Echo Chambers, Wind Tunnels, and Choirs
There seems to be a lot of thought being invested in understanding the dynamics of the blogging world. For many, the blogging community can be seen as an echo chamber by which ideas are repeated and re-enforced by the "walls" of the chamber. I've discussed this topic in a previous post, "Echo Chambers and Blogging"
That discussion led to a comment from Kevin Jones that characterized the effect more as a "wind tunnel". This has some interesting ideas behind it when the nature of a wind tunnel is considered. A wind tunnel is a research device that allows forces (generally wind) to be applied to a model. In this regard, it could be said that the blogoshpere provides the wind via which models are tested.
More recently, Seth Finklestein commented on the subject and concluded that the effect may be seen more as a "choir":
As a simple technical statement, cheaper communication makes it easier to form "choirs", groups of like-minded people. There are two opposite ways in which one can go wild with this, in terms of filling column-space:
1) Utopian - The happy little blogging bears will "self-organize" into an, err, Regurgitant Pundocracy, where The People will defeat The Special Interests, as writing about one's cat will make George Bush vulnerable (and Howard Dean president).
2) Dystopian - The dregs of society will be able to form gangs as never before, and other groups will become isolated and polarized, leading to the wholesale breakdown of commonality necessary for a functioning democratic civilization (The book Republic.com is perhaps the most well-known example of this genre).
Again, these "choirs", groups of people coming together for a common purpose, can be positive or negative. Crucially, everyone involved is assumed to understand the purpose, and in theory is passionately committed to it (though the practice often falls short).
In contrast, an "Echo chamber" is more the illusion of many voices, but in actuality, each voice is just the same thing, a reflection of the initial statement. Most blogs and most reporters simple do echoing of authority.
The major idea here being that despite the "sense" of harmony and consensus, the actual "sound" is a blending of many distinct voices.
Personally, I think all three opinions are correct and very worthy of further consideration and investigation.