What Makes a Top Blogging Story?

“We studied several of the best bloggers and their styles. The best blogs, we found, are not those that actually get the most page views in a day, or that get the most links. In fact, the blogs that get the most links are the ones who find the best blogs and then point the best blogs out to the rest of the world.” Elwyn Jenkins

—What Makes a Top Blogging Story?Microdoc News)

An interesting observation of the fact that some bloggers are influential because people link to what they write, and others are influential because they direct people offsite. Jenkins uses Roland Piquepaille as an example. When I compare Piquepaille’s blog on ShapeTape with its source, Martin’s article on ShapeTape, the reasons why I prefer the blog include the cleaner design of the blog page (no ads or busy graphics), the running commentary that introduces important excerpts from the source, the bold keywords, and the addition of the photo. Since Piquepalle has already highlighted the main points in a readable way, if I were interested in making a point about interface design, it would be less work for me to refer casually to Piquepalle rather than Martin’s original article. Still, Piquepalle’s post depends upon Martin’s article, but Piquepalle also drives traffic to Martin’s site, thereby supporting Martin’s publisher (and Martin).