New Actors and New Media in Technology Discourse: An Investigation of Tech Blogging

Discourse plays an important role in innovation and the diffusion of technology. Various types of actors act as knowledge entrepreneurs to collectively build this discourse. This paper examines the emergence of a new type of actor, tech bloggers, within technology discourse communities. Tech bloggers are authors of web logs focused on developments with new technologies. We examine tech bloggers’ entries collected by a technology news aggregator website, Techmeme. Our analysis demonstrates how tech bloggers through specific discursive practices position themselves as knowledge entrepreneurs within the blogging discourse community and within the wider discourse on technology and innovation. As they attempt to establish claims to legitimacy and influence in this discourse, individual bloggers contribute to the construction of tech bloggers as a collective actor and challenge the positions of established actors. We consider implications for field-level changes and outline areas for further research on technology discourse, new media, and knowledge entrepreneurship.