In their own words Techorati is "The leading blog search engine and directory" and "was founded to help bloggers succeed by collecting, highlighting, and distributing the global online conversation."
The service has grown since it began in 2004, it now boasts an index of over a million blogs and uses those sites to produce a stream of daily information covering news, entertainment, technology, lifestyle, sports, politics and business. So quite a comprehensive service!
Since 2004 Technorati has also produced an annual report "State of the Blogosphere" focussed on the “growth and trends in the blogosphere”. This report makes interesting reading below is my summary of Technorati's findings.
The blogosphere of today is:
- “in transition”
blogging is becoming an established means of communication; it forms loose communities around areas of interest and has an increasing influence on that community. As such blogging has potential to grow and evolve.
- Part of the big social media connectivism that influences most of us
“Bloggers’ use of and engagement with various social media tools is expanding, and the lines between blogs, micro-blogs, and social networks are disappearing.”
- Increasingly mobile
Not surprisingly the rapid development in the capabilities of mobile technology has started to have a huge influence on blogging. Why wait until your back at your PC if you can blog about something you have just experienced there and then? Such immediacy also impacts on the style of some blogs, “shorter and more spontaneous posts.”
- Increasingly giving women a platform and voice
The number of female bloggers is up, some of them with significant influence. “Their impact is perhaps felt most strongly by brands, as the women and mom blogger segment is the most likely of all to blog about brands.”
The Blogosphere future is looking rosy
“These changes are occurring in the context of great optimism about the medium”
Based on Technorati’s research established bloggers are planning to blog more frequently and on a wider range of topics. Their motivation and expectation is that the significance of blogs in society will increase and they will be increasingly valued as a reliable source of information.
“48% of all bloggers believe that more people will be getting their news and entertainment from blogs in the next five years than from the traditional media.”
What do you think; do blogs influence your life? Do you trust blog commentary more than traditional media?
View the full report “State of the Blogosphere” from Technorati
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