N.Z. is again tweaking the TTLB.
James Joyner has a lengthy post that identifies many of the salient issues.
The move has caused some consternation in the Blogosphere and while I don’t want to pick a fight with Don Surber, I don’t think he gets the fundamental point of the TTLB when he makes statements like this:
And this business about everyone being the same is false. How does his software distinguish between Malkin or Glenn writing one line and getting 50 links without linking back and me writing one line and getting 20 links and not linking back until after work?
The software is doing exactly what it is supposed to do: count the spontaneous individual links from one site to another as a metric of the popularity of the post (and the site).
It was never about quality.
I am sure that there are guys out there writing fantastic stuff who get 12 visitors a day.
How would you have software measure that? The market has to measure that, and the EcoSystem should measure the market, not the cleverness of those who can manipulate that market. And yes, I will grant: getting noticed is part of the difficulty in succeeding in an open market.
And does Glenn get notice often posting very little? Yes he does. He was a pioneer in blogging, and that certainly has helped him. And to be fair, he is widely read and consistent in terms of linking to interesting stuff.
Now, if Glenn were starting today would he ever be a Mortal Human (i.e., at the top of EcoSystem)? No, I don’t think he would, but clearly his status as an early blogger put him in a unique position. For the record, I still think he would climb the system and be a popular blogger if he were starting today.
However, regardless of why people link to a specific InstaPundit post, there is a substantial qualitative difference if Glenn gets ten links from people who came to his site, liked what they saw, and then linked to it independently than if ten of my friend and I agree to link to one another just so that we can get unique details in the TTLB.
Now, I don’t have a problem with people working hard to promote their sites, but the open trackback parties were distorting the system, so I think that NZ’s move makes sense.
Understand: I like inline trackbacks–and part of the reason I liked them is because the presence of the TTLB meant that if I linked to a blog with inline TB’s then I would get a detail. I also liked the fact that the TTLB incentive meant that it was more likely that others would link to me because I have inline trackbacks.
However, the idea of a group of blogs getting together and simply trying to generate unique details undercuts the idea that one is getting linked because of the popularity of one’s content, which is what the TTLB is supposed to be measuring.
Don, who is clearly steamed about the whole thing, states in another post:
Let’s see, open posts are not to be counted, but Instapundit’s many links that get linkbacks are. But that was what we were doing, linking and then taking linkbacks.
The difference is that Glenn, like many bloggers, scan the blogs they read and then point readers in the direction of specific posts on those blog because he thinks that there is something interesting there to read. Indeed, isn’t that the alleged appeal of a good blogger? they read the news and other blogs and identify the interesting, so you don’t have to. Those who are especially big InstaPundit fans laud Glenn’s editing ability. That’s why they come. I only go to InstaPundit once in a while, because his links tend to appeal less to me than other sites. I go to Fruits and Votes whenever it is updates because I know that Matthew is likely to post something that will interest mean. There are other sites that I onyl go to once in a while because they don’t interest me as much. Such is the nature of a market. Those who has InstaEnvy have to realize: Glenn has more readers and more unique links because a large number of people like the site.
When it comes to just a list of posts who are being linked because they asked to be linked, means that I really don’t know which posts to read because there has been no filtering. Being part of long list, like the Carnivals, gets me a unique detail, but it doesn’t get me readers. The point of being in such a list is to hope that exposure leads to readers. If I am listed (and yes, links are good) in open trackback lists/open trackback/carnivals but never actually attract readers, I will climb the TTLB, but that growth is ultimately artificial because it really doesn’t mean I am necessarily building a readership.
I have participated in various lists and carnivals in an attempt to get exposure for PoliBlog, and still do such on occasion. But I participated to get exposure–getting put in a long list of links is not sufficient, however, to declare blogging success.
If Glenn links to something, it is because he has read it himself and found it noteworthy, which is how I decide what to link to. That kind of interchange is, to my mind, what the TTLB should primarily be measuring and what daily open trackback parties damage, I would argue–and hence the alteration of the EcoSystem.
The idea of open posts and open trackbacks, when done as a concerted efforts has nothing to do with the content of the posts, or of pointing one’s readers to specific content, but rather about generating unique links for all the blogs involved.
That is a substantial difference.
The TTLB exists to measure the popularity of blogs based on the natural aggregation of inter-linkage of blogs. If a group gets together to generate links not based on the content of the posts, but to simply link with one another, then that jobs the system.
For example: I have linked to several blog posts in this post. I do so to direct readers to what those people have said. That they will get TTLB unique details is the byproduct of my linkage, not the purpose of my linkage.
If one wants to boil the entire situation down to a simple issue it is just that: unique details should be result of linkage to an interesting or noteworthy post, not the purpose of the link/trackback.
One last point: NZ Bear owns the TTLB, so he can do what he likes with it, when he wants.
Ok, another point: quality or quantity often have nothing to do with success. I can write a thoughtful, lengthy essay and get no links and no comments. Or, I can link to some story, or toss out a throw-away line about something and get links and comments.
