Nature Blogging

There is a nice article about science/nature blogging in Canberra Times. Several bloggers are mentioned, including Grrrl, Greg and Henry. There is the perpetual mix-up between Nature Network and Nature Blog Network, but that's OK, I guess.

"According to studies cited by Google, around 60 to 80 per cent of blogs are abandoned within a month of being created, and few are regularly updated. A report by Calson Analytics, an online independent analysis of digital technology trends, states that the average blog has the lifespan of a fruitfly. Another study, ''The Blogging Iceberg'' by the Perseus Development Corporation, differentiated between popular blogs (like Gee's) ''which are often updated multiple times a day and which by definition have tens of thousands of daily readers'' and those written for ''nanoaudiences'' of family, workmates and friends. The survey found blogs were updated ''much less often than generally thought''. Active blogs were updated, on average, every fortnight. Some 2.7million blogs were abandoned after two months, with fewer than 50,000 updated daily. Blog abandonment rates were not based on age, but those who gave up on blogging ''tended to write posts that were only 58 per cent as long as those bloggers who continued to publish''. The conclusion was that ''those who enjoy writing stick with blogs longer''.

Happy to see blog carnivals mentioned, in this case Circus of the Spineless and I and the Bird:

But while those ''dear cyber-diary'' blogs written for nanoaudiences may be as ephemeral as fruitflies, there's a thriving cyber community linked by a love of the natural environment. Many of these blogs are linked to carnivals a blog event dedicated to a particular topic and, like a magazine or scientific journal, published weekly or monthly, with each ''edition'' cross-linked to other blog postings in the designated topic. Two of the most popular with cyber-naturalists are Circus of the Spineless (''a monthly celebration of insects, arachnids, molluscs, crustaceans, worms and most anything else that wiggles'') and I and the Bird, ''a bi-weekly showcase of the best bird writing on the web''. The Nature Blog Network lists the best nature blogs on the web, based on a daily hit rate and the average number of page views. Top of the list is ''Ugly Overload'' a blog dedicated to ''giving ugly animals their day in the sun'', with scientifically knowledgeable postings about not-so-cute critters such as spiders, caterpillars, worms, Borneo bearded pigs and Pacific Spookfish. You can browse postings on a variety of categories, including vermin (''Chow Time for Roaches'') and Oversized Uglies, which features snippets on elephant seals, hippos and genetically modified beef cattle.

If I am correct, Ugly Overload and Oversized Uglies are off the list now.