Slashdot Mirror
Mapping the Blogosphere
dominique_cimafranca writes "Discover Magazine has an interesting article on mapping the blogosphere, reporting on the work of Matthew Hurst. Hurst put together a 3D map of the blogosphere, with bright spots represent sites with the highest number of links and isolated islands represent closed communities like LiveJournal. The study also identifies other islands like sociopolitical commentary, gadget hounds, sports fans, and, um, porn blogs."
And where is Slashdot on the map, hmmmm?
Now that we have tactical info, we can nuke it from orbit...only way to be sure.
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
This looks like the fastest-obsoleted map in history. I give them twelve hours until every blog on earth green-links a certain article at Discover.
I can understand not providing the sphere as maybe a little java applet that would allow readers to zoom in and/or rotate the sphere to get a better perspective. That would require more than a little effort.
But cartographers have been managing to project a two dimensional representation of a sphereical object for hundreds of years. Too bad they couldn't use some of that "map" technology to make the image more useful.
you mean that look like Acne and Boils on the face of the Internet ?
"Blog" isn't a buzzword, it's just a really stupid word.
Yes. It is second only to the henious contraction that is the word 'blog' itself.
http://www.cheswick.com/ches/map/gallery/index.htm l/
Overlay (embed?) the Blogosphere map on an updated Internet map!
Maybe a "You are here" icon?
The only thing new in this world is the history that you don't know.[Harry Truman]
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
There are other things that are worse. Straight from Dr Dobbs Journal I bring you this headline:
"C++ STL Hash Containers and Performance" and if that is not good enough, the subtitle is: "Hash containers are powerful tools to add to your performance toolbox"
Even though I think blogosphere is a suck-ass buzzword which should be named after its past incarnation, "speaker's corner" I have to admit that there are worse word usage in the tech world.
Perhaps we might exchange blogosphere for "Internet whispers" in recognition of what the game "Chinese whispers" gave the world.
Fast on the heels of blogosphere is OpEd. Why don't we just call them Opinionated Editor's rants? Because people would simply shorten that to a soundbite of opedra?
People need catchy soundbites because it makes them feel informed when they use them, and not using them takes too many words.... Now we have a map woot! That helps. NOT
Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
Oh, I don't take issue with the term "blog" but I do take issue with the pseudo-intellectual idiots who throw the term "blogosphere" around until I'd like to seem the be the star of a tragic farming accident. Most of them are self-important denizens of the tardosphere anyway...
It's pretty much showing that the US has the highest density of active blogs.
175,000 blogs don't turn up a day though, 175,000 web pages that get called blogs that are thrown up by bots or people who don't much care to put any work into them are created. a 'Blog' is something that has actually been used as a log/place to express opinions over a period of time.
Interesting isn't it, that one of the poster children of web 2.0 is producing just as much meaningless crap as that old boring angelfire/auto home page was a few years back.
I thought blogosphere was invented ironically, and was thus a great faux-buzzword.
I usually change it further, into "blogotubes" or "tubosphere", and then ask people devoutly pecking away at their laptops in coffeeshops whether they are "tubosphering"
But that is just me.
Hopefully I didn't put any [] around my words.
I also noticed that the title was "welcome to the blogosphere", which reminded me of the Guns n Roses song "welcome to the jungle"
"Welcome to the blogosphere we've got your disease..."
I think we should have a contest to see what other G'n'R songs can be remade to be about the intertubes.
Hopefully I didn't put any [] around my words.
I wonder where these numbers are coming from? I spend a lot of time on Livejournal, including some journals getting several hundred + hits a day as a matter of course. It's no 500,000 hits per day, but it's not as insignificant as that map shows. They're also linking out to unrelated blogs all the time, just like non-LJ blogs.
it was invented by a 12-year-old who wasn't half as clever as he liked to think he was.
'nuff said.
Incredible the number of people that throw up blogs and go on as if they're journalists. Talk about undeserved senses of superiority.
By summer it was all gone...now shesmovedon. --
The not-as-clever-as-he-liked-to-think inventor was older than 12, you insensitive clod!