Such is life in the BlogoSphere (and, again, in any market).
November 23rd, 2005 at 1:04 pm
“I am sure that there are guys out there writing fantastic stuff who get 12 visitors a day.”
*Raises hand*
I resemble that remark.
But seriously, I had no idea the extent of the open trackback abuse until I started Harshly Mellow. I knew about OTB’s Traffic Jams, and knew that it was partly a way for him to move up in the Ecosystem because it requires linking back. Until I realized that I should take advantage of that and others like it to get noticed and read (as well as moving up, but I’d rather get the traffic even if it doesn’t mean links), I had no idea there were circles of trackbackers who were, yes, abusing the system. Knowing that was the deal made entering them less appealing.
Guess people will have to get link-noticed the old-fashioned way; e-mailing people “link my good post” e-mails, entering carnivals, and linking others so that they will notice and link you.
But hey, that’s what I’d rather have: quality links that might mean actual traffic and repeats.
November 23rd, 2005 at 1:21 pm
Open Letter to N.Z. Bear: Sabertooth confesses!
Here’s problem with your current solution: you’re throwing some baby out with that bathwater.. All of the links below are specifically about your post at TTLB. They took a fair amount of time to locate and organize. Every link I’ve made here will be…
November 23rd, 2005 at 2:48 pm
Yup. This whole controversy is exactly why I quit worrying about linkage and, really, even traffic (as evidenced by the fact that I haven’t posted at AKB for — what — three weeks now). I put a lot of time and effort into many of my posts; however, many are throwaway posts. I can’t really care too much about who likes what, because I can’t control that — I can only control the fact that I either enjoy writing what I write, and make it the best it can be, or I don’t write. When I start caring about traffic and links (and even the ecosystem, as useful as it is!), the fun evaporates pretty much instantly. That’s also why I quit participating in the Beltway Traffic Jam. I like James a lot, and his site is on my “Order of the Rose” blogroll, but I refuse to use his blog to simply create another link to mine (although, James, if you’re reading this, blogrolling AKB would be a nice Christmas gift!).
The point: I’m happier blogging with twelve readers who like my stuff, maybe comment once in a while, and never give me a link, than I am (was) as a marauding marsupial who was checking TTLB every ten minutes to see if I was moving up, down or sideways. Blogging can be very stressful, if you let it.
Sorry about the essay. Guess I should post it, huh?
November 23rd, 2005 at 3:41 pm
You are right, you don’t want to pick thi fight because yuou don’t know what you are talking about.
1. Visit my site. See how I do open posts. There is actual copy there
2. I read every post I link. OK?
3. I told NZ privately and publicly the same thing: It is his site, he can do what he wants
That said, the Echosystem is a salve to conservative bloggers who are getting their blogs beat by Daily Kos
You measure popularity by — hold onto your hat — H I T S
I used linkfests to promote my posts. I am intelligent. I will figure something else out. That’ll piss you off as well
November 23rd, 2005 at 4:16 pm
Don,
By not wanting to pick a fight, I simply meant I had no intention of hostility behind my post.
However, I do take some exception to the concept that I don’t know what I am talking about. I wholly stand by my statement that TTLB doesn’t exist to measure quality, and, further, the TTLB is distorted by what these linkfests.
I would note: much of what I wrote here was not directed at you per se, but to the overall phenom of open trackbacking.
And, as I noted in the very next post, hits are the superior method for assessing popularity.
Further, I would note that the EcoSystem also has the EcoTraffic measure, so it isn’t as if hits are being ignored. I would argue that interlinking is one valid way of measuring blog presence, and an interesting one. Ultimately hits are the only measure of readership.
November 23rd, 2005 at 4:24 pm
BTW, I would note, that while you are a Mortal Human in the TTLB at 21st, by traffic your are ranked 543rd
However, the Washington Monthly, which is ranked 19th in the Ecosystem by linkage is ranked 17th by traffic.
Given that disparity, I don’t understand getting upset over the Bear, and I especially don’t understand your condescending tone in your comment above over H-I-T-S.
This just points out the distortion caused by open posts and especially the trackback parades.
And, for the record, my traffic rank is 743 and my TTLB EcoSystem ranking is something like 157, o I am somewhat out of whack as well.
November 23rd, 2005 at 10:19 pm
Steven,
As one of those blogs with about 12 readers, I agree whole heartedly with your statement that readers are what’s important. To me, getting a mention and a link from another blogger that I respect, and has taken the time to read what I have written and point it out to his or her readers, is a lot more gratifying than seeing my blog move up and down the TTLB Ecosystem scale.
Back in August when I posted all of the pictures I had taken out in Crawford when the Sheehan Circus first got started, I got a lot of hits thanks to Michelle Malkin and other bloggers linking directly to the picture post. Very gratifying, but ultimitely it only did a little in building up the number of daily readers I had. But because of that initial link and all the ones that followed, I shot all the way up into the high end of the large mammal end of the scale. Way, way out of line for a small blog like mine. It didn’t make sense to me, no matter how cool it was to me personally. And after a week it was gone.
