Blogging and the Wisdom of Crowds

[walrus]

I have been suffering from insomnia recently so I went looking for things to read that might actually be boring enough to make my eyelids close voluntarily.

Unfortuntely, I found an article that had the reverse affect and supports a concept that I have been gently pushing for awhile now in that as porn bloggers, we need to embrace the community aspect of blogging to really reach the potential of the marketing medium we have chosen. I think the article expresses it much better than I can so I'll post the link for debate. Now there is a whole bunch of web 2.0 marketing stuff their as well, so I'm sure I can find something to bore me to sleep very shortly.

The Article

I admit I don't get out as much as I should but some of the blogs that I think work great as stepping stones for debate are Xlog, One Perverted Chick and MsNaughty's blog (sorry, I'm sure there are a bunch of others but like I said, I dont get around often) but all three of these sites usually post something that I could find easy to debate across blog plateforms. Anyone else interested.

Sorry, my lack of sleep has me not thinking really clear and rambling a bit so I hope that this post makes some sense

[ponygirl]

I wish I had insomnia, I'd get more done

I'm going to read that tomorrow and I'll let you know my 2 cents, for what it's worth

[virgohippy]

The three you mentioned are damn fine blogs - I hope I can add my unfinished project to that list when the time comes...


I think if I just put half as much energy into a real blog as I put into posting here I'll be all set.

Interesting find. Gives me just the motivation I need to push forward with my quest for a true blog.

[virgohippy]

What I found to be most interesting was the value placed on flexible data, software, and business models. Although, I imagine anyone working with porn can probably attest to these concept pretty easily.

Set inclusive defaults for aggregating user data as a side-effect of their use of the application.

The first thing that comes to mind for me is the equivalent of valuing content based on view count and possilby anonymous surveys/voting. I'm sure there's more, just can't think of any at the moment. Anyone else?

I think I need more practice at thinking up stuff to make this one work:

Design for "hackability" and "remixability."

[ponygirl]

Interesting article.

I must admit, when I started a blog it was basically one of those 'this is a cool idea, let's try it' type of things. A personal blog fits perfectly with those of us who have those PAY ATTENTION TO ME personalities

What I didn't quite get at the time was the whole 'dynamic' aspect of blogging. It IS really hard to keep it updated, it takes a lot of time, and I don't know anywhere near enough about the whole thing yet. Technorati, permalinks, trackbacks, RSS - I knew nothing and am still on a very steep learning curve that I'm trying to cram in between everything else I'm doing. For someone who is used to 'build, submit and forget' this is a real challenge, and the community aspect of blogging is an area where I am sorely lacking.

'If it were merely an amplifier, blogging would be uninteresting. But like Wikipedia, blogging harnesses collective intelligence as a kind of filter. What James Suriowecki calls "the wisdom of crowds" comes into play, and much as PageRank produces better results than analysis of any individual document, the collective attention of the blogosphere selects for value.'

I read the linked blurb about Suriowecki's theory and find this very interesting. It's funny because I was just having a conversation with hubby about how things like Youtube & blogging are going to affect the future, giving 'regular' people as a whole more power and influence than ever before. Big business and government cannot stop the information from flowing, and I think their control over society is going to decline as the collective group becomes more adept at sharing ideas and opinions in a more global way. I love this line:

'large groups of people are smarter than an elite few, no matter how brilliant—better at solving problems, fostering innovation, coming to wise decisions, even predicting the future.'

Which fits perfectly with my thoughts that one person (or political party, or corporation) controlling the masses is just not working and has to change.

So Walrus, when you talk about the community aspect of blogging, especially in 'adult' blogging, how do you suggest we incorporate that into our own blogs and business models? For myself, I want my blog to be personal, while at the same time to be a way to drive some traffic to my other sites, rather than a sales-generating machine. I have found a few good ones out there that are similar, but wading through a ton of splogs and babelogs (and what I call deadblogs - ones that haven't been updated in 6 months) to find the 'real' blogs is tough. Then when I do find them, I'm really at a loss as to what to do other than trading links. I guess I need to work on my blog social skills lol.

I have way too much to learn, I'm really glad there's some good teachers here

[walrus]

Originally Posted by ponygirl

So Walrus, when you talk about the community aspect of blogging, especially in 'adult' blogging, how do you suggest we incorporate that into our own blogs and business models? For myself, I want my blog to be personal, while at the same time to be a way to drive some traffic to my other sites, rather than a sales-generating machine. I have found a few good ones out there that are similar, but wading through a ton of splogs and babelogs (and what I call deadblogs - ones that haven't been updated in 6 months) to find the 'real' blogs is tough. Then when I do find them, I'm really at a loss as to what to do other than trading links. I guess I need to work on my blog social skills lol.

