Blogrolls and rankings, mountains and molehills
Bene Diction posted about blog ranking systems yesterday, and the post got me thinking.
The blogroll on this page is for me to use. When I get home and check on blogs, I want to go to one page, and Ctrl-click on all the blogs at once (tabbed browsing plug, download Mozilla or Safari). It's for my convenience. I remember when every homepage on the web had a list of links, some that were no more than that, and some that insisted on using magenta or lime text that are best forgotten. The blogs there are the ones I read regularly. The blogs I check in on occasionally are on a separate page, because it's easier than adding them as bookmarks. I only link to one of the "top fifteen blogs" Bene Diction lists, Living Room. For some odd reason, he links to my blog.
Blog ranking systems are amusing, but I know my place in the blogosphere is the backwater. That's good for my ego in a "spinach is good for you" way. Why would anyone bother to write if only a few people read, ego wants to be read, to be famous, to be a top ten blogger, or even a top one hundred blogger. Logic says it's not going to happen, but someone is reading this. Some people I know offline, friends in England, my sister, people I "met" through commenting on their blogs and emailing, a community of sorts. People do stop by my soap box from time to time. And I have to write to get this stuff out of my head.
It's nice when people link to me, especially people I don't know. I would love to find out how they found me. The webrings I joined all come in on a slightly different URL so I can track them on my referrals. I do check my stats because I'm looking at the referrers. I've met a couple of interesting people that way.
A blogger who is obsessed with their ranking is boring. One site I happened on is trying to win a "King of the Blogs" crown. He mentions it in every post, and posts often about his Google ranking. That's dull, who cares besides him? There are very rarely any comments on his posts. Tell me stories, and I'll come back. Educate me, pique my interest in subjects I don't know, and I'll keep reading. Show me a cool website, or a nifty gadget, describe what makes you laugh and cry, what you feel strongly about. Boast about how great you are, and I'm gone for good. It's about the people. Different countries, different doctrines, different opinions, this is what makes blogging interesting.
The Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem has a weekly new blog showcase, Microbes on Parade, highlighting the underblogs with no incoming links. I like the idea a lot. Can't figure out the difference between the Insignificant Microbe and Multicellular Microorganism though. Get one inbound link and you're either a Wiggly Worm or a Crunchy Crustacean. Slithering Reptile is my category, and that's fine. I'm not losing sleep over it.
There used to be a "Top 5% of the Web" award. Winning sites could display an image and feel smug about their sites. A friend made a "Bottom 95% of the Web" image that I wish I still had a copy of. That's me, bottom 95% of the blogosphere, along with almost everyone else blogging except Instapundit. Feel free to grab this image and display it with pride, or make a better one and email it to me:
Rankings? Bah humbug!