Working with other small bloggers in helping promote each others blogs by commenting on stories, expanding on what they started, or by being skeptical of what each of us was saying has done a lot more in slowly raising the profile of our blogs in a very competitive environment. We’re doing it by boosting the quality of our writing and acknowledging the good work of our fellows.
Getting the recognition is all well and good, but I’d rather get it by writing good posts, having fun with it, and being myself. I’ve never participated in a carnival or a trackback party. It just felt wrong for some reason. Maybe I’m too humble, but that’s just how I feel. So the Bear going in and changing how the Ecosystem works doesn’t bother me in the slightest.
November 23rd, 2005 at 10:53 pm
Greg hits upon the one thing the trackback orgies do that there isn’t a lot of in the blogosphere: do-it-yourself promotion of small (just starting out) blogs. When we began, the carnivals were small, and the trackback thing was non-existent. If you wanted to move up, you used the blogroll and you e-mailed people.
That’s not so easy now. I’d like to see (and thought the PM/OSM would be) a place that could highlight original content from smaller scale blogs – giving them a chance for a greater readership without having to resort to tricks like the trackback orgies.
Unfortunately, I don’t see OSM/PM being that vehicle. They are too interested in the money aspect.
November 23rd, 2005 at 11:16 pm
“And, for the record, my traffic rank is 743 and my TTLB EcoSystem ranking is something like 157, o I am somewhat out of whack as well.”
I don’t grok that. How are you out of whack? Traffic and links are two different things.
Do columnists and radio hosts who blog have an advantage in generating traffic? Sure they do, and more power to them. The TTLB Ecosystem is a different animal. If someone with a few thousand hits a day figures out a way to bust their butt and generate as many links as Hugh Hewitt, isn’t that sort of… American?
November 23rd, 2005 at 11:32 pm
“Greg hits upon the one thing the trackback orgies do that there isn’t a lot of in the blogosphere: do-it-yourself promotion of small (just starting out) blogs.”
Bingo. I also spend a lot of time scouring Technorati and Google for others blogging on subjects I’m discussing. All of the open track back self promoters have also spent a heckuva lot of time promoting other blogs.
November 24th, 2005 at 12:52 am
Links and Minifeatures 11 23 Wednesday
Carnival of the Vanities is up at Don Surber’s. Recommended posts:
November 24th, 2005 at 3:16 am
Steven, if length of time posting meant anything I’d be more popular than a whole host of other weblogs. TAM will be 6-years old next month. That’s ancient compared to Glenn Reynolds, Power Line, and especially Michelle Malkin. More popular weblogs have just found ways to be more interesting to more readers. That’s the cold, hard truth of a meritocracy. PJM could possibly change that if weblogs inside the company link primarily to one another. I’ve seen no evidence but it could happen. (Do we know what’s in the contributors’ contracts about linking?)
November 24th, 2005 at 6:13 am
I too am a beginning blog with some decent traffic. I have been working carefully to increase my readership without just becoming a meaningless, link-crazy writer. Don Surber has provided me some good traffic and I appreciate that. However, links to substantive blogs and with media tied into Technorati are just as successful. Like all business enterprises, the blogger needs to consider their personal objectives and goals. I would prefer to provide substantive value-added than hit the top of the TTLB ecosystem.
November 24th, 2005 at 9:20 am
Sabertooth,
I have no problem with self-promotion. It is pretty much a must. However, my problem with at least some of the trackback business is that it was explicitly designed to generate TTLB evolution. That is faux success when all one is doing is essentialy agree en masse to link to other blogs. It isn’t based on the quality of content at all.
Sean,
I didn’t mean to suggest that Glenn’s success is solely about time, but I have no doubt that the act that he was an early blogger helped greatly. He certainly was one of the early bloggers who was noticed by the media–being a law prof no doubt helped.
Still, I also have no doubt that if he was starting afresh now that he would be popular, but not THE blog.
November 24th, 2005 at 9:21 am
BTW, I would note that I have visited at least three new blogs as a result of this interchange and having people comment or trackback me, but I have never visited a new blog from the open trackback posts at Surber’s site or elsewhere.
November 24th, 2005 at 11:09 pm
I have never visited a new blog from the open trackback posts at Surber’s site or elsewhere.
Excellent point, Steven. Neither have I, but I did just visit a blog for the first time by following a trackback to this post because I knew it was relevant to the subject of the post.
OT posts are a goulash of links, and are being used primarily to ‘game’ NZ Bear’s system–it is his system, and participation isn’t compulsory.
If the purpose of OTs is simply to provide exposure to the bloggers who participate, then why request a link back to the post?
And why is it that bloggers who host OT posts (by simply using a feature provided by their blogging software) are ‘just trying to gain readers’ or ‘help other bloggers’ (I’ve read both assertions in posts on this subject), but NZ Bear, who’s put a considerable amount of time and effort into developing and maintaining his system, is some kind of tin-pot dictator?
If you ask me, NZ is being very gracious in dealing with his critics. Ecosystem membership isn’t an entitlement program.