I have way too much to learn, I'm really glad there's some good teachers here

I agree there is an overabondance of crap out there that makes just searching decent blogs a difficult task for any one person. But as a community, the task becomes much less daunting. Plus, like you already said, breaking that build and submit mentality is a difficult one, blogging is a long term commitment which means that it's easy to get either discouraged or allow changes in prority as results are slow to come and it's hard to take it on faith that doing so will benefit you in the long run.

So, I guess what I am suggesting is that we, those who are participating in this thread, form a community and spend a little time each day checking out eachothers blogs....and leaving comments or doing trackbacks to them, or some combination of both. In other words , we generate conversations with each other. You, when you post, are pretty easy to do that with because you look at porn from a different perspective, a female one. In the long run, I think that can and will generate a lot of interest. Plus, others are much more likely to comment when they see others have on a post.

Simon also posts stuff that its pretty easy to converse about. As an example, he talked about pube dye yesterday. It was reallly pretty simple to work that into a trackback from my blog and still post a little porn to go along with it.

You and Simons blogs are pretty easy for me to keep up on simply because of your RSS feeds. Your feed is used on XXX Blog Feeds and I use the xlog feeds in my sidebars on almost every blog I do. Therefore, I would suggest using a RSS reader to keep tabs on whats going on at a few of the blogs plus when you leave a comment or a trackback, subscribe to the comments RSS feed. That way, you know and are able to follow the dialog.

Also, as a community, when we find others we invite them in and try to grow.

Yes, it would take time but, based on everything I've read, would in the long run pay dividends much worth the time.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by ponygirl

... I'm really at a loss as to what to do other than trading links. I guess I need to work on my blog social skills lol.

One thing that will help is to review the comments waiting for approval. It's hard to start a dialogue unless the comments appear after they're posted.

[Simon]

I feel honored to have Xlog mentioned in this way.

I'm only part way through page one of the five-page article you posted, Walrus, but you can definitely count me in for some cross-blog debates.

[BadWolf]

Well, as you know, Walrus, I advocate having more of a community among adult bloggers myself over at the other forum. This is my first post here, I think, btw, so it's appropriate that I picked this thread. My focus is less on comments as I agree most comments are spam and I have comments on all my blogs turned off as I don't have the time to wade through 100+ comments to find a good one. But I think your idea of building a community of webmasters who work together is a good one.

[ronnie]

Good thread as usually from Walrus, but dang so much to read..lol

I think we really have to remember where blogging comes from, the roots. Of course we know it came from personal diary type sites/pages. The point is, most of it was started as a hobby, people talking about something they enjoy, or something they are pissed about, or whats going on in their life, ect, ect. It was not really done as a way to generate traffic or make money, it was done as a hobby in their spare time, to voice heir opinion good or bad.

I am not trying to go off topic, but just thinking, maybe if we tried changing our mindset to what blogging was and still is in some places. Not only to create better blogs, but think along the same lines as to what a real blogging community is. But are we in a catch 22, trying to create good usefull popular blogs but still make money?

Boogie bought up becoming a community a while back, reading each others blogs, posting comments, track backs, ect. Did'nt seem to go anywhere. I think it's a great idea, but how many webmasters have the time? How many do this full time and to make full time income have very full plates. Or how many work a full time job and do this on the side? I really hate to be negative, but time is so much an issue. How many would commit or keep their commitment?

As others have said, I also have turned off my comments so time back. I was just getting way too much spam and have'nt had time to put in some spam blockers. It's really getting out of hand if you ask me. Not just my blogs, but seems just about every frickn form I have on the net, even clients sites gets spammed.

jayeff did bring up a good point, the voyeurist end, peeking in the lives of others, I know it has worked for me, I just need to do more of it. That could be a great "community" to start.

ronnie

[walrus]

I've got to say that since I posted this and started playing around with it, I'm having a blast and since both google traffic and bookmarkers have risen....well, I let you be the judge.

[virgohippy]

Originally Posted by walrus

I've got to say that since I posted this and started playing around with it, I'm having a blast and since both google traffic and bookmarkers have risen....well, I let you be the judge.

I'm pleasantly surprised by the quick popularity my new blog has gained in such short time too!

I haven't even claimed my blog on technorati yet, and they're already sending me traffic.

Too bad I've been busy the past few days...

[sue-fl]

I think it's a great idea! I have to say I'm very technically challenged still. So the article was over my head

What I have taken from the posts is to post comments on other blogs that we like. That is what I'm thinking is a great idea. Time is always an issue for me like others. But I do read a lot of blogs that members have here as a break. So it could be worked in my time schedule I think

[tigermom]

Thanks for pointing me at the thread Warlus! It's been a while since I visited GG&J.

