Blogosphere: Challenges and Opportunities for Public Sector September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

Blog was born more than a decade back in 1997, though some take it its year of birth as 1999. Some 12,000 blogs are created every day, and 275,000 postings are made every day or about 10,800 blog updates an hour. A new blog is born every 7.4 seconds. (Misra 2005) September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

Blog was born more than a decade back in 1997, though some take it its year of birth as 1999.

Some 12,000 blogs are created every day, and

275,000 postings are made every day or about 10,800 blog updates an hour.

A new blog is born every 7.4 seconds. (Misra 2005)

It is Merriam Webster online which declared its year of birth as well as the word of year 2004, having been searched most on its website. It defines the word, noting its year of birth in parentheses, as: "noun [short for Weblog] (1999): a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer." September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

It is Merriam Webster online which declared its year of birth as well as the word of year 2004, having been searched most on its website.

It defines the word, noting its year of birth in parentheses, as:

"noun [short for Weblog] (1999): a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer."

Despite attempts at precise definitions by the lexicographers, there is no “precise” definition of blogs. A blog is not a personal diary nor a journal, nor a home page nor indeed even a discussion group. Yet it can be all these things taken together or even only a few of these things taken together. There are thus as many definitions of blog as is the number of bloggers. Similarly, blogosphere, the universe of blogs, has no limitation on the subject it can cover - any thing in cyber space falls within its domain. September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

Despite attempts at precise definitions by the lexicographers, there is no “precise” definition of blogs.

A blog is not a personal diary nor a journal, nor a home page nor indeed even a discussion group.

Yet it can be all these things taken together or even only a few of these things taken together.

There are thus as many definitions of blog as is the number of bloggers.

Similarly, blogosphere, the universe of blogs, has no limitation on the subject it can cover - any thing in cyber space falls within its domain.

An online survey by Viegas, who tracks the blogs at the MIT, shows that a good 36 per cent of the bloggers are female, 63 percent male, and three-fourths of them are in the age group of 21-40 years and 11 percent of them below 20 years. September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

An online survey by Viegas, who tracks the blogs at the MIT, shows that

a good 36 per cent of the bloggers are female,

63 percent male,

and three-fourths of them are in the age group of 21-40 years and 11 percent of them below 20 years.

The US, of course, leads the pack of bloggers with 67 percent of bloggers worldwide being Americans. A Pew Internet survey shows that 17 per cent of American adults online read some one else’s blogs while 5 per cent of them set up their own blogs. September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

The US, of course, leads the pack of bloggers with 67 percent of bloggers worldwide being Americans.

A Pew Internet survey shows that 17 per cent of American adults online read some one else’s blogs

while 5 per cent of them set up their own blogs.

Like any other new phenomenon, blogs have spawned their own terminology. Alpha bloggers or A-listers : The elite bloggers who decide blogging contours, Date headers and time stamps : recording date and time of post, Blogrolls : A list of blogs read by a blogger regularly, Blogger : A person who maintains a blog September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

Like any other new phenomenon, blogs have spawned their own terminology.

Alpha bloggers or A-listers : The elite bloggers who decide blogging contours,

Date headers and time stamps : recording date and time of post,

Blogrolls : A list of blogs read by a blogger regularly,

Blogger : A person who maintains a blog

Permalinks: A uniform resource locator (Web address) of a specific post in a blog, Comments: By readers, Trackbacks: Automatic links between blogs, and Vblogs: Video blogs . September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

Permalinks: A uniform resource locator (Web address) of a specific post in a blog,

Comments: By readers,

Trackbacks: Automatic links between blogs, and

Vblogs: Video blogs .

Though the battle for the eyeballs in the cyber space continues, the traffic drawn by the blogs is eye boggling. There are 200 blogs which have a monthly traffic of one million page views and 20 with 10 million page views per month. Some of the blogs have become more popular than some of the big media portals. September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

Though the battle for the eyeballs in the cyber space continues, the traffic drawn by the blogs is eye boggling.

There are 200 blogs which have a monthly traffic of one million page views and 20 with 10 million page views per month.

Some of the blogs have become more popular than some of the big media portals.

Veteran Silicon Valley journalist Dan Gillmor, who has covered "the bubble, boom, bust and continuing evolution of the tech industry for over a decade," has come out with the manifesto, “ We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People.” Bloggers have become readers turned reporters and editors- reporting, making and editing news. September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

Veteran Silicon Valley journalist Dan Gillmor, who has covered "the bubble, boom, bust and continuing evolution of the tech industry for over a decade," has come out with the manifesto,

“ We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People.”

Bloggers have become readers turned reporters and editors- reporting, making and editing news.

Slashdot : News for Nerds has more links (9,244) than guardian.co.uk (8,505 links) or Plastic : Act Like Nothing's Wrong (8,324 links) has more links than wired.com (7,197 links) or Davenetics has more (7,590) links than salon.com (6,166 links) or Boing Boing has more (5,692) links than slate.com (5,05 links), and I nstapundit has more (5,170) links than slate.com (5,051 links). Source: Steven Levy in Newsweek September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

Slashdot : News for Nerds has more links (9,244) than guardian.co.uk (8,505 links) or

Plastic : Act Like Nothing's Wrong (8,324 links) has more links than wired.com (7,197 links) or

Davenetics has more (7,590) links than salon.com (6,166 links) or

Boing Boing has more (5,692) links than slate.com (5,05 links), and

I nstapundit has more (5,170) links than slate.com (5,051 links).

