If you’re in it for popularity

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This post is a response to the buzz surrounding a recently published ranking of the top 25 library blogs.  Frankly such measures, like the college rankings published by U.S. News & World Report, all depend on what criteria are used and how they are ranked.  I’m not going to quibble at all with this particular list, mainly because I don’t really care about it.

What I do find interesting about the response to this ranking is that there seems to be a certain thread in the chatter relating to whether or not this blog or that one is deemed popular.  I have this sense that there are those who think this is a big part of their blogging — that is, a hope to be popular, to be widely read.  I think, honestly, this is the wish of just about anyone who blogs.  What I find objectionable though is the idea that popularity equates to better.  It doesn’t.  And frankly, if you’re in it for popularity, I don’t think I really want to read your content.  It is partly due to this that I have decided to unsubscribe from some of the “popular” or A-list library blogs.  Sour grapes?  No, I don’t think so.

  • http://waltcrawford.name <![CDATA[Walt Crawford]]>

    I think some (a few) liblogs may be written with the hope of being popular for popularity’s sake. I believe many more are written with the hope of attracting “the right readers,” which is a different thing–”the right readers” may not be that many. There are very few liblogs that feel like they’ve been studying the “How to increase readership” advice sites too much…or maybe I’ve just unsubscribed to those ones.

  • http://www.familymanlibrarian.com/ <![CDATA[Steve]]>

    Walt, I agree that there are relatively few, but they do exist, and they are the ones I was writing about. Your list may not match mine, though.

  • http://marklindner.info/blog/ <![CDATA[Mark]]>

    I’m not really sure who they are as I gave up on them a long time ago. I could guess, but that would be unfair as I haven’t read any like that lately.

    Unfortunately Steve, popularity in one form or another is the most prominent measure in our society, as I know you know. I constantly find myself amazed at some of the things that come out of the mouths of smart, savvy, educated people that show how readily they buy into popularity as a measure of value and worth. It truly saddens me.

    There is certainly nothing wrong with liking something that is popular as long as you have almost any other reason besides that to like it. I certainly like some stuff that is popular but, as wrong as I could be, I doubt that I like anything just because it is popular.