Blogging Companion

Travel Blogging

2007-08-22T21:16:00.000-07:00

71miles is a network of travel blogs. Very well done (even if I do say so myself). Check out their write up of Big Sur to see what I mean.

Bloggers Are A Wise Crowd

2006-12-26T13:43:00.000-08:00

Few scholars would be so bold as to predict that one day a hyperintelligent hive-mind would aggregate from chaos to form an enigmatic new species of knowledge. In fact, finance professor Jack Treynor had no way of knowing that his breakthrough work with jelly beans would later lend itself so well to blogging. Ladies and gentlemen, harken to the boundless acumen of the macro-mind and behold the wisdom of blogs.

The Amazing Jelly Bean Experiment

Treynor asked his class to estimate how many jelly beans there were in a jar. When added together and averaged, the group's estimate was 871— there were 850 beans contained within the jar. Only one student had made a better guess (a rogue genius, if you will). The now historic jelly-beans-in-the-jar experiment showed invariably that a group estimate is superior to the vast majority of individual guesses on a consistent basis.

Granted, there are limited situations in which knowing the amount of jelly beans in a jar is a significant accomplishment. Or even mildly amusing, come to think of it. Nevertheless, this example can be found along with 320 pages of other examples in a new book by James Surowiecki called The Wisdom of Crowds. In his book, Surowiecki demonstrates myriad situations where the many are smarter than the few.

"If four basic conditions are met, a crowd's 'collective intelligence' will produce better outcomes than a small group of experts, Surowiecki says, even if members of the crowd don't know all the facts or choose, individually, to act irrationally. 'Wise crowds' need (1) diversity of opinion; (2) independence of members from one another; (3) decentralization; and (4) a good method for aggregating opinions." —Publisher's Weekly

Beans, Blogs, and Feeds

Four basic conditions? That's all you got, Surowiecki? Your conditions have just met their match: bloggers are a wise crowd.

Diversity of opinion That's a no-brainer. Bloggers publish hundreds of thousands of posts daily, each one charged with its author's unique opinion.
Independence of members Except for your friends saying "You've got to blog about that!" bloggers are not controlled by anyone else.
Decentralization There is no central authority in the blogosphere; publish your blog anywhere you want with any tool you want.
A method for aggregating opinions Blog feeds make aggregation a snap and there is no shortage of services that take advantage of that fact.

The MIT Media Lab project called Blogdex is one of the longest operating and most-visited opinion aggregators.

"Blogdex uses the links made by webloggers as a proxy to the things they are talking about. Webloggers typically contextualize their writing with hypertext links which act as markers for the subjects they are discussing. These markers are like tags placed on wild animals, allowing Blogdex to track a piece of conversation as it moves from weblog to weblog."

The wisdom of blogs is not demonstrated by how many jelly beans are in a jar. In fact, I stand against jelly beans. They're not really beans and they're not really jelly. Seeking the wisdom of blogs is more like consulting an oracle. Throughout the ancient Greek world there were temples one could visit to ask the all-knowing oracle a question — the answer was supposed to express the will of the gods. Instead of the will of the gods, questions posited to Blogdex are answered with the voice of the blogosphere.

The Modern Oracle

Every day, aggregators collect the diverse, decentralized opinions contained within blog posts and organize them. In the case of Blogdex, posts are put into a numbered list based on popularity. Popularity is measured by how many times a particular news story or web page has been linked to. These links are essentially votes in an ongoing campaign to elect information that is interesting, helpful, or enlightening. Instead of answering "How many jelly beans are in the jar?" the blog crowd is answering the unasked question, "What is worth my attention on the Web?"

Other players in this aggregation field go further than just displaying links. They provide users with the ability to search for answers. Technorati is one of these modern day oracles. Is Spider Man 2 a good movie? Let's ask three million people and have our answer in 2.984 seconds.

Spider Man 2 was an excellent movie
Spider Man 2 was a great movie
Spider man 2 was actually good
Spider Man 2 was AWESOME
SPIDER MAN 2 WAS FREAKIN AWSOME
spider man 2 was awesome
how great Spider Man 2 was

Okay, so the movie was basically "freakin' excellent." Thanks for the quick response. What else would you like to know? Google told me that Blog*Spot would rather have an iPod Mini than a Dell DJ. Also, I just learned that female rice farmers in southwestern Nepal are plowing their fields at night in the nude because I asked Daypop to tell me what people are talking about today. Turns out they're trying to please the rain god.

A Flock of Blogs?

So the next time you dash off something about your favorite local diner, offer up a two-line movie review, or simply write: "I'm going to Nepal so I can farm in the nude" in your blog and think that your voice is not as strong as it should be — think again. Not every individual post has to be a masterpiece. Does the lone bird see the cohesive beauty of the flock? It doesn't matter because this fact remains: the whole is greater than the sum of all it's parts. As a blogger, you are both an individual force and a neuron in the giant, interconnected mind that is the blogosphere. Yes, it sounds like a bad sci-fi movie, but it's all true.

