28.4.06 This time, it’s the personal blogs
When you look at the top blogs in coComment, they aren’t the usual famous names. Scobleizer is number three. Instead, the two top slots are occupied by personal, arguably lesser known blogs; the conversations among coComment members, which I would imagine are a useful sample of the blogosphere at large, are taking place on them.
I can draw several conclusions: blogs are not a new form of journalism or media, because people are using them more for hobbies than as a replacement for traditional news from specialists in that particular place; the opposite of the above: people are using them as a replacement for news but no longer distinguish daily news-gathering from socializing; successful blogs are where conversations take place, and they are increasingly taking place on personal sites discussing everyday things; it’s simply easier to post brief, pithy comments to casual bloggers than responding to the well thought-out arguments of experts, so of course personal blogs are more frequented now than those tied with a profession or industry. (Scobleizer enjoyed a higher ranking in earlier days of coComment.) I am an optimist. I believe these dialogues are bringing people from across the planet closer together, reducing cultural misunderstandings. We learn our frame of reference is not universal after all. Through it, we’re finding out more about ourselves. We simply visit different destinations on the web, and since the computer is part of our working lives, the blogs are welcome reliefs on the information superhighway (ah, that retro 1990s term). They represent the promise of the original web: international destinations, where geography is unimportant. Posted by Jack Yan, 22:54 Comments:
Excellent post. I completely agree. Honestly, I think the top dog blogs will always maintain their huge followings but as the blogosphere evolves, it will be the personal blogs people gravitate toward. People were wired for community and relationship offline and the online phenom can't escape it.
Again, good post.
Thank you, Randy! I, too, believe people won’t change and will seek relationships and connection online, as they have done offline. Since coComment probably is a tool for a lot of early adopters (I am the exception!), it may be pointing to the way the blogosphere may be used, with the emphasis on the personal.
The professional news sites may get blog features, but I don’t think they will become blogs altogether. Blogs, to me, seem to be delivered more in the first person by a very limited number of people; news sites, even when they are blogs, are third-person with a nearly limitless and constantly evolving team.
Jack, I've got the new cocomment extension for Firefox and it's awesome. Using that and del.icio.us, I can stay on top of all the conversations I'm having online. I hope it passes the early adopter phase and goes mainstream!
# posted by Easton Ellsworth: 4/29/2006 02:44:00 PM
I am so glad about the Firefox extension, Easton—it will really grow coComment’s appeal big time and generate greater discussions. CoCo will go huge, I am sure!
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