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Google, which runs the Web's premier search site, has purchased Pyra Labs, a San Francisco company that created some of the earliest technology for writing weblogs, the increasingly popular personal and opinion journals.The buyout is a huge boost to an enormously diverse genre of online publishing that has begun to change the equations of online news and information. Weblogs are frequently updated, with items appearing in reverse chronological order (the most recent postings appear first). Typically they include links to other pages on the Internet, and the topics range from technology to politics to just about anything you can name. Many weblogs invite feedback through discussion postings, and weblogs often point to other weblogs in an ecosystem of news, opinions and ideas.
Point of order: where does a community site stop and a blog start?
Some of the means and types of communication that are found in a blog to a limited degree may also be found within a community site, but beyond that similarity I can't see any resemblance whatsoever between a blog and an online community. None.
Some of the means and types of communication that are found in a blog to a limited degree may also be found within a community site, but beyond that similarity I can't see any resemblance whatsoever between a blog and an online community. None.
Actually, many blogs *are* community sites with one or more blogggers acting as community leaders - getting feedback and refining conversation in comments. There are also several community weblogs such as Fark, Slashdot, Metafilter, Kuro5hin. Same concept, different software.
resemblance whatsoever between a blog and an online community. None.
Define online community.
To me, it's a group of people who regularly share a dialogue, operating in an online space. Here's but one: 37signals.com/svn/
A Blog can create that space. As can a forum.
Following the "new rule" that everything's a fact and not a rumour i'd say that's what we'll see. :)
Point of order: where does a community site stop and a blog start?Some of the means and types of communication that are found in a blog to a limited degree may also be found within a community site, but beyond that similarity I can't see any resemblance whatsoever between a blog and an online community. None.
So is Slashdot a community or a blog? I say it is a community blog. They select the topics - that makes it a blog. They do allow comments to those topics - that makes it a community.
My money's on blogs.google.com
They have some tidbits from Chris Cleveland, CEO of a company that developed a search engine for Blogger last year. He speculates about the purchase and its meaning to Google ... specifically that the blog-style content with tons of links is just ready-made for Google; "rich new sources of data."
blogs.google.com looks odds on
I think google understands the power of blogs and other portals have already made plans or already implemented plans to have hosted blogs etc. They are making sure they are not out-pointed here by acquiring the biggest hosted online blog community, which has some good customer loyalty as being the first or amont the first, plus nice brand equity, not the least in its name.
That said, blogger.com or blogspot blogs represent only a portion of blogs on the net, (though still a sustantive proportion), and imho the great proportion of the best blogs are not second party hosted but use software such as MT and Greymatter. Community blogs do have their own strengths however.
If someone else, or nobody bought Blogger, that might have been more difficult. Now they are assured of the critical mass.
Just a shot in the dark here.
...Google doesn't need to purchase a weblog company to better understand weblogs any more than it needs to purchase a web hosting company to better understand web sites, a home page building company to better understand home pages, a newspaper to better understand news sites or an online merchant to better understand merchant sites. Google already interacts with millions of different sites of all natures. It can, and does, already use the entire web as its free laboratory.
- to keep their search results accurate using all the links posted by bloggers. A million web logs is like a million editors working for them real-time. Also Googles popularity in turn can help 'Weblogs' develop more fully as a concept.
- to feed their web quotes. Though some of the comments in weblogs are pretty crappy:)
- Pyra's patents like micro-advertising can be useful to Google's adwords.
There have been some interesting insights and inquiry into what Google really has to gain from this [sixapart.com] compliments of the blogging community itself via...
Matt Webb's very interesting angle, [interconnected.org]
and
Cory Doctorow's essay at BoingBoing [boingboing.net]
Granted.
It may however give blogs.google.com the same robots.txt as it does their other properties. "Content" is one thing, exclusive content is a different animal althogether.
"Content" is one thing, exclusive content is a different animal althogether.
Everybody repeat the above phrase 3 times, pass "Go", and collect 200$. ;)
My hats off to you NFFC for perhaps one of the single most insightful comments in this entire thread.
I get the feeling google is also liking the fact that they are picking up some very talented people.
