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Weblog as Genre, Weblog as Sociability

Weblog as Genre, Weblog as Sociability. Susan C. Herring Blog Research on Genre Project (BROG) School of Library and Information Science Indiana University, Bloomington. Operational Definitions.

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Weblog as Genre, Weblog as Sociability

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  1. Weblog as Genre, Weblog as Sociability Susan C. Herring Blog Research on Genre Project (BROG) School of Library and Information Science Indiana University, Bloomington

  2. Operational Definitions • Weblog (blog) — a frequently modified web page (and associated pages) containing individual entries typically displayed in reverse chronological sequence • Blogosphere— the universe of blogs available (mostly publicly) on the World Wide Web

  3. Number of Weblogs • 1,794,488 indexed by the NITLE Weblog Census as of 3/29/04 • 1,184,362 (66%) estimated active • Including hosted weblog services brings the estimated total to 4.12 million (Perseus, October 2003), of which 34% are active

  4. Exponential growth of blogs

  5. Weblogs as Genre • Question: What are publicly-available weblogs like? • Approach: Characterize the genre in terms of central tendencies of randomly-selected blogs • Genre (def.) – "a distinctive type of communicative action, characterized by a socially recognized communicative purpose and common aspects of form" (Yates & Orlikowski, 1992) • Status: Part of an ongoing longitudinal study • Two papers available (Herring, Scheidt, Bonus & Wright, 2004; Herring, Kouper, Scheidt, & Wright, fc)

  6. Data Sample • Core blogs (excl. online journal hosting sites and “community blogs”) • Random sampling from blo.gs site • Directory of recently-updated blogs; tracking 1,523,316 blogs as of 3/29/04 • Sources: antville.org, blogger.com, pitas.com, weblogs.com • 203 blogs collected March-May 2003; 154 blogs collected September 2003

  7. Methodology • Genre characteristics • Producers • Purpose • Structure • Content analysis • Coded 44 features in each blog; quantified results

  8. Summary of Findings • Blog producers are roughly equally split between male and female, adult and teen • Adult males create more filters and k-logs • Females and teens create more personal journals • Blog purpose is mostly personal (and often intimate) • Blogs have characteristic structures (e.g., archives and badges) • Most blog entries receive no comments • Most blog entries contain no links

  9. Caveats • Possible sampling bias • Small sample size • English only • Frequencies of comments and links probably under-represent the degree of “conversation” taking place among blogs

  10. Weblogs as Sociability • Question: To what extent is the Blogosphere interconnected? • Approach: Conduct a social network analysis based on patterns of linking identified “from the bottom up,” starting with randomly-selected blogs • Social network (def.) – “A web of interconnected blogs which directly or indirectly interact with or influence the blog author” (adapted from onlineacademy.org/modules/a202/lesson/lesson_5/a202c5_30100.html) • Status: Research in progress

  11. Data Sample • Blogs with links to other blogs in sidebars (“blogrolls”) • Random sampling from blo.gs site • Excluded blog software used for non-blog purposes; blogs in languages we can’t read • Initial analysis based on 4 blogs: • http://pencilinyourhand.blogspot.com/ • http://www.danm.us/blog/ • http://www.mysocalledblog.com/ • http://www.orangetang.org/erica/blogger.html

  12. Methodology • Followed and recorded all links to blogs in sidebars three degrees out from source blogs • Social Network Analysis (cf. Degenne & Forse, 1999) • Network density • Centrality and status • Tie strength • Applied measures to database of URL source-destination pairs (N=6,215)

  13. Summary of Findings • Network density • The Blogosphere is densely interconnected via links in sidebars of blogs (cf. other “small world” phenomena) • Centrality • “A-list” blogs are most consistently linked to • Status • Number of inbound links correlates (negatively) with number of outbound links (more than with “A-list” membership) • Tie strength • non-“A-list” blogs are most reciprocally interlinked (e.g., Catholic blog “clique”) • Most links are non-reciprocal (“weak ties”) • Many blogs do not link to other blogs (isolates)

  14. Caveats • Sample is small; may be biased • Only four sources, three of them filter-type blogs • Links in sidebars probably have other functions besides social interaction • Links in sidebars are not the only way bloggers “converse” • Links in entries • Textual references in entries • Comments

  15. Further Questions • What factors lead to reciprocal linking? • How do “conversations” via interlinking compare to other forms of CMC? • Do reciprocally-linked blogs also converse textually? • What does the Blogosphere look like from the perspective of personal journal type blogs?

  16. Conclusions • Social science research on weblogs can make a useful contribution to understanding; more is needed • A focus on “ordinary” blogs can shed fresh perspectives on the nature of the Blogosphere

  17. The Blog Research on Genre project (BROG) • Personnel • Sabrina Bonus, Susan Herring, Inna Kouper, Lois Ann Scheidt, Michael Tyworth, Peter Welsch, Elijah Wright • Blog • http://www.blogninja.com

  18. Slides from this presentation: http://ella.slis.indiana.edu/~herring/ssc.ppt

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