Mining the Blogosphere

December 22, 2004

Two interesting news items showed up today related to mining the blogosphere, that is, getting a higher-level view of what's important in the space:

Bacon's Cuts through the Blog-Clutter; New Service Mines the Blogosphere for Relevant Content

In January 2005, Bacon's is adding blog analysis to its MediaSource product. A Bacon's honcho says, "With today's information overload from often irrelevant or dubious sources, our aim is to help our clients by filtering the communications clutter." Sounds interesting, no? Downside: Bacon's MediaSource service starts at $2,495 per year -- ouch!

Johnny Depp, "Fahrenheit 9/11'' Captured Bloggers' Attention in 2004, Intelliseek Finds; BlogPulse.com Year-end Review Examines Entertainment Trends in Blogging

The BlogPulse offering is more fun than Bacon's, especially since you don't have to pay for it. The site includes top blogs and posts for 2004, plus the top mentions of books, movies, celebs and more.

One comment I would make is that these two offerings represent very different views of blogspace. BlogPulse views it as an amazing collective communications environment to be explored for knowledge, pleasure, and human connections. Bacon's seems to view it as a vast trash heap to be picked-over for the occasional gem.

Which approach seems more valuable? Depends on your goals, I guess.

AB -- 12/22/04