When Scott Rafer Announced the Feedster Top 500, he put out an open call for feedback on this wiki page. So Register for this space and Login to have at it...

Rafer re-posting excerpt from: http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/2005/08/fatal_flaw_in_t.html

Feedster shot to the front and have published their admittedly preliminary Feedster 500 list that is based on the count of links to the blog in question. It’s not a bad list but while really looking at the blogs on this list one fact jumped out at me. Blogs that belong to a network are driven up the list because other blogs in the network cross-link like crazy.

I like that it is made available in .tab format, so you can play with it like this: Feedster Top 500, Aug 05

contributed by Ross Mayfield on Aug 16 9:37am

Omitting Live Journalers appears anti-long tail. There are very few conversations originating from the blogosphere that have had real impact on the world. One is undoubtedly Rathergate, but the other came from a Live Journaler. When the SO of an Electronic Arts employee pulled back the veil on working conditions at the company, it freed other voices and has impacted the entire game development industry. This is the perfect example of the power of self publishing, long tailedness, social media phenomenon. The blogosphere to reach escape velocity must reach out to the masses, and not fall into the the trap of exclusionary practice when defining blogs, or limiting voices to those capable of web development or of paying to have it done. The reduction of friction and simplicity that blogging software provided shouldn't be diminished by search tools, ranking systems or convoluted algorithms that only technical or research professionals will use. A protectionist approach to limit the rabble voices is what we disdain in corporate media, right? Why predicate visibility in new media on similar restrictiveness?

It's time to consider multiple list types to allow content discovery, new voice visibility and diversity of the blogosphere to become real. Top 50 most recently updated, Top 50 most commented, Top 50 inbound links, Top 50 outbound links, Top 50 politicos, Top 50 technology, Top 50 cultural, Top 10 by country, etc. I'd love to be able to read blogs in other languages. Can someone point me to a translation service that allows me to read in english blogs that are composed in Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, German, or Dutch? This is the biggest obstacle for me in discovering a diversity of views.

I'm new to this wiki stuff, so if this isn't the proper place for this type of content, please advise.

While reviewing the Feedster 500, it demostrated to me what the blog reading "general populace" <i>doesn't know</i> about their world. The popularity of conglomoblogs like Huffington Post, which is a thoroughly self-serving old media enterprise, shows that many in the blogosphere think they're getting something new because it's just been re-packaged as a blog. Feedster 500 also demonstrates that many who are blogging don't understand, or perhaps don't care about, the social aspect of blogging. The emphasis on and elevation of information gathering (including impersonal aggregators) over social interaction and the sharing of ideas gives a very false picture of what goes on among most bloggers. It only gives the msm a way of interpreting blogging to suit its own agenda.

contributed by tishthedish38 on Aug 19 12:40pm