On my last post, I have discussed why blog networks are no longer considered cool. Discussions over blog networks have almost ceased. Even the Blog Network Watch is getting boring and stale. Readers do not care about a network; bloggers are losing their steam. Though I am sure many of the blog networks are doing real good, but majority of the blog networks have nothing to talk about.
If all this has to be changed, blog networks need to evolve. It is high time that a new generation of blog networks should arrive.
If First Generation of Blog Networks catered to bloggers, the Second Generation should cater to audience.
I am trying to compile a list, of things that should be implemented in the next generation of blog networks.
I welcome readers, bloggers, and blog network runners to add to this list.
Challenges for Next Generation of Blog networks:
1. Network Wide Tagging
Compile all posts from the network into an index of Tags. People can scan or subscribe through tags to see what’s happening across the network.
2. Single Place Aggregation: This will help readers to find aggregate content of blogs of their choice. Blog network linking, or announcement of blogs don’t help readers much in finding the content they are looking for.
3. Customized RSS: Audience should be allowed to customize their own RSS feeds by selecting tags, authors, blogs, editorials or anything. They should be in control what should get to their feed reader. No point in subscribing RSS of 10-15 blogs, which is updated once or twice a week. Let them merge all these RSS into one, and with more flexibility.
4. Readers stepping in shoes of Bloggers: Many a time you will find, comments to be more interesting and powerful then the original posts themselves. Readers should be encouraged to post on the blogs of the blog networks. Readers should be allowed to post complete entries, though some checks can be imposed.
5. Rewarding Most Active Readers: Readers can be made into Editors, depending upon their willingness and their activity level in the network. These readers can further ensure eligibility of guest articles from other readers. Readers will also feel rewarded to be an active contributor to the network.
6. Building Small Communities: Readers should be allowed to build small communities or groups in the network, which could be governed and moderated by them in terms of post, pictures, events or anything they want.
7. Readers Profiles: Most of blog networks have author profiles and bio, but the next generation of blog networks would have profiles for everyone, readers and bloggers alike.
8. Personalization by Readers: When aggregating the content in a single place, readers should be allowed to see custom aggregation depending upon the channels they would like to see of a blog network, rather than all the posts on the entire network.
9. Newsroom: Members and Readers can submit some good news-leads and news-links, for bloggers to post upon. This can work as ‘Tip Jar’, but in a more transparent form. This will also help the blogger to search for news quickly. Besides a reader will feel happy to see himself contributing more in a blog network.
10. Friends: Many communities are doing it quiet successfully – making friends with other readers and bloggers. Next-generation blog networks can easily implement that.
It is high time, blog network runners should start to think collectively so that we could learn from our past experiences and make blog networks hubs for everyone.
New softwares or plugins are needed which could plug into our existing system and enhance social and collaborative abilities of our readers and bloggers so that both can engage together and help each other to collaborate. Since, I personally feel blogs and blog networks do not compete with each other, there is enough room for everyone to grow. However, the main concern is – are we in the right room?
Feel free to add/modify any point to this list. I hope this helps us all in thinking about the much-needed evolution of blog networks into social networks.
P.S. This post is inspired from Mike Rundle’s comment he left on Blog Herald.
Comments
Hi Ankit,
Excellent post. I only agree with few of your points though.
Response to each of your ponits.
1) Network Wide Tagging: Tagging can be easily abused by blog owners themselves. What i suggest is a technology which can parse the blog content and tag the posts automatically. I have a solution to this problem but addresses only few categoroes of blogging topics.
The other alternate solution to Tagging is searching the blogs by specific search terms. The results displayed should be arranged by date with latest blog first. Again the blogging network should be localized and the search results will be relevant to that particular local community. At this time Technorati, google search results are not that relevant, if we search about India.
2,3,4,5) I am responding to your points 2,3,5. Aggregation of RSS feeds should not be like a kichdi or jumbo. We need categorization og blogs or blog posts (ideal). This way readers can specifically go to that category of interest and read all posts. Categories could be politics, sports, entertainment, geeks etc. This way, we can reduce the strain of readers in helping him move to the blogs of his choice. Once a user narrows down to his blogs of choice, we can then implement a rating system which will then help other readers to narrow down further to authoritative blog posts.
I am not a fan of customized RSS feeds. Feeds should be much more dynamic and should display results by specific search term.
Rewarding Readers is a difficult task though. Yet i agree that he should be duly recognized. This will only encourage him to come back.
7,9,8,10) Personalization of blogs can be made redundant if a perfect rating system based on Title, description, hits and content is implemented. THis users can arrange the blog posts with highly rated blog posts first. The reason is that over time bloggers improve their quality of writing and will give them a chance to get rated better.
Community style adding links is the most abused system. This will create proliferation of links. All the time bloggers themselves will add links at various places like desipundit, digg sites etc. In the long run, these posts can be banned due to duplication of content by search engines.
We have implemented few of the above features and are on our way to implement the rating systems.
I am not sure if enewss.com is the kind of site your looking.
I would encourage you to explore this site and we have received good feedback from recent blogcamp chennai meet on Sept 9,10
Best regards
sri
Ankit, great post! I agree with your assertion that blog networks are becoming somewhat irrelevant.
I’m starting to think that the evolution of the blog network to the second generation really evolves the ”blog network” concept into a social network. As much as I hate to say it, something more like MySpace would take blog networks to the mainstream.
As for some additional features, I think that including a ”recommended list” by different users would help with user interaction. In other words, you can ”subscribe” to what your favorite comment poster ”recommends” and see those posts in a specialized section. Of course, the user would ”recommend” a post by bookmarking it for his own purposes first.
Yeah, thats a greta idea Chubbs.
Recommendations: by all users. It can be added to their custom profile page. People can recommend their fav. author, reader, or anyone’s recommendation of various other posts, and those posts can be view in a section. More the recommendations, higher the story.
BLOG NETWORKS ARE GOING TO FAIL
Even if you guys get 3G of Blog Networks, nothing can save you.
And why I think Blog Networks will fail.
1. Solely dependent on Adsense/YPN revenue.
2. A good writer will find running a blog independenty more profitable then joining a network and sharing his revenue.
3. Those guys who share 100% revenue, don`t know themselves how they are going to earn.
4. All great blogs in their respective niches have launched years ago, there is no scope for new and amateaur bloggers.
5. A-listers have already started their networks, which leave no space for small time players.
6. The model of blog networks is real dumb. After the sale of Weblogsinc, everybody tried to ape them. But Google, Yahoo and other big companies are not interested in Blog Networks.
I can go on with my list for whole night, but the point is Blog Networks are doomed.
Just tell me one thing, what your blog networks give extra to bloggers.
Server Space?
Wordpess software?
Side wide linking ? ( I can buy that for $20-$30 per site)
Advertising deals? ( I don`t find any reason, why I wouldn’t be able to get it myself. Blogads, Adbrite, Adsense, CJ have already been invented)
Why the hell anyone sane would be interested to join a blog network is above my head.
I agree with you Mike on this. That will be a great feature for 9rules, indexing over 30,000 entries and launching a search app.
Many networks I believe, have thousands of entries. Network wide search will surely can help readers to get to the articles they are looking for. It will also help the visibilty of individual blogs.
A great feature, all second generation blog networks should have.
Excellent Post...
Though I agree with each and every point, and also with further additions by Mike and Chubbs, but how is it possible to integrate into any existing setup. I am not sure if this discussion is going to be fruitful, since most of these are impossible to implement in any setup. Otherwise Gawker and WIN would have done it months ago.
Mike, I am eager to check your new 9rules network wide search. Wish you luck.