Wardman Wire Magazine

The blogosphere is always changing, and Darren Rowse of Problogger suggests that there are trends that have been emerging on well-known blogs in the last 12-18 months. In his video post this week he talks through his view.

The typical political blog in the UK is like an extended newspaper column written by one person. That is valid and has value, but we are now in a situation where newspapers and “big media” have learnt how to use blogs effectively to add “personality” to their more formal coverage. I think these trends offer some pointers for how independent bloggers can compete.

These are Darren’s suggestions:

• Multiple Author Blogs
• Multi-Topic Blogs
• Blogs Converging with Other Types of Sites
• Portal-Like Design
• Indirect Monetization

Here is the video. I have added my comments below.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8P9WPcAdw8[/video]

Here are my comments on each of the emerging trends, in the context of UK Political Blogging.

Multiple Author Blogs

There is a list of group blogs in the Right Hand sidebar of the Wardman Wire; multiple authors give the ability to post more regularly, have a variety of viewpoints and topics without the quality of articles falling in areas where the blogger is not fully knowledgeable and - as I am currently discovering - let individuals take a break without the need to close the blog down completely.

Let me throw in one statistic: Slugger O’ Toole has been going for 5 years and now has 90 people with posting rights. The Wardman Wire’s figure is between 12 and 20 at present, including people who have only posted a couple of times.

Multi-Topic Blogs

I’d argue that all political blogs are multi-topic almost by definition - simply because politics relates to the whole of life by definition. I do think, however, that there is a need for politicos to move out of the political niche more.

Personally, I would like to see political bloggers working with specialist sites in a more organised way; political writers know the political can get the attention of politicians more easily than other amateur writers - for example somebody writing a blog about (choosing a subject out of the air) making unpasteurised cheese or trying to prevent closure of a factory. It seems to me that there is scope for partnership. There are some superb examples of campaigns around - let’s do some more.

If we believe that the political process is important, then why do we stick in the political niche.

Blogs Converging with Other Types of Sites

This trend is about a move for blogs to be part of wider sets of services on a website.

I have not noticed this trend much in UK independent political blogs so far, but it is well established in national and regional newspapers - who are incorporating everything from blogs to social media facilities in their offerings.

I’ll write more on this area another time.

Portal-Like Design

Political blogs are adding extra content - there has been an explosion in the number of blogs offering news feeds especially, and a move towards

Perhaps the best examples of portal-like designs are the party member sites (Conservative Home, Labour Home, Lib Dem Voice) - all of which include a variety of services.

Indirect Monetization

Indirect monetization means drawing a blog income from sources other than direct adverts. A number of people do this, but it seems to relate more to activities that have persisted from before a blog existed - rather than any new income sources opened up by blogging.

If anyone has any experience where writing a political blog has opened up new areas of income, I’d be pleased to publish a case-study.

Wrapping Up

I’d be interested to hear what you think about competiton for political blogs from the media, and whether and how we should be working together on some questions.