Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

Although the headline here suggests a posting about global politics, this is about something else entirely. Blogging, actually. The frighteningly intelligent Clay Shirky has taken the theory of "power law distribution", which has created such catch-phrases as Winner-Take-All and the idea that 20% of the population holds 80% of the wealth and applied it to blogging. The result? A small set of bloggers will always account for a majority of the traffic. Says Shirky:

"Though there are more new bloggers and ore new readers every day, most of the new readers are adding to the traffic o the top few blogs, while most new blogs are getting below average traffic, a gap hat will grow as the weblog world does. It's not impossible to launch a good new blog and become widely read, but it's harder than it was last year, and it will b harder still next year."

So, is inequality built into the blogging business? That's the wrong question declares Shirky. Because of the ubiquity of power law distribution, inequality is built into almost every social system. The question should be: "Is inequality fair?"

And it's most fair he says. In arguing his case, he points out that blogging is a daily activity. "Blogs are not a good place to rest on your laurels," he comments.

Oh, well. Let me add now to Clay Shirky's disproportionate traffic by pointing you to this splendid essay: Power Laws, Weblogs, and Inequality.

Maybe it will inspire some of us to apply the theory to current political events and produce something equally stimulating. What do you think?

Diarist of the day: Edith Velmans, 11 February 1941

[Holland] " 'Seize the day,' says Mother. But I'm worried. At home, everyone is so optimistic, but others are pessimistic. Many people are hanging around aimlessly in the streets, out of work. There are riots and demonstrations. It doesn't bode well for us. Enfin. Let's hope that "Alles sal reg kom' -- soon! Actually, I'm an idiot to grumble on like this. I'm still enjoying my life as much as I can."