Tomorrow’s Forecast: Variably Unpopular
I’ve been out of high school for 23 years. (Ouch). So pardon me if I don’t say the popular thing, or hang out with the “in” crowd. Heck. I never did that in high school anyway.
Earlier today, Lisa told me she posted something on her blog that was not going to be popular, especially among the “Brown Nosers” in the TTLB Ecosystem. Of course, anything that juicy just had to be read, immediately.
For those of you who do not know, the TTLB Ecosystem used to be the premiere, free “linking” resource in the blogosphere. Anyone who was anyone could be found on NZ Bear’s massive list of blogs, and they were ranked according to their popularity. I guess in a way they still are, but I don’t think “popularity” is measured the same way it was “back in the day”.
It seems lately that things are more than just a bit wonky in the ecosystem, and they have been for quite some time.
There was a time when I focused on “being recognized”, because, let’s face it, what’s the point of having a blog if no one knows you exist? I blogged daily and made sure to check the ecosystem stats every morning. One morning, I checked the system. Vinny was at #149, and I was sitting pretty at #209. I could not believe I was about to crack the top 200. What a rush.
The next morning, I hurried to check “my place in the ’sphere” and found that the bottom had dropped out of the “SloboMarket”. My place in the blogosphere was in the low 1,000’s or something like that, with the shock of it all I don’t really remember, and Vinny had dropped to the low 700’s. It was all a blur, but I do remember seeing the words that I was now a “Marauding Marsupial”. I was no longer a “Large Mammal”. It just didn’t make sense. When I inquired about it, I was told, “You must not be as popular as you think you are”.
Since then, even though I still blog daily and people still link to me, my place in the ecosystem has varied, from a low in the 2,000’s to a high in the 500’s. It fluctuates (greatly) daily, and the traffic to my site is no different than before. In fact, my “low” on the ecosphere hit during the last days of Terri Schiavo’s life, when links to my site, and my traffic, were going through the roof. Go figure.
There used to be a time when the ecosystem details were up to date as well. Now, things seem to be scattered, which might account for the variance. In fact, the details for my site have been 2 weeks behind for a long time now. Right now, if I look at my place again, the last post shown on the details page is dated November 5th. If I look at another blog that I read daily, their details show a date of November 9th, while more “popular” blogs on the list are dated November 10th and 11th.
How can the ecosystem “rankings” really be accurate if some blogs are checked more frequently than others? What one blog is linking too on the 11th might be totally different than what they were linking too on the 5th or the 9th, when the other blogs were updated and ranked according to those statistics.
While NZ Bear has done great work when it comes to raising awareness for important causes and always steps to the plate in times of need (and he should be commended for that), I personally think the usefulness of the ecosystem, as a blogosphere ranking too, has run it’s course. Especially on my site.
I have to thank Lisa for reminding me why I blog. Because I enjoy it. I have been writing a commentary page since 1997, and back then it didn’t matter who was reading or where they came from, and it doesn’t matter now.
Thousands of people find my site each month, and it doesn’t really matter if they come here from the blogosphere, or some obscure link from a search engine. Once they get here, if they find what they are looking for, and maybe enjoy what I write, who cares what the blogosphere thinks?
I sure don’t.
Sphere: Related Content2 Comments so far
buncha wallflowers we are, eh buncha wallflowers we are, eh? :roll:
Technorati, anyone? :mrgreen:
You know I have no idea what You know I have no idea what my place on the blogosphere is, don’t know how to check, don’t know how many people read my blog, how many are linked, how many hits I get a day… I just don’t know. Sometimes I care - I used to care a lot - but now I just am thankful that I can blog and keep in touch with my friends online in such a convenient way. And along the way have met such wonderful people that despite not meeting them in person, I am proud to consider friends. I never did the popularity contest in school. (Remember the Breakfast Club movie? Remember Ally Sheedy’s character? That was me.) And I’m not about to worry about popularity on the internet. So long as my friends love me and want to read what I have to say, that’s all that matters. And if not, then I’ll just trudge on anyway. :)