Wednesday, November 02, 2005

If ever a post proved the opposite of what it was trying to prove...

It would be this one by Joi Ito.

He comments that he has fallen out of the Technorati Top 100, and attributes it to his lower level of posting output.

He uses his own example to say "Power Law, Schmowerlaw"...meaning, I suppose, that if the powerful stayed powerful he'd still be up there on the list.

I, on the other hand, see this as an example of the exact opposite.

I've subscribed to Joi's blog for probably a year now. I don't know him, but I know he's considered a thought leader, but this past year of blogging would not demonstrate why. I'm not trying to be insulting. What I'm saying is that he doesn't post often, nor at length. And often not in a particularly timely manner on hot topics.

I'm hardly one to talk. I like to marinate on hot topics and come back 2 weeks later to share what I've distilled my thoughts down to. That's not very bloggy, I realize. So all of this is to say that if Joi want to blog at a low volume, and focus on his travels, and World of Warcraft and his entrpreneurship and whatever else, then more power to him.

But the fact that he's still ranked at #104...out of 20,000,000 blogs...and that it's taken this long for him to even drop that statistically insignificant amount is evidence to me that his reputation, past prolific blogging, and yes, power, has taken him very far indeed. I would hardly call droping to #104 evidence of "churn at the lower levels."

And it is also one more piece of evidence that the Myth of Meritocracy in the blogging world is just that...a myth.

PS-I tried to post a comment to this effect (although much shorter) on Joi's blog, but it's been a few hours and hasn't shown up, so I thought I'd come record my thoughts in a post.

Comments:
Wow, gutsy post, Elisa! ;)

I don't read Joi's blog, but I've heard of him via Burningbird.

Like the word "bloggy", btw.

(I'll hop over to his blog to read his post and see if your comment showed up.)
 
Not trying to be gutsy at all Sour Duck :)

In his own post Joi admits his blogging volume has been low and muses that his "drop" in ranking is a result of that.

It certainly may be. My point is only that the drop is nearly meaningless.

My comment did eventually show up by the way. I can't remember if I've ever commented on his blgo before, so I got caught up in a "first-time commenter" mdoeration system, probably.
 
Rather cool place you've got here. Thank you for it. I like such topics and anything that is connected to them. I would like to read a bit more on that blog soon.

Best wishes
Timm Clade
 
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