Does it seem crowded in here?

Have you seen this?

Technorati is now tracking over 7.8 million weblogs, and 937 million links. That’s just about double the number of weblogs tracked in October 2004. In fact, the blogosphere is doubling in size about once every 5[*] months. It has already done so at this pace four times, which means that in the last 20 months, the blogosphere has increased in size by over 16 times.

*This number is corrected in a later post; it should be “9 months.” But the point is still impressive.

That’s from Sifry’s Alerts, the blog by Dave Sifrey, the CEO and founder of Technorati. He goes on to write…

We are currently seeing about 30,000 – 40,000 new weblogs being created each day, depending on the day. Compared to the past, this is well over double the rate of change in October, [2004] when there were about 15,000 new weblogs created each day.

Regarding posting volume, Technorati yields this…

On average, Technorati is tracking about 500,000 posts per day, which is about 5.8 posts per second. In October 2004, we were seeing about 400,000 posts per day.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number and diversity of blogs, and if you’re getting a little oversaturated by media attention focused on the phenomenon, these numbers will help you understand why, even if they won’t necessarily make you feel better about it.

At some point, people without blogs will be regarded in a similar light as folks who don’t have televisions. They’re probably harmless, but, really, how would you have a conversation with them?

Or…the sheer impossibility of being heard amongst a billion other bloggers will cause a backlash that will result in the simultaneous bankruptcy of Movable Type, WordPress, GoogleBlogger and…yes…Technorati, and the former A-List bloggers will be regarded in a similar light as the 17th century Dutch tulip speculators.

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9 comments

  1. Eric, while I don’t think we’ll reach Dutch tulip proportions, I think there will come a time when the popularity, for some, passes, and their blogs languish, then die.
    For some, blogging is the latest fad, and they’re pusrsuing it as they would any other fad … and they’ll discard it just as quickly.
    Even in our own little neighborhood of the blogosphere, we’ve seen a few disappear. A few others out there have been very, very quiet for a week or more.
    But blogs will persist and develop. And those that don’t wither will point the direction for the future. It will be interesting to see where it goes.

  2. Even in our own little neighborhood of the blogosphere, we’ve seen a few disappear. A few others out there have been very, very quiet for a week or more.
    It’s harder than it looks, isn’t it?

  4. This makes me feel very, very old.
    You’re a pioneer. Keep telling yourself that. A cutting-edge, ground-breaking pioneer.
    And I’m glad to have you around, since you’re the only blogger older than me! 😉

  5. Well, I was born in ’56 of this past century. When you stop learning to do new things, you start (or at least accelerate) dying.
    Now if I could just get this consarned Technorati thing figured out….

  7. “Young whippersnapper.”
    “Amen!” from a guy whose first computer was made of stone, with a wooden keyboard. You hit the ‘send’ key for an e-mail, and a little pterodactyl flew out a panel in the back of the console with my message!

  8. Well you have had conversation with me and Ive not owned a TV since 1988.
    yes blogging is ” in style” just now… but as the world turns, people go on to new things, for dabblers it will fade… unless you are like me a reletive newbe and still loving it even though I think my blogging is about to change as I move to a new place in this world… For those that use this medium as a means to be Journalists I think its going to stand and grow as a medium… Enjoy your news and views

  9. Well you have had conversation with me and Ive not owned a TV since 1988.
    Well, of course, I was being sarcastic, but I suspect you’ve had people look at you like you were some kind of eccentric simply because you didn’t have a TV. That’s the way our society has evolved.
    Perhaps a more relevant analogy would be someone living in urban America who voluntarily doesn’t have an internet connection. Now there’s a real eccentric! 😉

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