There has been some very dynamic discussion evolving from the post below on rankings.
My idea with the god-blog demographics posts has been to provide a snapshot of believer blogs at this point in time.
I was curious to see:
Who we are
Where we come from
How we connect up
Why we blog
How we perceive blogging
And I really wanted to know for myself because of my online experiences
God-blogging started in 1999 with very few such as CT, Holy Weblog etc.
A few more came on line in 2001 with the scandal in the Catholic church such as relapsed catholic, Mark Shea and St. Blog’s was born.
Then others began to appear like Mark Byron, Martin Roth, and blogging came into its own after the attacks in the US.
Many of the ‘core’ bloggers from that time are still going strong.
Now, there are well over a thousand english speaking god-bloggers, and more coming on line all the time.
I’ll never forget the surprise of a theology student blogger when I said that most of my readers are not believers. I was suprised they were surprised, and it was what started me on a deeper look at how god-blogs are evolving.
The stats I’ve gathered speak for themselves.
We’ll all perceive them differently, and that’s a healthy thing.
Redwood Dragon introduced me to the the term ‘herding cats.’
We could become holy huddles by geography, interest, age, gender.
We could become an on line cultural ghetto.
Or not.
There is a strong need to connect with others, it is why we blog.
It isn’t ‘incesttuous’ to explore the circles, the concepts, the needs, wants and goals we all bring.
I’m really glad we can’t herd cats, aren’t you?
I would suggest that instead of relying so much on ranking systems, we do more to promote the blogs that we do read. You are an example of a blogger who enhances the “community” by recognizing others. You often link to the blogs that you’ve found interesting and by doing so you help others gain an audience. Blogging is not a zero-sum game. It has the potential to form a true community but we have to culitvate it and treat is as such in order for it to survive. - JP Carter
I feel a little icky about the attempts to get more hits by posting stuff designed to get more yahoo or google hits. I dont know perhaps different blogs have different agendas. - Phil
I suppose the truth is that all ranking systems are flawed in some way and there’ll always be some people prepared to “cheat” to make themselves appear higher up the list than they “ought” to be. In the grand scheme of things I don’t suppose it is really important, but I’ll admit there have been occasions when i’ve found such things just a tad irritating for no reason that I can adequately explain. It is easy to get caught up in rankings (and traffic stats for that matter) and lose sight of what it’s really all about. - Richard Hall
I’ll always take a link when I can get one, but what I really look for are comments. I love them! That’s one of the big reasons I blog. It tells me that this person took the time to read what I wrote and then when to the extra effort to share what they think. In fact, I get a little sad when I go through those comment dry periods.
- Christopher
One thing that I do find frustrating about blogging is that I see so many humorous or touching stories on blogs that I think should reach a wider audience. Jonathan’s ‘Pooh Day’ post was just one. - Laura
The toughest thing to discern about linking however, is who is genuinely linking to blogs they enjoy reading and who is linking to other blogs simply for the sake of boosting their rankings? It paints a muddy picture of the purpose of linking, doesn’t it? - Neely
But at the same time, I don’t care about where my blog ranks and trying to boost rankings sounds like so…anti-blog. I’m just sitting in cyberspace just telling what I see. Link to whoever captures my thoughts on the day - even if they happen to be an A-lister or what I call the ‘professional blogger’. Anyone can pull up a chair and tell me what they see too.
Which is why, I, like Christopher, enjoy comments more than anything.
And I don’t mind not having any central repository for blog reviews or whatever. Part of the fun of stumbling across cyberspace. - The Saint
Blog on!
UPDATE: The wonders of blogging….by it’s diverse inter-dependent nature we can stay self regulated and balanced. What would we do without posts like Quantum Tea’s offering on Ranking?
ar arrrr arrrr!!
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What started out as a cheesy little website containing a few resources for Christians here and there eventaully evolved into a personal webjournal. I really never dreamed of the day that I would to do the things we do with blogs now days. Post entries, recieve comments, share life, time, and even Christ. It certainly is amazing to look at the evolution of my web experience as I have continued to develop something that I now can’t live without. The blog has become an amazing part of my life.
Where we come from — where are all the other Malaysian Christians??!?!
I know a few others who are blogging, but are not listed on b4G and therefore not on WLW…
Irene:
The final god-demographics post will look at blogrolls and excellent lists/portals started by bloggers for their own countries.
I know when I emailed you, you had the same question….where are the christian Malaysian bloggers? Is it possible the comment you left here regarding costs may indicate larger factor in your country for the lack of bloggers?
You and Richard Hall are the token international moderators at b4g. Previously it was Rachel Cunliffe and I, and for a portal just a year and a half old the moderator turnover is high for that type of site. I’ll do what I can to assist you in finding Asian blogs in the next god-blog demographic post. Blog on!
But cost shouldn’t be a factor, Bene, not when Blogger/Blogspot is free. Maybe the whole blogging phenomenon just hasn’t caught on… I don’t know.
Majority of Christian bloggers come from the US, so it makes sense that most moderators on b4G come from the US too. One thing I noticed is that US bloggers usually write as if their countrymen are the only ones who are going to see their posts. They talk about Thanksgiving like as if everybody in the world celebrates it or at least ought to know what it’s all about. For example so many blogs were talking about preparing for Thanksgiving and I didn’t even know which day it was on until the actual day, when they had “Today is Thanksgiving and I’m grateful for…” posts. Sometimes I REALLY feel like I’m in the minority :-/
I know Irene, it can be tough.
Christians are a minority.
And it’s hard when you are excluded for whatever reason or excuse inside that minority.
I think the international community is connecting up well….it’s only a matter of time until you find fellow country believers, in the meantime, there are a lot of us that want to understand, identify and learn. Blog on!
I know what you mean Irene. I even did a “Thanksgiving” post myself. But the international links are important and I reckon that many of the non-US blogs “punch well above their weight”.
Some of the US based blogs are written by displaced foreigners, and I got a little tired of explaining “No, England does not have Thanksgiving. What are you giving thanks for? And did that happen in England? No.” I wish people would think before speaking.
If you’re looking for the country with the most internet access per person, it’s not the US, it’s Iceland. Where are all the Icelandic blogs? I know only a couple that are in English, one written by a friend.
Irene and Ali:
Good questions, don’t know the answers.
I know I am getting a fair number of hits from blogs that aren’t written in english, and I can’t ‘read’ them back.
Missions blogs like en Direct and Stranger in a Strange Land don’t always get their due either.
Richard is quite correct.
I should get that final god-blog demographics post put together and up so we can look at how US blogs and international blogs are finding each other. Or not. Blog on!