November 13, 2006
The big media squeeze
The blogosphere is still growing rapidly, but blogs are being squeezed out of the ranks of the top online media sites. That is the lesson that Nick Carr has drawn from his analysis of the latest State of the Blogosphere report by Technorati’s David Sifry (see our brief note on SOTB here). The numbers are striking:
Just two years ago, in October 2004, blogs accounted for 16 of Technorati’s 35 most influential and authoritative media sites. They represented, in other words, 45% of the short head, with mainstream media (MSM) sites holding the remaining 55%. By March 2005, the number of blogs in the top 35 had dropped to 13, or 37%. By August 2005, it was down to 11, or 31%. By February of 2006, blogs held only 4 of the top 35 slots – or 11%. Finally, in [Technorati’s] new October 2006 report, just 2 blogs - Engadget and Boing Boing - were in the top 35. Blogs’ share of the short head has fallen to a piddling 6%.
Nick thinks the shift has to do with mainstream media sites becoming more tech-savvy. As big media succeeds in its transition from print to digital, he says, more and more blogs are transforming into niche sites - the 21st century equivalent of trade journals and newsletters.
The idea of there being an A List of bloggers, then, is something of a misnomer now. The real A List of online media is made up almost entirely of the sites maintained by mainstream media companies. Bloggers seem fated to be, at best, B Listers.
According to Nick’s numbers, the big shift came between August 2005 and February 2006, when blogs’ share of the top 35 sites dropped from 11 to 4. Any thoughts about what happened during those six months to cause the trend to hit its tipping point?
