Analysis of Blogging - La-Legal Annotated

La-Legal Annotated: has a posting entitled "Analysis of blogging" in which reference is made to an article by Perry de Havilland entitled Shadows and Blog, which Steve Covell finds to be the best article not only on the current blog scene but also on the future of blogging. Definitely worth a read, especially for the point that "blogs have an immediate peer review mechanism", to which I might add, yes, but that statement is correct only if the "true" peers are actually reading a particular blog.

THE PEER-FINDING PROCESS

I think part of the process of blogging, and I do see it as a process, is in fact the "peer-finding" element: who does - or does not - read a given blog is a matter of choice of each individual and that has something to do with "groupiness" and "birds of a feather flocking together", which I guess is one element of "peer-finding". This of course is greatly affected by blog indexing and especially linking practices and blogrolls.

On the other hand "eagles do not flock", and blog-reading loyalty also is subject to group dynamics in which we find leaders and followers - and most of humanity, of course, prefers to follow: it is generally safer than leading.

BLOG READING MOTIVATION

As for the motivation for reading blogs, Benjamin Disraeli is quoted to have said: "There are no permanent alliances, only permanent interests," and of course blog-flockers are pursuing what they view to be their interests. The determination of just what interests those are can be a complex undertaking. For example, it can be useful to follow blogs critical to one's own views, since these often provide new insights and new impetus for the development of one's own position.

I imagine that it will not be long before a tenured professorship on weblogging will make the academic scene somewhere. It is a rich field for research and study of human communication.