…and this is a 
This is an experiment
Category: Weblogs
Posted on: November 28, 2006 8:38 AM, by PZ Myers
Acephalous is trying to measure the rate of propagation of links across the net. He's asking everyone to link to his post (so this may just be shameless blog-whoring under the guise of doing science), exhort our readers to do likewise, and he's going to be monitoring its movement through Technorati, and will report the results at the MLA meetings.
So you heard me. Get on your blog, link to http://acephalous.typepad.com/acephalous/2006/11/measuring_the_s.html, and let's see how quickly we can saturate the blogosphere.
(via Bitch Ph.D)
Comments
Posted by: G. Tingey | November 28, 2006 9:05 AM
What happens if you don't HAVE a blog, but want to forward/generate/reproduce/spread the message?
Errrr .... ?
Posted by: PZ Myers | November 28, 2006 9:09 AM
You are completely powerless. Doesn't everyone have a blog?
Posted by: Jake | November 28, 2006 9:35 AM
Umm... Now I obviously don't know much about this kind of research, so I may be wrong here, but won't telling us that this is a 'speriment and asking us to not only link from our blogs but also do things some of us would never think to do (ping technocrati? what?) skew the results something fierce?
Posted by: Markus | November 28, 2006 9:36 AM
I went ahead and created a blog. It's called The Lay Atheist (I hope it's not already taken).
I hope this will now result with me getting many years of good luck.
Posted by: Nance Confer | November 28, 2006 9:39 AM
Ummm. . . doesn't the part where he begs us to link to him argue against the natural spread of his "meme?" How science-y is that? Or is he measuring how well begging works?
Nance
P.S. Or maybe it's just me. We homeschool and college students are always postings posts begging for hsers to participate in their surveys. . . as if that would achieve any sort of accurate view of hsing. . . but they don't have any way of getting "real" information short of spending a lot of time with a lot of hsers so they gin up an online survey. . .
Posted by: quork | November 28, 2006 9:51 AM
Does this experiment have something to do with Casey Luskin?
Posted by: Zeno | November 28, 2006 9:53 AM
I'm at school right now, so I can't conveniently link till I get back home. Then I'll participate in the great experiment.
Will there be prizes?
Posted by: Greco | November 28, 2006 10:14 AM
Do sucky ones with thre or four posts count?
Posted by: coturnix | November 28, 2006 11:14 AM
This experiment was already done a couple of times in various ways.
Posted by: Jon Moutlon | November 28, 2006 12:31 PM
OK, I'm game. He's linked from my blog.
- Jon
Posted by: Caveat | November 28, 2006 1:02 PM
I'm in. It's linked on my blog too.
Posted by: Scott Eric Kaufman | November 28, 2006 1:27 PM
Ummm. . . doesn't the part where he begs us to link to him argue against the natural spread of his "meme?" How science-y is that? Or is he measuring how well begging works?
You're right about this not being a controlled experiment. I've written some stuff (linked to in my original post as "DISADVENTURE" and "My Morning") which did make the rounds naturally, but the problem is my presentation's in three weeks but the Muse doesn't work on my schedule. I had this idea a few months back and thought inspiration would've struck by now, but it hasn't. So, you know, desperation took hold.
That said, so far the data's been very interesting and counter-intuitive. I think there's a damn good chance I was completely wrong in my original post...which speaks poorly of me as a thinker, but, I hope, well of me as researcher.
Posted by: Tinni | November 28, 2006 1:31 PM
He's linked in mine too
Posted by: Spoony Quine | November 28, 2006 2:51 PM
` Well, you know, I have two blogs. I just had to do both....
Posted by: JohnnieCanuck | November 28, 2006 3:02 PM
In a post called Yes Master, I find http://dododreams.blogspot.com saying:
Lets hope this behaviour doesn't go unpunnished.
Posted by: tikistitch | November 28, 2006 4:54 PM
I always do as my Squid Overlord instructs me. However, please somebody tell Acephalous that unfortunately today his link is competing with the "What's Your Seduction Style" meme, which is very popular as it has a lot of hot pink graphics 'n stuff.