I think you have a great concept there. Myself, as a surfer, got caught up in this interesting web of yours, visiting one blog, reading, with interest, commenting, and moving on to a blog you mentioned....

So, this must be a good thing I have bookmarked the blogs mentioned here (and the one you mentioned in your email), and will surely be reading more there, and relating to them in my blog at www.unshroud.com. I would probably drop the mentioned blogs a note in their comments too, so that they know where a "debate" is going on and can bring in my blog as well.

Feel free to do the same with my blog

[anasporn]

Hey Walrus, you have a PM... And it's been a hell of a while since you left a comment on MY blog!

[walrus]

Originally Posted by anasporn

Hey Walrus, you have a PM... And it's been a hell of a while since you left a comment on MY blog!

ya i been a bad boy, spank me!!!

[anasporn]

Spank you...? You'd get off on that, so how would it be punishment?

[virgohippy]

Originally Posted by anasporn

Spank you...? You'd get off on that, so how would it be punishment?

Positive reinforcement!

Or should that be negative...

[Carrie]

But like Wikipedia, blogging harnesses collective intelligence as a kind of filter. What James Suriowecki calls "the wisdom of crowds" comes into play, and much as PageRank produces better results than analysis of any individual document, the collective attention of the blogosphere selects for value.

I am wary of any kind of "value" that "the wisdom of crowds" might put out. Group think isn't my thing, and neither are posses.

A crowd of wolves might feel that the lone sheep visiting as a guest should turn into a tasty dinner.

"Wisdom of crowds" is an oxymoron, and it's why the US is a republic, not a democracy.

[walrus]

Originally Posted by Carrie

I am wary of any kind of "value" that "the wisdom of crowds" might put out. Group think isn't my thing, and neither are posses.

A crowd of wolves might feel that the lone sheep visiting as a guest should turn into a tasty dinner.

"Wisdom of crowds" is an oxymoron, and it's why the US is a republic, not a democracy.

Just because someone participates in a group (or a crowd) does not mean that they automaticly surrender their individualism and become sheep, following the pack. The strength of any group lies in its individuals. Group think does not (and should not) have to be like a pack of animals following an individual leader

[BadWolf]

Originally Posted by Carrie

I am wary of any kind of "value" that "the wisdom of crowds" might put out. Group think isn't my thing, and neither are posses.

A crowd of wolves might feel that the lone sheep visiting as a guest should turn into a tasty dinner.

"Wisdom of crowds" is an oxymoron, and it's why the US is a republic, not a democracy.

Originally Posted by walrus

Just because someone participates in a group (or a crowd) does not mean that they automaticly surrender their individualism and become sheep, following the pack. The strength of any group lies in its individuals. Group think does not (and should not) have to be like a pack of animals following an individual leader

I consider myself a definite loner but I like the idea of like minded webmasters building their own mini community and working together in as loose or as tight a fashion as they might prefer.

The longer I'm in this biz the more I think for myself and the more I realize I'm not in this just for the money. I hear a lot of talk about changing the adult webmaster business.........one way to do that is to lead by example but only a community or group can effect real change. That interests me more than tweaking my PR.

We already do this in one sense in sharing information and through webmaster forums in general as each one has a certain 'personality' while the members remain very individualistic. Hopefully, anyway.

[Ms Naughty]

Hi. I've been away for a while so I've only just found this thread. It's all a bit much to read at present (I'm busy trying to get things back on track here) but I did want to thank Walrus for his compliment about the Ms Naughty blog

[Halfdeck]

I think the biggest obstacle is abandoning the splog/TGP blogging model (which I also do when I got nothing to say or find a bunch of really really hot chicks I don't wanna forget). We only have X minutes a day to read blog posts and its just not worth weaving through a bunch of surfer-targetted light tgp-type posts to find a post I might enjoy reading. For me to visit a blog on a daily basis, every post has to be "genuine." No-bullshit straight from your brain/heart deal which either pisses me off or hit a nail on the head enough for me to take X minutes out of my day to respond.

[virgohippy]

Originally Posted by Halfdeck

For me to visit a blog on a daily basis, every post has to be "genuine." No-bullshit straight from your brain/heart deal which either pisses me off or hit a nail on the head enough for me to take X minutes out of my day to respond.

I feel much the same way. I much prefer the less frequently updated blog which I can rely on for entertainment value then the "productive" writer who's keen on sharing how many times they thought of sex during breakfast over a bowl of cornflakes... that's assuming the post isn't about eating cornflakes out of a pussy.