogs or the Non-Partisan Blogroll, you can apply.
If you are not a member of these blogrolls, you can still apply.
To apply, email me. Please include:
YOUR BLOG'S NAME
YOUR BLOG'S URL
YOUR NAME
The address of YOUR BLOG'S RSS Feed.
If you do not have an RSS feed, but have an Atom feed, or no feed at all (and you wouldn't know how to get one) please let me know, and I will get you one.
There will be a few rules.
I am looking to maintain some decorum. So, blogs are expected to keep a minimum of decorum.
- No frequent publication of "offensive" pictures such as violent ones (bloody abortion pictures, war victims photos, terrorism victims, etc).
- No frequent porn or just really suggestive pictures.
- No frequent use of coarse language (like every other word-- a "fuck" out of frustration and venting is fine.)
The important word is FREQUENT.
Of course, gross pictures can be necessary for discussions about violent and bloody events. And same thing with very revealing pictures. If your usage of language consists of using four-letter words (and other coarse words) in every sentence, or almost, that's not the kind of blog I want in the aggregator. If you drop an F-bomb because your party lost the election, no problem. If you drop an F-bomb in every other post, that's getting too much.
But if I have to gross out every time I read your blog, I won't be allowing it on the Aggregator. Let's put it that way.
I've read dozens, (maybe hundreds?) of Canadian political blogs, and it's not a problem.I can think of two blogs out of all the English and French ones that I've read that would be problematic.
Don't worry, I'll be lenient. I just don't want the aggregator turning into a cesspool. I want the aggregator to be about the exchange of ideas, not shock and schlock.
As for the kinds of opinions that are acceptable, it's wide open, except for the most extreme. I won't accept blogs that advocate for things like white supremacy, pedophilia, grossly racialist, ethnocentric, or xenophobic blogs, that sort of thing. It has to be really exteme and very present. I want to include as many as possible, without sacrificing a minimal sense of decency. Other than that, the sky's the limit. Conservatives, Liberals, Socialists, Social Democrats, Marxists, Libertarians, So-Cons, Neo-cons, Red Tories, Feminists, Masculinists, Environmentalists, Anarchists, Monarchists-- you're all invited.
If you think this is a good idea, I would appreciate if you link to this post, or promote this in your own way. I think this is a great way to stop the "echo chamber" effect of partisan blog aggregators, and get people exposed to all kinds of bloggers, and to get a pulse of what Canadian bloggers are saying.
Things are really in start up mode, so please don't think I won't be livening it up. I do plan to that. But I'm in the beginning stages, so it is going to be clunky for a little while.
I plan to create a logo. I won't expect participants to post it, but remember that by promoting Opinions Canada, you are contributing to a wider audience, and that's what I want (probably you too, I suspect).
Et les blogs en français sont les bienvenues. Je suis parfaitement bilingues, ne vous gênez surtout pas.