What Are People Saying?

2006-12-26T08:01:00.000-08:00

"When Biz Stone says he is a Genius, he means it. Anyone can blog, but this book takes you way beyond just a normal blog. Biz teaches you how to add dynamic content to your blog such as a drop down menu using JavaScript to add your archives. He gives you links to all sorts of useful sites, such as a code generator to create the above mentioned JavaScript. Links to get templates for you blog, links to list your blog, links to have your blog rated and the biggie - BLOGGING FOR DOLLARS! Biz lets you in on some secrets to make money off your blog even if you blog is only a personal type blog. All I can say is excellent book, it has taught me wonders!"

"I had never even heard the word *blog* before I opened Biz Stone’s book and now I’m absolutely hooked. I now have three different blogs with hundred of subscribers...I’ve found a medium that suits me perfectly and makes information available instantly without a lot of coding or high-end technical tools. Biz gives beginners all the how-tos they need to create a fun and functional blog, and he spices things up with Genius Tips and special enhancements for building subscriber lists, creating community, corporate blogging, adding search features, and more. Besides, his writing voice is fun and edgy and his instructions are super-easy to follow. I’m so glad I found this book! It’s the one blogging book I recommend to every single person who looks at me with that blank, “what’s-a-blog?” stare. If you haven’t tried blogging yet, try it! You’ll love it. And if you are ready to give it a go, be sure to get Biz’s book. It’s the perfect companion. :)"

"As a web technology professional I can’t believe I didn’t get into blogging sooner. Biz’s book brought me up to speed in a weekend. Chapter 2, Quick Start to Creating Your First Blog is a simple, step-by-step introduction to creating a blog at blog*spot and I was up and running in about fifteen minutes. My next project is going to be adding a Bloglet (automatically emails new posts to subscribers). There is one disadvantage to buying this book: you might start over-blogging, it’s too easy to update your page once you’re all set up. Oh yeah, and the interview with Wil Wheaton is funny. If I lost my copy, I’d buy this book again."

"If you’re a seasoned blogger, you’ll want this book. If you’re a blogging amateur, you’ll need this book. If you’ve never heard the word blog before in your life, you absolutely must buy this book. Blogging: Genius Strategies for Instant Web Content is the quintessential blogger’s companion. Fun to read and filled priceless information. If you think blogging isn’t for you, think again. Blogging is for everyone. Let Biz Stone be your guide."

"This is my first book on Blogging and it has helped me immensely in that it simply breaks down the world of blogging and gives me the tips and tricks from the most basic level to the more advanced. The writing style is relaxed and friendly unlike many other self help books dealing with the internet or technology. Great book, Biz, thanks!"

"This is the most concise, yet easy to use book on blogging to date. The author, having taken you by the hand, leads you into the world of blogging as a child and grows you into a competent adult by the end of the book. As well as being instructive, this book imparts knowledge in a most entertaining way, capturing the readers interest with effortless charm."

"This is a great book for those of us who weren’t born with an innate sense of how to do HTML and other strange web stuff. Blogs are a really fun way to publish your thoughts and photos to the web, whether you are an established print writer or a mother-to-be who wants to keep friends and family in the loop about the new baby."

"In really simple terms, you’ll learn how to put your thoughts online and even make it look pretty! I especially liked Chapter 5, Blog Design 101. Stone tells you how to make your blog cool instead of cheesy. And his wacky writing style is unexpected for a computer book; I found myself laughing out loud while reading about links and HTML. In short, fun and painless. You will feel like a genius!"

What About Audio Blogging?

2006-12-26T07:57:00.000-08:00

Blogging has always been about giving you a voice on the web. Traditionally, that is meant figuratively. However, with audio blogging you have the ability to phone-in your posts from anywhere, anytime. This is especially useful when you're on location, on the road, or if you really just need to be heard.

How To Get Your Voice on The Web

Audioblogging has been around for a while and there are a few different services to choose. Usually, once you sign up, all you have to do is call a number and speak. It's like leaving a voice mail except way cooler because it gets published to your blog as a sound file that people can play right from your web site. Neat huh?

On The Road

When I drove cross-country from Boston to San Francisco I laid down some tracks. As a blogger, I wanted to share my trip with friends and family, but it wasn't always easy to find a web connection at some of my stops. Not that there's anything wrong with the Indiana Knight's Inn (actually, there is). In fact, the only easy thing about driving across America with two cats and my fiancé was audioblogging.