Source: Steven Levy in Newsweek

English, according to the blogcensus.net , is the dominant language of the blogosphere with 12,86,508 blogs. The distant runners-up include French (87,506), Portuguese (81,077), Farsi (64,049), Polish (42,754), German (35,149), Spanish (26,389), Italian (10,402), Dutch (9,826), and Chinese-big5 (8,986). September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

English, according to the blogcensus.net , is the dominant language of the blogosphere with 12,86,508 blogs. The distant runners-up include

French (87,506), Portuguese (81,077),

Farsi (64,049), Polish (42,754), German (35,149), Spanish (26,389),

Italian (10,402), Dutch (9,826), and Chinese-big5 (8,986).

1 . The Travel Blog 2. The Blow-by-Blow Blog 3. The Personal Blog 4 The Team Blog Source: Wyld 2007 September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

1 . The Travel Blog

2. The Blow-by-Blow Blog

3. The Personal Blog

4 The Team Blog

Source: Wyld 2007

A number of blog hosting platforms exist which allow free hosting of blogs. These include 1. Blogger founded in 1999 and acquired by Google in 2003 (52 million visitors) ( http://www.blogger.com ) (also known as blogspot ), 2. Word Press , founded in 2003 (213,000 blogs) (also available in Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu) ( http://wordpress.com /), 3. LiveJournal , founded in 1999 and purchased by Russian Internet company SUP in 2007 ( http://www.livejournal.com /, 4. MSN’ Spaces ( http://home.spaces.live.com ), and 5. Tumblr ( http://www.tumblr.com/ ). September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

A number of blog hosting platforms exist which allow free hosting

of blogs. These include

1. Blogger founded in 1999 and acquired by Google in 2003 (52 million visitors) ( http://www.blogger.com ) (also known as blogspot ),

2. Word Press , founded in 2003 (213,000 blogs) (also available in Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu) ( http://wordpress.com /),

3. LiveJournal , founded in 1999 and purchased by Russian Internet company SUP in 2007 ( http://www.livejournal.com /,

4. MSN’ Spaces ( http://home.spaces.live.com ), and

5. Tumblr ( http://www.tumblr.com/ ).

There are many blog search engines like blog search engine ( www.blogsearchengine.com ), Google blog search ( http://blogsearch.google.com ), technorati ( http://technorati.com ), icerocket ( www.icerocket.com ), and bloglines ( www.bloglines.com ). September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

There are many blog search engines like

blog search engine ( www.blogsearchengine.com ),

Google blog search ( http://blogsearch.google.com ),

technorati ( http://technorati.com ),

icerocket ( www.icerocket.com ), and

bloglines ( www.bloglines.com ).

Blogger.com grew 68% in 2008, 184 million people started a blog, 364 million people read a blog, 77% of active web users read blogs, 37% of bloggers have been quoted in traditional media, September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

Blogger.com grew 68% in 2008,

184 million people started a blog,

364 million people read a blog,

77% of active web users read blogs,

37% of bloggers have been quoted in traditional media,

1 million blog posts are written every day, and 50% of bloggers see blogs as the primary source of news source by 2013. (Source: NMLAB 2009). Blogging is a challenge as well as an opportunity for governments worldwide . September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

1 million blog posts are written every day, and

50% of bloggers see blogs as the primary source of news source by 2013. (Source: NMLAB 2009).

Blogging is a challenge as well as an opportunity for governments worldwide .

Blogging : A Challenge for Public Sector How to motivate Ministers and Senior Civil Servants to take up official blogging? How to lay down Guidelines for launching and maintaining official blogs ? How much time will official blogging need? Will blogging be treated as an elitist activity in a developing country? September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

Blogging : A Challenge for Public Sector

How to motivate Ministers and Senior Civil Servants to take up official blogging?

How to lay down Guidelines for launching and maintaining official blogs ?

How much time will official blogging need?

Will blogging be treated as an elitist activity in a developing country?

Blogging : An Opportunity for Public Sector Blogging can successfully bridge the citizen-state divide It can successfully engage citizens If launched for flagship programmes, it can graduate into a website in due course of time. Lastly, blogging is an integral part of e-government . September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

Blogging : An Opportunity for Public Sector

Blogging can successfully bridge the citizen-state divide

It can successfully engage citizens

If launched for flagship programmes, it can graduate into a website in due course of time.

Lastly, blogging is an integral part of

e-government .

Thank you -- Dr D. C. Misra E-government Consultant, New Delhi, India E-mail: dc_misra[at] hotmail.com Tel: 91-11-22452431 September 28, 2009, New Delhi, © Dr D.C.Misra 2009

Thank you

-- Dr D. C. Misra

E-government Consultant,

New Delhi, India

E-mail: dc_misra[at] hotmail.com

Tel: 91-11-22452431