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
While you're worrying about your MySpace profile, nerds will be busy inventing the Next Big Thing for you and your friends to fawn over. The "blogosphere" will last as long as it holds your attention..which is about 3 years, tops.
I'm just tired of having every website I have or am involved in called a "blog". It's not a goddamned blog, it's a website. That word makes me want to live in a little shack in the woods and spend the rest of my life having nothing to do with technology.
online shopping sites have been responsible for more new tech and ways of thinking than blogs. What buzzwords have they created? E-Commerce? Nobody talks about the E-Commerceosphere, because that would be retarded. It takes a special brand of self-important wankery to designate one's favored Type Of Website as being worthy of its own Sphere. Blog may be mainstreaming, but blogosphere is meaningless tot, and anyone concerned with language for its own sake should be concerned.
Come read my stupid blagablog. Rants and Giggles
"A blog (short for web log) is a user-generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order." -- Wikipedia
It is not a description of the content (think "wiki", "forum", "guestbook", etc...), so they can be used for a number of purposes. I myself have two web logs- one for communicating with my family and friends (since I live across an ocean from them), and another for a university class. I bet you could give two shits and a fuck about both of them, but they serve their purposes very well.
I share your disgust with the amount of uniformed nonsense being spouted and passed as jounalism, and it's horrible to think that they can influence on the weak minded, but there are some real gems out there with brilliant writing and observations (Matt Good is one of my favorites- probably not yours), insane technical knowledge about your OS/programming language/car of choice, or just some nice pictures. In short, you have to take in the good (RSS is nice for this) and not visit the bad- just like you would do with newspapers, magazines, television shows, types of cheese, people, countries, etc...
Bomb The Blogosphere! http://www.questionablecontent.net/
This sig is false.
Well, yeah. The right word would be "blogspace".
That's not to say that bloggers aren't moronic and pretentious and full of their own self-importance, but they are "real", and form a "real" community, which should have a real word to describe it.
Following the links reveals that the software is based on a paper by King and Lu (2007), How to Classify Deaths without Physicians, which shows how to get "estimates considerably better than the existing approaches which included expensive and unreliable physician reviews, where three physicians spend 20 minutes with the answers to the symptom questions from each deceased to decide on the cause of death."
Question: This interview will only take a few minutes. Then you can go to your eternal rest. When did you start feeling stiff?
Deceased:
Question: What was your last meal?
Deceased:
Question: Sir, you're not being very cooperative. We do care. This information will help us make your experience more enjoyable. When did you first notice that you were unable to move?
It's pretty much showing that the US has the highest density of active blogs.
How is it showing that? The image in the article isn't based on geographical information.
Not that I disagree about the amount of rubbish on blogs.
getting lost in the brightest light in blob number four, Michelle Malkin. I had never heard of her before. It was a good laugh for a while, but mostly sickening. Does this mean tons of people are reading crap from the likes of her? If so that's really depressing.
Strongly agreeing here. Like, there's this radio show I listen to on the way to work where they always mention how you can 'blog' on their website, and how people are 'blogging'. No. Your site is not a blog. There's a goddamn forum you can post on. Not a blog. It's annoying.
Without sounding like an aplogist, for bloggists , it's one of those terms that is short for web log. The problem is that there is an increase in it's use as a marketing mechanism , so it's lost the web log element
Jack V All the IT vacancies in one place
is there really such a thing as blogosphere? is it even a valid idea? why not call it the "webosphere"? heck, why not the "web" ? DUH!?? i have other words.. buzzword industry that feeds "crappy journalism".
Now here's one iPoddy site! iPod Range
What extols affairs, bemoans and swears
Polls Rover your neighbors dog?
What's great for some flack a personal attack?
It's Blog, Blog. Blog!
It's Blog, Blog, its big, it's heavy, it could.
It's Blog, Blog, it's better than bad, it's good!
Everyone wants a Blog! You're gonna love it, Blog!
Come and get your Blog! Everyone needs a Blog!
God spoke to me.