Blogospherics
*My map is an odd map
If Barry can do it, so can I. (Well, some things anyway. My drawing is so-so at best.) I've generated a Blogstreet associations in the blogosphere map for Mac-a-ro-nies. View it in its grraphic majesty here.
Some of the associations are utterly sensible. I link to Eschaton, my blogfather's place, CounterSpin and ReachM pretty often. The presence of the legal blogs makes sense too, since a fifth or more of my entries have a basis in the law of some sort. Ditto for Silver Rights, which focuses on civil rights issues. But, the blogs I link too most often are not listed. Those include Alas, a Blog, Calpundit, Body and Soul, Balusabramania's Mania and Prometheus 6. I could say the omissions have something to do with timing. But, that doesn't compute. I knew Barry, both Kevins and Jeanne as a reader before I had a blog. They had some sense of who I was from my comments and contributions to Eschaton and other blogs. So, I got links from them from the beginning. I met Victor and Prometheus after Mac-a-ro-nies had legs. Yet, other than Cowboy Kahlil, the two groups are both missing from the map.
Nor does blogrolling explain the map. I am not on the blogrolls of Matthew Yglesias, Mark Kleiman or CounterSpin. (An oversight all three should correct immediately.) I blogroll all the folks mentioned in the previous paragraph and they blogroll me. The Horse, Electrolite and Lean Left are fairly new blogrollees who blog back.
The map generated by Blogstreet is better than no map at all. Most of the blogs on it have at least a tenuous connection to this blog. But, the map is not accurate enough to rely on to get a sense of what kind of blog Mac-a-ro-nies is and who it associates with.
If I find the time and energy, I will try to create a blogospherics map that is more reflective of Mac-a-ro-nies and its place in the blogosphere.
*Two for the price of one:
Pairs of blogs
An oddity of The Map, the political map of the entire 'name' blogosphere that began this discussion, is it lists Brian Linse's two blogs in separate political categories.
Look at Brian Linse 's two endeavors. Ain't No Bad Dude is in the center. The Lefty Directory, is, you guessed it, way out left. (Actually, there are some conservatives on that list.) What does that say about Brian? Is he both a centrist and a Leftist?
Many blogs are not on The Map (especially new blogs, except for Digby's Hullabaloo). If they were, it would be interesting to examine other pairs of blogs written by the same blogger. How do the Oregon Blog and Notes on the Atrocities compare in regard to political and other associations? Angry Bear and It's the Economy, Stupid? The Sideshow and Avedon's New Weblog? The Rittenhouse Review and the Lighter Side of Rittenhouse? Various blogs by women and their Blog Sisters' versions?
I am speaking of legitimate blogs created by the same blogger(s) to serve two different purposes. That is quite distinguishable from the forementioned dummy blogs created to generate links for a blog. Those are fraudulent. You can tell the difference by the fact that dummy blogs are either blank or low in links and have no identity as weblogs in their own right, which requires continual entries and in and out links.
My guess is the purpose of a blog does impact its place in the blogosphere. Persons looking for a compilation of information about economics probably read It's the Economy, Stupid, more often Angry Bear's blog, which, though it contains substantial information about the economy, is a general purpose blog. Pacific Northwest residents likely read the Oregon Blog more often than they do Notes on the Atrocities, unless they are really into politics. Then they probably read and link to both, as I do. Second that for Avedon's and Jim's duos. The same situation is apt to apply to any general purpose blog and a sibling, whether it is about cooking, charity or civil rights. It pleases me. Diversity is good. I applaud bloggers who blog well -- twice.
*A map of a different kind
Several bloggers have written me about their profiles in The Truth Laid Bear's ecosystem. In my opinion, though flawed, TTLB still offers the best picture of a blog's history. For example, consider this profile of Mac-a-ro-nies.
With all do respect to pictures, the unglamorous data tells the story of the blog's evolution from a mewling infant on April 4th to its current toddler status two months later.
One can also glean insights about unsuccessful blogs from TTLB. For example, notice how 13 of 21 incoming links are links back to this very disreputable blog itself.
What do I consider to be an unsuccessful blog? One that has been around a long time, but failed to grow, despite attempting to do so.
