Michael, I am sure when you wrote it, you were not thinking of the number of discussions that would spring up around your initial thoughts on the most popular blogger. (Or, were you? :)) – but I like the idea of a “blog buddy” – that has nothing to do with linking and ranking but on the way a blogger can connect with another blog and the blogger behind it – blame it on the qualitative researcher in me.
And then there is the more quantitative analysis by Vikram using google’s page rank and this very impressive analysis on sounds from the dungeon.
And then Dina’s incisive posts on blog ranking and popularity – Alok’s insightful comment there – i just enjoy their company. and in essence, that’s precisely what your blog, or any of the blogs i visit
regularly, is. good company. And please note, Dina points to the wiki piece on popularity – as a combination of respect and amicability.
Linking to this, Patrix writes, Am I a ‘popular’ blogger? Who cares…. We do it because we like to. Bloggers have the company they cherish which in turn intermingle with other bloggers creating subtle connections known as the blogosphere.
I agree with Patrix. mostly. It is important for me to be a “popular blogger ” – much in the same way that it is important for me to be a person whose company other significant people in my life enjoy – and no not find offensive. Other than that, it is about “do it because we like to“. And not because we want to play out our hidden agendas on what we claim to be “our own space”.
At which point did we start taking our blogs so seriously?
Have we forgotten *blasphemy coming up* – relax, it is only a blog. And surely there are other important things in life too – and other places where we can make our presence felt?
Ok, now let me go look for some such things…
***
And while on the blog theme, I have been following with interest hate-fests on some blogs – there are some which attract the truly extra-ordinary weirdos who take issues with what the blogger’s daddy looks like and how the blogger’s maid washes clothes and so on… And then this whole anti-popularity thingy. Worst popular Indian blog – duh? And a rather absorbing discussion about blogs “qualifying for a puke-fest”. Once more, duuuh?
I mean, what? I read this blog every day, every single post, and I comment and respond to other comments on every post – but yuck, what a terrible blog.
I hate strawberries, they make me break out in rashes (or make me puke whatever). But I am irresistably drawn towards them – why, I even link to them on my blog. Why do I do this? Because I am a masochistic fly?
Hi Charu,
I think you, Dina, and Patrix are correct. I blog because I enjoy writing and I enjoy conversing with intelligent, friendly, opinionated people.
Also, I am more satisfied by the number of people who have BlogRolled my blog than the number of people who visit my blog in a given day. The BlogRolling tells me that these people enjoy my writing and are willing to return to my blog at a later time to read my posts. These are the people I write for.
Vikram
Hi Charu
Excellent piece.
To me, the greatest joy in blogging is just the conversation that goes on back and forth between bloggers who read each others’ blogs. We read them with interest, in part, because they read our blogs with interest, and in part, because they are just really interesting. I am always amazed at the amount of effort people put into their blogs, and to what purpose? It is all for the benefit of other people who might be interested in the conversation.
I think that we would all feel depressed as bloggers if no one ever read our blogs, never commented on it, never linked to anything we wrote. I have found some blogs like that; with the sitemeter on less than 100 hits on a blog that had been around for six months (really!). That would be a little depressing. But at the end of the day, I would rather have 12 people who read my blog with interest than 1000 people who come, look, leave, and never say a word. I agree with Vikram, (who writes an excellent blog – click on his name above), that people who blogroll you are gratifying because it means that they want to see what you have to say, and what you have said is interesting enough that they want to come back.
And I agree that the concept of worst popular blog is silly (I’m sure the author would agree). You may not agree with what someone wrote, but if you are reading it, it probably is interesting, and thoughts might provoke discussion, and in the end, that is point of conversation is to discuss things. A good blog makes you think, makes you feel, or makes you laugh.
Charu, of course everyone wishes to be popular and I like your definition of popularity (as I did Michael’s). We all love to be appreciated by our peers and people whom we respect. And of course, it is only a blog…after all, you would have much to write on your blog if you didn’t have a life, would u? 🙂
Charu – Nice Post and good arguement on the Popularity concept.
I liked Michael’s idea of defining the popular “blogger” not the blog and the other definitions mentioned in your post. As for the “worst blogger” part, I think it was done partly in jest and partly to look at things differently.
the way I understood it, was my analogy to TOI, the newspaper that I loved and now I love to hate. I visit it to find out how bad they were today etc (I have lots of time you see). In that sense I understood the idea of worst blogger etc… but I desist the idea of a puke fest and all … not on a blog — it will mess with my URLs
Charu,
Although I started writing my blog because I wanted one space to consolidate whatever I wanted to write, it became more meaningful when someone read it and commented on it and came back for more. I remember the first time someone who I did not know before (Sourin) made a comment on my blog and said he was interested in a topic. It was gratifying, to say the least! I also find that the comments direct a lot of my writing. So there IS a purpose to all this. I agree with Michael, it is depressing when you put up a post and there are no comments.
Sujatha.
Vikram, yes, it is always good to have people who read your blog regularly – and interact through your comments – and then maybe later at a more personal level – getting to know other bloggers has been one of the best things about blogging. people I would otherwise never meet – in the course of my work, for instance…
Michael, I put in effort in my blog too – basically to make myself understood. but it cannot be the all-consuimg thing in life! I see too much of that – bloggers taking themselves and their blogs more seriously than it deserves… or what I think it deserves
Patrix, you’d be surprised how little interest a blog-less life can hold 🙂
Sujatha, I know what you mean when you say that comments direct what and how you write. often write a few vague thoughts and leave it open. and I find answers and directions for further thought only from the comments…
Hi Charu,
Thanks for the amusing analogy. As a masochistic fly, I must also admit that I also have other devious motives in visiting blogs I don’t like. 🙂
Sibyl, I saw your post. the way I see it is – if a site is terrible and yucky, one would visit it once – or once more to see what exactly draws others to it. but not on a regular basis? I cannot understand those who visit puke-worthy sites regularly and leave comments there on most posts! the blogosphere is full of other terrific blogs where one’s time might be better spent 🙂
(this comment was caught in some spam filter – just recovered it now!)
@mit 🙂 am all for “fun” but my point is why visit blogs which make you puke?! Surely there are a thousand others…
I have seen some fairly decent blogs where I am amazed by the iananity of the regular comments so I keep going back to read those!