Comments on: Long time between drinks/the “second wave”

By: jason

jason — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 06:26:41 +0000

Kevin - nice to hear from you again - don’t spend all that money at once Group blogging may be the way to go, partly because of the reasons Iain nominates blow.

Pankaj - lovely of you to get in touch. Email is j[dot]5[dot]wilson[at]qut[dot]edu[dot]au
I think you may be right, and citizen journalism in India does seem lively.

Iain - the principles you offer seem pretty sound - frequent updates are important, and group blogs make it easier. You’re right that a day job or other commitments can get in the way of blogging - but that’s why the apparent ability of some blogs now to approach financial sustainability is intriguing. Money may not be a prime motivation, but an income stream - even if it only amounts to a part-time income - will probably help generate more copy.

Occasionally group blogs can be unwelcoming, but I’d have to leave it to you to single out specific examples. It’s horses for courses. Some people engage with blog communities in order to “commune” with like minds, just as others like a more confrontational experience. Whether or not blogs become self-sustaining depends on the durability and liveliness of the community they attract.

Thanks to all of you for dropping by.

By: The Editor

The Editor — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 06:16:41 +0000

I hate it when my afore mention constrain viewpoint is not tolerated.

By: Iain Hall

Iain Hall — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:36:15 +0000

Personally I think that to get good traffic any blog must be updated daily and most bloggers who have jobs and commitments can find it rather too big an ask to read, research and comment everyday let alone be across all of the issues.
The possibility of advertising revenue is hardly likely to be a big motivator for most political bloggers and I know in the case of the Sceptic lawyer blog the two authors would be more that happy if the advertising on the site subsidises some of the hosting costs. I actually think that a better reason to want to contribute to a group blog has more to do with the fact that more authors that contribute to a page the fresher it’s content will be for those who read it. I know of some really well written and insightful blogs that never get much traffic precisely because they are so infrequently updated, and as the afore mention Sceptic Lawyer blog shows just having two authors can be enough to make the difference.
the aspect of blogs that is helped by the group platform is in terms of discussion, you can generally expect that those who write the blog will be willing to comment on each others posts but this can be a two edged sword it this ends up being just collective bitching or backslapping, because the sad fact is that most group blogs like Lavatus Prodeo can be terribly unwelcoming to the constrain viewpoint as can conservative sites like AWH.

By: Pankaj

Pankaj — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:40:29 +0000

Hi! I came across your site while researching on citizen journalism. I was looking for a contact id but since i could not find one i am writing it down as a comment. Since you track citizen journalism you might want to look at The Viewspaper (www.theviewspaper.net) - a citizen journalist initiative for the youth and Viewspaper Hindi (www.theviewspaper.in) - India’s first citizen journalism paper in Hindi(a regional language of India)

Personally i enjoy reading citizen journalist papers far more than anything else. And i think citizen journalism is definately gaining ground.

By: Kevin Rennie

Kevin Rennie — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:41:55 +0000

Labor View earned just over $4 in 2 months using Google Ads as a trial. Unless you are syndicated it seems a waste of time. The hit rate was very small on a low traffic blog. Need to get more exposure through a group blog if anyone out here is interested. Anyway you know what Groucho Marx said about joining clubs.