There is a really interesting contretemps brewing around, on the one hand, a study that purports to define the "100 most influential blogs" in the US, France, Germany and Italy, and on the other, a host of bloggers arguing about why they or others should or should not be on the list. In fact both sides of the discussion avoid the critical question: influential about what?
Influence is contextual. Some of us are influential on some topics, some of the time. No one we know of is influential on every topic all of the time.
It's good that the Edelman Technorati study on the blogosphere has measured the popularity of certain bloggers. But it is sort of like knowing how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall. What do you do with that information?
Popularity, the basis of the analysis--which looks for blogs with the most in-links without any differentiation based on subject matter--is an analog world, mass media metric. The key to understanding and acting in social media is knowing that we trust different people at different times about different topics.
Comments (5)
Good point Bob - in the modern world of communications and social media, context is king. I think many PR Pros still mistake reach (the measure of popularity) with influence for the sake of simplifying things. Once the training wheels are off of social media in the corporation, businesses will explore the full potential of understanding influence and engaging authentically with the right influentials as opposed to the most popular ones.
Posted by Chris Heuer | October 14, 2006 4:08 PM
Posted on October 14, 2006 16:08
Bob,
I really enjoyed the way you put your arguments together. Popularity is still a top drawer measurement.
Hits on a site is still very important. The creation of material with appeal to the target audience and the hoped for resultant viral explosion of conversation and clicks are still a worthy goal.
Respects,
Art
Posted by Arthur Barbato | October 16, 2006 3:53 PM
Posted on October 16, 2006 15:53
The quantity of links don't add up to 'influence', I know that much. I've just published some desk research on the top 15 UK blogs, ranked by unique users.
Isn't popularity a better measure of 'influence' than incoming links?
If reach / audience share aren't in some way influential then broadcasters and publishers all around the world had better start tearing up their rate cards.
Sure, blogs are different but reach must count for something, right?
http://www.e-consultancy.com/news-blog/361913/top-uk-blogs-ranked-by-unique-users-and-impressions.html
Posted by Chris Lake | October 18, 2006 4:32 AM
Posted on October 18, 2006 04:32
Chris, we certainly agree that influence is more than inbound links, especially undifferentiated by topic. In addition to including reach and popularity, BuzzLogic is looking at frequency with which bloggers and media sites pick up links about a specific topic and the details of individual relationships that shape ideas.
Your list certainly shows a different view than the Edelman/Technorati study of top British blogs, which, for some reason, includes a French blogger, Loic Le Meur as a top influencer. The question, though, is whether any of these blogs are shaping particular sets of ideas. I am certain some are, like Girl With A One-Track Mind, which seems to be the new Bridget Jones, defining young female Brits' sexuality. We're suspicious of rankism in the sense that nothing is fixed, no study can tell you next year's top 10; it's something you have to monitor and be involved in to understand.
Posted by Mitch Ratcliffe | October 18, 2006 6:32 AM
Posted on October 18, 2006 06:32
In hindsight I shouldn't have left Loic's blog in my study... doh.
I agree with you about 'rankism', nice term! Nothing stays the same for very long these days. As you say, influence is topic-specific. And it doesn't just boil down to traffic numbers either, I simply used unique users as my ranking methodology.
It seems that there aren't any shortcuts - you can't simply engage with blogger X Y and Z, but need to take a widescreen view. It is becoming a full time job, this reputation monitoring business...
Posted by Chris Lake | October 18, 2006 7:05 AM
Posted on October 18, 2006 07:05