The document discusses the essential elements needed for a blog to survive and grow, analogous to those needed for plants. It identifies sunlight (readership), water (news/information resources), and nutrients (organic content from experiences aggregated through social networks and bookmarks) as key requirements. Decomposers like other bloggers and social media users help break down information into tweets and comments that enrich the "soil" and allow the blog to blossom.

1. The Blogging Ecosystem sandnsurf

2. The Blogging Organism Every Blog requires essential elements to survive, develop and grow. As with any living plant the essential elements for growth include Sunlight Water Nutrients A stable and synergistic environment

3. The Naked Blog

4. Sunlight A diffuse radiant energy - The readership Too much light: Scorching over-exposure, low quality, rapid turnover brown leaves (posts) Too little light: The amazing (and rare) orchids of the forest floor. Magnificent, intricate and delicate flowers – most undiscovered and yet to be named

5. Blog Sunlight Sunlight Readership Sunlight – Readership energy

6. Water Environmental Resources: News sources, feeds, information aggregators RSS feeds, FreindFeed, Dipity, Swurl Too much water: Drowning in information, data overload – leads to leaves with little substance or structure Too little water Parched of news, isolated immature sproutings develop from the main stem

7. Blog Sunlight Sunlight Readership Blog Posts Water – Rain News, RSS, FF, Life News resources

8. Information mulch The combination of Organic material [life experience] Water [environmental news resources] Shaded conditions [thinking time] A rich source of nutrients and energy, still requiring decomposition and stabilization prior to useful assimilation

9. Blog Sunlight Sunlight Readership Blog Posts Social Network Flower Organic Content Water – Rain News, RSS, FF, Life Information Mulch Information mulch aggregation

10. Decomposers and stabilizers Tweeple, Twitts and Twurls [decomposers] Disaggregate and disambiguate [enrich the soil] Enrich the soil Stabilize the mulch Catalysts of the blogging ecosystem and produce ‘ tweets ’ and ‘ twitterings ’ as the essential aggregated macronutrient for a blossoming blog.

11. Blog Sunlight Sunlight Readership Tweets Blog Posts Social Network Flower Organic Content Tweeple, Twitts and Twurls Water – Rain News, RSS, FF, Life Social Bookmarking Information Mulch Decomposers and mulch stabilizers

12. Blog Sunlight Sunlight Readership Tweets Blog Posts Social Network Flower Organic Content Tweeple, Twitts and Twurls Water – Rain News, RSS, FF, Life Social Bookmarking Information Mulch The Blogging ecosystem