<a href="http://www.rightwingnews.com/special/topblogs.php
” target=”_blank”> Rightwing News has a chart ranking blogs based upon their Alexa.com ranking. As longtime readers know, I think the Alexa.com rankings are deeply flawed — especially when certain sites gear themselves to goosing their Alexa ratings. Still, this list looks pretty representative. But that’s not what I want to talk about.
The fact that so many folks use Alexa.com got me thinking: Why not commission a real study by an independent group without a commercial interest (like Alexa). And then I started wondering, “Who would commission that study?” Not the suits. Maybe the Columbia Journalism Review or someone like that. But while pondering that, I thought: Why not start a blogger/internet trade association?
Some advantages:
1. It could collect some dues and have an annual convention where various factions of bloggers could scream at each other and then blog about it. Who knows? I bet quite a few politicians would feel compelled to speak to it.
2. There could be an open bar.
3. More important, bloggers could set uniform standards the way the ABA, the AMA and other groups do.
4. It could defend itself against incursions from government and Big Media.
5. It could offer advice to start-up bloggers.
6. Did I mention: Open bar?
7. Eventually, maybe it could be like the Writer’s Guild it could offer help with health insurance and the like.
8. It could commission studies on traffic and the life.
9. Unlike other “cyber” interest groups, this one would most closely track their print equivalents in the print and television media. First amendment issues, fair use doctrine and the like would be its chief concerns.
The downside:
The economics – right now — are daunting. Few bloggers could afford to contribute enough money to get much going. Then again: Maybe a foundation would give a BU some start-up money if someone like Glenn Reynolds were the president.
Cultural problems: Bloggers by nature are individualists. The whole point of being a blogger is being something of a lone wolf. Joining together to form some sort of stodgey group which pretends to police its members would be a nightmare.
The open membership vs. closed membership debate could be a terror. Who gets to join? Can any tinfoil head start a blog and join?
I think a minimum traffic standard might solve a lot of these objections. The more traffic a blogger gets, the more likely he will be to take his repsonsibilities seriously. Even a threshhold of a few thousand readers would sift out the cranks. A very — very — loose editorial standards guideline could be upheld by all members (No clear-cut plagiarism or fraud. Also: strictures against racism and the like would certainly generate a lot of fun debate). Moreover, the BU could sell advertising in bundles. Members of the BU get the same ad banner feed which might boost revenue for everyone.
I know such an idea from a longtime — though recovering — blogger skeptic and contributor to a magazine’s blog will be greeted with some negativity. But, if blogging is the future, if it’s as big a threat to the establishment as Andrew Sullivan and Glenn Reynolds and others suggest, then surely marshalling some strength in numbers isn’t a crazy notion. I haven’t thought it all through, but I think there’s potential. In fact, in some respects if the trends continue it may be inevitable. And remember: Open Bar (and maybe even free shrimp).