In cyberspace, anyone can hear you think

Written by Lynne Featherstone and published in Ham & High on Tue 24th Feb 2004

Close friends and colleagues, knowledgeable about my tenuous relationship with technology, are currently much amused by my elevated geek status, having been pronounced a runner-up in the Guardian's Political Blog of the Year awards.

For those thinking "what is she on about?" a blog (or web log) is a kind of on-line diary / stream of consciousness / view of the world that individuals or groups place in the public domain on the web to communicate with the wider world.

Political blogging is now becoming a new phenomenon in terms of engaging with the public and making elected politician more accessible and more open. My own blog (http://www.lynnefeatherstone.org/blog.htm) is a running commentary on my daily activities and thoughts both at the London Assembly and as a Haringey councillor.

"Down to earth and good humoured" is how the Guardian described it. It is a very personal engagement, I have to say. For me when I write, I am writing alone in a room and imagine myself actually talking to people about my day.

I started it last September as a result of a discussion with a close colleague (who is a mega-geek and has been since birth) suggesting that I might like to do this. As a workaholic - I couldn't quite see where I would get time to do it - but I thought I would give it a go.

It has become therapy in a way. A personal commune with myself - I sometimes even forget that there are people out there reading it. Some have emailed me to say they read it every day - so I have to be careful to remember that it is not a private diary. I don't record my personal life but inevitably you do get insider information on the behind the scenes rows that cross my path.

It has developed a life of its own - out there in cyberspace anyone can hear you, including an avid reader from Mexico! I have emails from across the world arguing with me over various entries in my blog. It also meanders its way into the pages of other print media from the Scotsman to the Liverpool Echo.

But perhaps best of all, since I appeared in the On-Line section of the Guardian (which I confess to never having read prior to elevation to its

pages) my own teenage daughter now rates me!

I have to say I am thrilled to have won this award. I was astonished when I got news that I had been nominated. Amazed when the Guardian shortlisted me into the last twelve and stunned when I was pronounced a runner up.

It was won by thegayvote.co.uk which is a very serious blog where people post their views on the issues of the day and their impact on the gay world.

I think in an age where so few people vote and there is a view (not mine - I've met too many!) that politicians are all the same - this intimate and personal recording of a politicians work provides an opportunity for people to see and understand better what politicians are actually doing and thinking.

Readers will be pleased to note that the swelling of my head to gargantuan proportions has been somewhat reduced by said geek friend sending me the actual voting figures that delivered my new found fame. It wasn't millions or hundreds of thousands of votes I garnered. But I can always dream of next year's competition...