Mixing It Up

When you're done recording your post and you send it off to your blog, it gets saved as an mp3 file—a standard format for compressing sound into a small file without giving up quality when it's played. This is the most popular Internet audio format and it's used by millions through services like Odeo. Now you can make some noise on the Web too. Who knows, maybe someone will turn your posts into music with some colorful mixing? It's been known to happen.

Who Audioblogs?

Ideally, anyone and everyone is going to get their voice on the web but there are lots of folks who are already audioblogging. They have their reasons. Wil Wheaton, the web's favorite geek actor, supplements his text blog with an audioblog when he's on the road, at a convention, or just needs to vocalize some post book-signing enthusiasm. Will once shared some insight while driving through tinsel town, "I'm in Hollywood on my way to an audition. I'm actually at the intersection of Fairfax and Beverly Boulevard right next to—yeah that's a red light jackass!"

The Salt Flats in Utah are pretty cool. (Unless you have high blood pressure.) But traveling through Europe is even cooler—especially when you're audioblogging the whole experience. That's what clamgirl did with her audioblog, "Hi guys. Guess where I am? I'm in Paris. I saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time today. I almost cried when I saw it."

Maybe he's not reporting in from the road, but that's okay because Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk is giving us the lowdown on what it's like to be a guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, "I want to thank everybody who showed up at the Conan O'Brien Show. I think I got a cold from Quentin Tarantino, so um, I shouldn't have drank out of his cup.".

Noah Glass is an entrepreneur who also happens to very good at conducting mini-interviews with quirky or interesting people he meets. We split a cab in Austin, Texas a few years ago and he interviewed a peyote-popping cabbie using a mobile phone and his audioblog. Even more amusing was his street chat with the creator of Friendster who was having trouble finding his friends. Noah inquired, "These are friends of yours? Or are they friend of friends?"

So you could be on the road or in Europe, a famous author on tour, in a wild cab ride in Texas, or maybe you just need to set the record straight like Boston-based Blogger Jen Garrett, "Look people, I really don't have much of an accent. Yankees suck!"

Speak of The Future

Audioblogging invites a whole new group of people to the web and brings the sound of storytelling to a world of text and images. Dial the number and then hand the phone to your grandmother so she can tell us what's up. Read a poem a day into your audioblog and email your friends. Maybe people will start publishing serialized audio versions of classic books using their cell phones and Project Gutenberg. There are so many cool ideas and—with apologies to Frasier Crane, "I'm listening." So what are you waiting for? Get your voice on!

About The Author

2006-12-24T08:39:00.000-08:00

Biz Stone is co-founder of a small software company in San Francisco that makes a social messaging service called Twitter. Prior to founding Twitter, Biz worked at Google as a Specialist on the Blogger team. Biz has also helped create a popular online journaling community called Xanga and a podcasting service called Odeo. Biz Stone is the author of Who Let the Blogs Out? A Hyperconnected Peek At The World of Weblogs and Blogging: Genius Strategies for Instant Web Content. Originally from the Boston area, Biz now lives in Berkeley, CA.

Putting Adsense on Your Blog

2006-12-23T08:47:00.000-08:00

Google AdSense is a content-targeted advertising program. This means that you do not select keywords or categories for your ads. Instead, Google's servers determine what your posts are about and display the most relevant ads to your readers. So, if you blog about baseball, there might be ads for Major League Baseball memorabilia next to your post. If you blog about painting, there might be ads for art supplies. In fact, when you blog about something specific, there's a good chance you'll earn more, as Matthew Haughey discovered when he put ads on PVRblog. Haughey wrote about his experience in an essay called Blogging for Dollars in which he included four of his own hints.

Haughey's Hints for AdSense Bloggers

Focus, and be as specific as you can.
Write content related to real products.
Don't start a blog just for money.
Use a professionally designed template.

Installing AdSense

Putting ads on your blog is pretty much the same routine as adding a hit counter, a quiz, a guestbook or any other blog add-on. All you need to do once you've signed up for an AdSense account is customize your ads, copy some HTML code, and paste that code into your template. You might want to think about where on your blog the ads would work best or take a little time matching the colors and that sort of thing but overall, it's not such a big deal. Later, you can sign in to your AdSense account and see how much money you're making. It's like checking your stats except its money instead of hits. It's pretty fun.

Things To Avoid

Don't come up with sneaky ways to click on your own ads or get your friends to help you. This is a sure way to get your account terminated for good.
Don't draw unnecessary attention to your ads. Even posting text that says "please click on these ads" is against the policy.
Don't share how much you've earned. That's going to be hard for lots of bloggers but it is against the terms and conditions and will get you kicked out.
Don't fiddle around with the AdSense code. You've got to leave it the way it is if you want to get paid.

If you want to participate in AdSense for bloggers, play nice. Just pick your ad colors, paste the code into your template, then keep on blogging. If you play by the rules, Google will mail you checks. For more details, check out the Google AdSense Program Policies.