Every day millions of pages are added to the internet. It is rather
hard to ask a search engine which ones are worthwhile and expect an
immediate response.
A blog is nothing more than a dated journal or the software used to
make it. What makes a blog special is that many random individuals have
the ability to show their take on the world around them.
Many of these blogs do not add much content to the web, but a couple
special ones add some of the best writing in the world. I would argue
anyone who stated that script driven commerce websites added more value
to the internet than the personal expression offered on personal websites.
These individual sites can work in clusters to change the dynamics
of the web, for good or bad. (example: Google
Search: Miserable Failure)
Links are the foundation of the web. At the heart of the idea of the
internet is the ability to traverse from one thought to another almost
instantaneously. Blogs make it easy to write a small passage and hyperlink
to the original story.
A single blog by itself does not make a huge difference. It is just
like any other website...yawn.
While a single blog has very little effect, the social setting and
fast feedback loops of the internet can get a few people to parrot what
one person says. Since many of these blogs are updated many times a
day, a popular news story (or one person's opinion of it) can acquire
a large link popularity fast.
There are multiple tracking systems which monitor what ideas are spreading
quickly through the web. Technorati,
Popdex, Blogdex,
and Daypop
are a few of the more popular ones. The fast spreading ideas may pick
up additional syndication through aggregators who track the fastest
moving stories.
Many of the blogs cover redundant information, but how different are
the news channels 5 & 6? Good blogs tend to have some original flair
or character to them.
If you write enough, eventually you will become a more eloquent writer.
In addition, by default you will eventually uncover a story which spreads
like a disease.
A few timely quality stories can elevate your popularity indefinitely.
Many news stories come and go without much fan fair. Typically many
of these stories have little social consequence. Blogs have the ability
to filter news and tell the search engines which ones are important.
While this data is frequently skewed, it is usually in the opposite
direction of most major media outlets.
Many times manipulative media conglomerates twist the news. President
Bush signed Patriot act part 2 the day Saddam was caught, which
went unnoticed by the largest media companies in the world. Stories
like these are set in the proper social context when bloggers like me
catch the story. While some clusters of delusional people will form,
the whole media is now more representative of truth. Read about Bush's
missing year.
The web is all about the free spread of information, why do so many
people hate blogs anyway?
