Comments on: Analysis: Mainstream Media vs. Blogosphere

By: Safety Protection Technology

Safety Protection Technology — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:09:53 +0000

I am amazed to see that video comment. I haven't seen this anywhere else. Is there any Plug-in?

By: sbspalding

sbspalding — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:07:52 +0000

First, thanks for leaving a video post. I've been meaning to test that out and haven't had an opportunity to until now.

The distinction that I made was based purely on their origin. All of the "blogs" that I listed are now becoming news organizations, but they started as blogs (in the sense I think you are referring to).

Beyond that, I was trying to make a secondary point which you stated really well -- all of these sites are evolving from what they initially were into mainstream media organizations. What I am interested in figuring out is when does a "blog" like Techcrunch become a media company like Wired or CNET.

Is there a real difference between the two, or is it just a matter of what name was fashionable at the time of their origin?

I don't think looking at traffic is the right way to do it, I think it's more about influence -- which might be why it's such a hard to understand line. How do you really measure influence?

Great point!

By: digidave

digidave — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 03:26:49 +0000

Seesmic video reply from Disqus.

By: sbspalding

sbspalding — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 03:02:06 +0000

Thanks so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

By: Glen Allsopp

Glen Allsopp — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 02:14:23 +0000

I love little posts like this, Stumbled, Sphunn and I'll tweet it as well!

By: sbspalding

sbspalding — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:31:25 +0000

I hadn't factored that in. When you think about it, Techcrunch also got a huge boost when it appeared on Yahoo's Buzz page. Well stated Devora. As they add new partners, it will be really interesting to see how quickly blogs start catching up. I have heard that getting Buzzed drives an obscene amount of traffic.

By: DevoraIPGMediaLab

DevoraIPGMediaLab — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:53:26 +0000

Fascinating article, but it's important to note that Huffington Posts' increase in traffic likely directly correlates with its exposure on the Yahoo front page.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/16/yahoo-buzz...

The blog was one of the first to get consistent placement on the behemoth's front page (via Yahoo Buzz) after Yahoo opened up its front page to third party publishers--and millions of clicks have been driven to the site from there. I'm surprised this is not noted in the article--without the partnership with Yahoo's site, Huff Posts' numbers would likely look very different.

By: Greg Hollingsworth

Greg Hollingsworth — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:55:09 +0000

you're right, it's different from the sites in the blog category in that it is a major print publication as well. I think for me it was more of a classification issue, but it certainly doesn't belong in the same category as The Huffington post.

By: sbspalding

sbspalding — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:00:13 +0000

I agonized a bit about Wired. I think that it has enough traction, including a popular print publication that lumping it in with “blogs” might take away from the spirit of the analysis.

By: Greg Hollingsworth

Greg Hollingsworth — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:46:45 +0000

I'm curious about the classification of Wired as the “mainstream media”, as a niche publication I don't know if it can be considered in the same group as the NYT and WSJ.

I suppose as tech related publications go it may be the mainstream, but it's no national newspaper.