Staggering Growth In The Blogosphere!

The emerging media model, as shown above, features a decentralized structure, with the JOURNALISTS acting without editors, publishers, etc. The delivery method is the Internet, and the POWERS THAT BE are extremely unhappy about this development!!


STAGGERING GROWTH IN THE BLOGOSPHERE!
by Kentroversy

The most empowering aspect of the Internet in recent times has been the development and growth of a new publishing platform called a WEBLOG, or simply BLOG for short. With a blog, virtually anyone can become a journalist, reporting upon issues that concern the blog writer, and are deemed to be of interest to the readers of that particular blog. This has increased the value of the contribution of the individual writer, and has greatly minimized the role of the editor AND publisher. Using a blog service such as BLOGGER, TYPEPAD, and XANGA, virtually anyone can publish a blog and attract an audience for a budget of ZERO DOLLARS, just as I have done with THE KENTROVERSY PAPERS.

The graphic above, which maps the inter-relationships of a decentralized media model, which is a direct outgrowth of BOTH computer technology and the empowerment the Internet brings to any user who wishes to take advantage of this empowerment. Whether this is peer-to-peer software, or the personal media of blog publishing, Gutenberg would be amazed at this ultimate extension of his MOVABLE TYPE technology, which was discovered in 1447.

The blog ranking site known as TECHNORATI keeps regular tracking on 37.8 million blogs, as of the time of the writing of this article, as well as over 2.4 billion links. Therefore, I would consider TECHNORATI to be an authoritative source of these ranking statistics. This article will feature some of the primary reporting statistics of the TECHNORATI service, and this will show how the blog has empowered MILLIONS of people in the United States, of which there are said to be approximately 38 million of the planets' 290 million estimated blogs, according to The Blog Herald website, of which a link appears below.



This graphic above shows the growth in Blogs during the past three years, from March 203, until April 2006, which was the latest month these figures are available.

In the above graphic, we see that there is a staggering growth in the blogosphere, and the number of blogs has already DOUBLED SEVEN TIMES since March 2003. This is a rate of growth that far surpasses the original growth curve of Internet adoption, which began in earnest in 1993, ten years earlier than the numbers indicated in the graphic immediately above.

TECHNORATI, the de facto standard in blog tracking statistics, has shown that the size of the blogosphere that they track continues to DOUBLE every six months. Currently, they track 37.8 million blogs, but by the time you are reading these words, this number will have increased. It has been shown that 75,000 new blogs are added every single day. This means that the size of the blogosphere is now SIXTY TIMES BIGGER than it was only three years ago!



Over 75,000 new Blogs are created every day, and 55% of those blogs are still active three months after their creation!

Of the 75,000 blogs that are created every day, which equals a new blog for every second of every day, 55% of these bloggers are still posting new content three months after their blogs have been created. This shows that there is a substantial number of Blogs that are out there, twisting in the wind, with their authors losing interest rather quickly. The major reason why this happens, is from a lack of readers. 45% of these Blogs are about subjects so narrow, that very few people remain interested, and the Blog falls quickly into oblivion.

The one thing that I have noticed with THE KENTROVERSY PAPERS is that there are a growing number of people who view me as an EVERYMAN type, who just like them, are extremely concerned about the evermore perilous state of the world. I have received many e-mails thanking me for my insight and research skills. With more than 30,000 unique readers, I have been able to attract (and keep!!) an audience, which has been growing by the month. Furthermore, I am happy that many of these readers have been introducing their family and friends to THE KENTROVERSY PAPERS, which also helps my readership grow.

With a budget of $0.00 --- I see the results as very encouraging, and I am planning on expanding the KENTROVERSY brand name, by expanding into other forms of mass media.



The Blogosphere sees 1.2 million new posts per day, and this translates to 50,000 new posts per hour.

50,000 new posts are added each and every hour of each and every day, and this represents major growth in the entire Blogosphere. Granted, most Blogs are of limited appeal, such as the many sites devoted to a person's pet or hobby. These 1.2 million new postings each day all represent this decentralized publishing model, as described above. This model of publshing bypasses the editor AND publisher, by bringing the publishing tools directly to the desktop.

While this allows for emergency updates to be made available to a mass audience, it also means that every type of subject is represented, each with their own deserved level of readership. So, while one can find valuable data on such sites, it is also true that there are nearly as many sites devoted to MY KITTY CAT and BREAKFAST CEREAL WORLD, which do not warrant a mass audience of their own.









The above four charts list the posts by language, and the most active Bloggers are the Japanese! No big surprise there, however!

The growth in Blogging has been because of those 'early adopters,' who have taken to this new publishing model, and it is not surprising that it has been the Japanese who have greatly contributed to this growth, as the Japanese have been traditional 'early adopters.' However, those who Blog in English have been a close number two. In March 2006, the combined Blogs in Japanese and English accounted for a full 68% of all Blogs posted.



The recent development of tagged Blog postings now accounts for nearly half of all new Blog posts!

The tagged Blog posts are a fairly recent development, but a valuable one at that. The TECHNORATI tags make tagged posts easier to find, and I am going back to my earlier posts to add tags, as well as adding RSS publishing to all new postings. This has helped in the growth of THE KENTROVERSY PAPERS, as any time a person types in one of my tags into a search engine, my post comes up in that search.


CONCLUSION:

The new rage online has been the world of Blogging, and I am one of its' success stories. TKP is among the TOP 1% of all Blog sites, and its' success lies in my creative use of preexisting Internet tools, which help me to use the various search engines to my advantage. There is a great book called GOOGLE HACKS --- which shows how to use GOOGLE to its' fullest potential. Additionally, using tools like Blog Tags, Technorati, Feedburner, RSS, and CSS will greatly enhance the site's look and feel.

Finally, the reader should know that there are free online web publishing templates to use to assist in the understanding of HTML, XML, and CSS as web publishing platforms. I did not need to use these templates in the redesign of the website, as I have fifteen years of experience in all aspects of commercial printing; such as layout and design, and the use of computers to create documents.

Who knows, perhaps in the future, the Blogosphere will feature a Blog of YOURS!

© 2006 Kentroversy Papers
All rights reserved. Used with permission.


Sources:

The following sources were used in the creation of this Kentroversy Paper . . .

The Blog Herald - Blog Reporting Statistics

Blog Ads 2006 Blog Reader Survey Results (April 26, 2006)

State of the Blogosphere: April 2006 Part 1 of 2 (April 17, 2006)

State of the Blogosphere: April 2006 Part 2 of 2 (May 1, 2006)

Technorati - Blog Ranking and Statistics

RSS Users Worldwide At 275 Million? (October 8, 2005)


The following pages from The Economist were part of a special report on NEW MEDIA:

The Economist - Among The Audience (April 20, 2006)

The Economist - It's The Links, Stupid (April 20, 2006)

The Economist - Compose Yourself (April 20, 2006)

The Economist - The Wiki Principle (April 20, 2006)

The Economist - Heard on the Street (April 20, 2006)

The Economist - Wonders of the Metaverse (April 20, 2006)

The Economist - The Gazillion Dollar Question (April 20, 2006)

The Economist - What Sort of Revolution? (April 20, 2006)

The Economist - Sources and Acknowledgements (April 20, 2006)

Blogs

Blogosphere

Computer Publishing

CSS

Feedburner

Google

RSS

Technorati

Web Publshing