David Sifry posted The State of the Blogosphere–Part 1 at the Technorati Weblog today. This post is research and analysis at its finest. The post is deep, broad, and replete with solid information, graphic visuals, and links to take you even deeper. Anyone who wants to understand the blogosphere should read it.
The information and analysis in this post will serve you in your online business. It will serve you as a student. It will serve you in casual conversation–when a friend wants to discuss the future of the Internet, or when someone tries to tell you all blogs are trashy online diaries.
Just a few notes–a taste–from the summary.
- Technorati now tracks over 27.2 Million blogs
- The blogosphere is doubling in size every 5 and a half months
- It is now over 60 times bigger than it was 3 years ago
- On average, a new weblog is created every second of every day
- 13.7 million bloggers are still posting 3 months after their blogs are created
- Spings (Spam Pings) can sometimes account for as much as 60% of the total daily pings Technorati receives
I sure hope Janice Myint doesn’t read it. Any Customer Service Team Leader at Technorati has enough to worry about. This post could be just overwhelming. Janice we still need you . . . please keep going. (When I went to check the link on this post, I got the “Sorry we are unable to complete your search right now . . .” message. At least now I know why.)
Everyone else go read it. This is stuff you can’t buy at any price and you won’t get in business school. The name of this post is State of the Blogosphere–Part 1. But it tells the future.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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🙂 I’ve read the post and it’s very good. Recommended to everyone! Thanks again for the encouragement and don’t worry, I’ve still got my nose to the grindstone! 🙂
Hi Janice,
Someone made the comment the other day about how impressive it is to see someone from Technorati out here actually reading the blogs. We’re really getting to know you and like you more and more out here. 🙂
Liz
The blogosphere is doubling in size every 5 and a half months
I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing…
This post is a real eye-opener into understanding just how big the blogosphere has gotten in such a short time. Truly amazing.
Hi Martin,
Yeah, that I guess is why I was a little, uh, enthusiastic about folks reading it. The world is changing faster than we understand. Over at Tom Peters’ Blog he said yesterday that the economy’s not tanking, it’s just that the tools we have don’t work in a world were the products are becoming all service and information. (I’m misquoting him badly, but the idea is there.)
Liz
I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing…
The only people who don’t like the growth of the blogosphere are existing bloggers that are insecure and fearful of becoming less important as their audience becomes a smaller percentage of the total within their niche.
Oh Anthony,
I don’t think that it’s just bloggers who might be worried about such indcredible growth. The speed at which the blogosphere is growing is faster than we know. The real world doesn’t even know it exists. How can it possibly be prepared for the impact of the changes it will make. Sometimes big changes can hit the infrastructure in ways that are unexpected. . . .
Liz
I have confidence that the market will always find a way to deal with major changes. It’s some of the people I’m more sceptical about.
Look at Technorati sure your recent issues show it’s not perfect (has any SE ever been?) but last year I remember Jeremy posting about it’s virtual descent into obscurity and irrelevance yet a snap shot of it’s last 12 month shows that through the massive growth in blog numbers Technorati’s usage has increased which would mean that they’ve been able to keep up with the growth to a satisfactory level for the majority of it’s users.
I agree, Anthony. There will always be naysayers.
But the shift that’s taking place as we become what the BusinessWeek cover story calls a “Knowledge-Based World”–a world where products are more and more intangibles and less and less traditional assets could be a significant one. That’s all I’m saying.
Liz
The only people who don’t like the growth of the blogosphere are existing bloggers that are insecure and fearful of becoming less important as their audience becomes a smaller percentage of the total within their niche.
Anthony,
There could be some truth in that point of view – and it’s a natural business instinct trying to keep out competitors and keep your market share.
Lets say in my niche: home business. I’d rather have 30-50 very good blogs on the subject rather than 200 mediocre ones – of course, it’s all very subjective.
Liz – btw, Technorati seems to be back on the tracks – I have been able to claim my new blog today after weeks of trying.
Yea, Martin.
Congrats on your new blog! Leave a link here, so we know about it.
I’m off to check. Technorati. I’ll be right back.