Lifted whole from Robert Paterson's Weblog: Tsunamis - Tipping Blogs into the mainstream?.
Tsunamis - Tipping Blogs into the mainstream?
From AP today
"New York — Readership of online journals known as blogs grew
significantly in 2004, driven by increased awareness of them during the
presidential campaign and other major news events, according to a study
released Sunday.Twenty-seven percent of online adults in the United States said in November they read blogs, compared with 17 percent in a February survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
Blogs that cover the tsunami disaster and relief efforts are bound to boost readership further, said Lee Rainie, the project's director.
"The tsunami is one of those cataclysmic news moments where lots of people's perceptions change," Rainie said. "Awareness of blogs will grow dramatically. There's so much attention to the coverage on blogs and Web sites and first-person video as primary news sources."
In the past week, blogs have shared information on giving money and finding missing family members, and several posted first-person narratives and photos from the affected areas. The web of links that are fundamental to blogs made it possible to quickly disseminate information that otherwise would have remained obscure."
Johhnie Moore today quotes from the Flamingo Project which uses the metaphor of how Flamingoes tip the group into migration.
An ecologist studying flamingos on Kenya ’s Lake Nakuru has noticed an interesting phenomenon. Every year, when the time comes for migration, a few flamingos start the process by taking off from the lake. Since none of the others take any notice, they soon turn round and come back.
The next day they try again. This time a few others straggle along with them but, again, the vast majority just carry on with business as usual, so the pioneers return to the lake. This trend continues for a few days. Each time a few more birds join in but, since the thousands of others still take no notice, the migration plan is aborted.
Finally, one day, the same few birds take off again. This time however, the tiny increment to their number - maybe just one extra flamingo - is enough to tip the balance. The whole flock takes flight. The migration begins.
27% of online adults is way beyond the Early Adopters and tells us that we are on our way to become a major system. Lead articles in Fortune and Time nudge blogging over the edge in terms of mainstream notice.
The migration has begun folks.
Photo from The Flamingos and Other Animals of the Rift Valley, Ray Chisholm
