There is no way I can do justice to this brilliant post by Chris Bowers of MyDD, so I strongly recommend you check it out. The premise is fascinating: Some blogs are stickier than others, and their readers stay there, like a dedicated community, hanging around the comments and staying for long periods. Other blogs are visited frequently but for shorter stays; readers use them as a launchpad to visit the links offered.
The blog with by far the highest site traffic now is Daily Kos. But if you get linked there, chances are you’ll get far fewer hits than if you’re linked by Atrios. Kos is sticky; Atrios isn’t.
Bowers goes on to show how the biggest right-wing blogs like Instapundit are not sticky — they are typified by no comments, short posts and lots of links.
The lower stickiness of top right-wing sites, especially Instapundit, can lead to a complete domination of the right-wing blogosphere by the “one big story” if the top bloggers are all pushing one story. Glenn Reynolds in particular, who does not have comments or special pages and who rarely comments on a subject beyond “xxx has the goods on this one,” or “indeed,” can send the traffic of any blog he links skyrocketing to a degree no left-wing blog can even come close to matching (and he links other blogs a lot). Right-wing blog traffic, and the articles people tend to read on any individual right-wing blog, has a remarkable correlation to the interests of the top-right wing bloggers, and Glenn Reynolds in particular. That is why, in the title of this article, I called the right-wing blogosphere a top-down operation.
To make a long story short, the lower stickiness of top right-wing blogs compared to top left-wing blogs leads to greater message consistency in their half of the political blogosphere than in ours (I can show anyone extensive site meter statistics to prove this). This consistency helps stories from the right-wing blogosphere reach the national media more often than those from the left-wing blogosphere. This seems to mirror the left and the right in other mediums as well.
The strength of the right-wing blogs in impacting the national media does not end there. Of late, more established institutions of right-wing ideology, including Drudge and right-wing talk radio, have taken to adopting the “one big story” dominating / originating from the right-wing blogosphere. For Hugh Hewitt, it is a seamless operation, but Rush Limbaugh has gotten in on the act as well. Also, while Dailykos is by far the most trafficked political blog of any ideology, the left still lacks a “breaking news” independent website that is the equivalent to Drudge, which has a larger portion of the media’s ear than any blog or group of blogs. While Air America is extremely blog friendly and experiencing consistent ratings growth, it still does not have the same institutional power to spread stories that right-wing talk radio does.
Go read the post; Bower’s argument is well reasoned, and helps explain why stories originating in the right blogosphere have an easier time catapulting their way into the mainstream. (Drudge plays a huge role in this phenomenon, as well.) Must reading for those interested in the dynamics of blog traffic and the seepage of stories from the blogosphere into the mainstream.
1
By ACB
Whatever the social reasons, sites that are funny and attract comic comenters tend to be sticky, people often check them just to read the comments, you don’t really do this with single issue or right wing websites because everybody is saying the same things.
September 15, 2004 @ 2:19 am | Comment
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By ACB
Whatever the social reasons, sites that are funny and attract comic comenters tend to be sticky, people often check them just to read the comments, you don’t really do this with single issue or right wing websites because everybody is saying the same things.
September 15, 2004 @ 2:20 am | Comment
3
By boo
“the left still lacks a “breaking news” independent website that is the equivalent to Drudge”
Oh? Doesn’t CBS have a website?
September 15, 2004 @ 8:34 am | Comment
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By richard
CBS isn’t independent.
September 15, 2004 @ 8:48 am | Comment
5
By boo
What do you mean by Independent? Independent from what?
Apart from the fact that these days people would trust Drudgereport before trusting CBS, I mean.
They’re both corporations as far as I know, and both derive their income from advertising. Drudge is smaller and more derivative, so if anything Drudge is less independent than CBS.
September 15, 2004 @ 8:55 am | Comment
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By richard
boo, does Drudge answer to a board of directors? Is there a power there that can fire him?
September 15, 2004 @ 9:18 am | Comment
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By richard
I have no idea what you’re talking about boo. Get back on topic. That last post of your crossed a line and it’s gone.
September 15, 2004 @ 10:48 am | Comment
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By rosignol
boo, does Drudge answer to a board of directors? Is there a power there that can fire him?
Very few small companies have boards of directors, and in partnerships and sole proprietorships firing the owner is um, basically impossible. Does anyone know if Drudge is a corporation, either publically or privately held?
And what does any of that have to do with how independent a news source is? If you mean ‘independent of outside influence’, well, you don’t get much more independent than a guy who can’t be fired by anyone.
September 15, 2004 @ 6:32 pm | Comment
9
By ACB
Richard
Drudge might not have a board but if it does not have an independant source of financing then it can still be preasured into not publishing a story.
You can’t publish widely unless you have money and when you have that source of income you really don’t want to alienate it.
The left is not hard hitting enough but exists because it fills a national need, and the right only survives by being hard hitting but it doesn’t have the diversity to attract a wide audience.
Does the US actually have any centerists, from what I can see the US right falls into what I would think of as an extremist camp along with white supremisists, pro life campaigners and political zellots, and the left often makes its self look like a bleeding heart that is not in touch with harsh realities.
I know that this is a gross generalisation, but it is how a lot of centerists see the US.
Where are the American moderates?
September 16, 2004 @ 8:07 pm | Comment
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By richard
There have always been lots of moderates in America, and until the past year Kerry was seen as one. Bill Clinton is one who comes to mind. Others are Bill Bradley, John Edwards, Joe Biden, Rudy Giuliani, George Pataki, John McCain, Dick Gephardt, and countless others.
I don’t believe there’s a force that can pressure Drudge into not running a story. (If there is, it’s never exercised this option.) He has printed outright libelous slander again and again. Remember, he runs a Web site — you can run a Web site for very, very little money and reach an infinite number of people. Hell, he nearly took down a president of the United States, and all he needed was an Internet connection.
September 16, 2004 @ 8:22 pm | Comment
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By rosignol
richard, by european standards, Clinton was center-right, not moderate.
September 16, 2004 @ 11:17 pm | Comment
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By Nathan
Air America? Consistent ratings growth? On what planet? Planet Moonbat no doubt.
October 12, 2006 @ 1:13 pm | Comment