I work in the social media space, so if I had a nickle for every time I've explained that a blog's influence is based on more than its Technorati Authority ranking, I'd be a rich, rich girl. Technorati's Authority figure is, literally, the number of inbound links a blog has collected in the last six months - and while the number of blogs and Web sites linking to you is important, other criteria (traffic, quality and quantity of comments, search placement, the influence of the inbound links, the affiliation of the author, etc.) are also key components in assessing influence.
However, as a BLOGGER, it totally blows when your Technorati Authority ranking drops due to old links "expiring". One of my blog posts last summer - Batman: The Dark Knight's Viral Promo Kicks Your Viral Promo's Ass (And Takes Names) - hit it big, with nearly 40 big time blogs linking in to the Catch Up Lady. Which means that now, six months later, my Technorati Authority figure dropped almost over night from 95 to 60. Yes, I almost had a heart attack. I mean, seriously talk about a freaking ego blow. I let myself wallow around for awhile recalling my 15 minutes of fame and then I went on vacation for the holidays and something happened...
I caught up with a few friends who happened to mention that they (and various friends and family of theirs) follow my blog regularly and really enjoy it, which was unexpected and really positive. I also checked out my inbound links on Technorati and saw a couple new hits - one from Keri's Korner, a brand new blog by the founder of Supper Thyme USA, that listed me on a Blogroll of "Favorite Blogs". Then today, I got a quasi taunting comment about Michigan football's bowl game domination over Florida from my friend over at Where's My Jetpack, who was one of the first bloggers I ever "made friends" with. And somewhere in all this I picked up the pace on blogging, and with 10 days off work I really, really enjoyed doing it
Anyway, I tell you all this because it really reminded me of WHY I blog, and why Technorati Authority is not something I should feel even marginally saddened by. I blog because I have thoughts and opinions that I want to share with others (that I am apparently not able to fit in during a standard day of running my mouth). I blog because there is a whole community of "like minded" people out there who not only value my writing, but more importantly are there to interact with and learn from. I blog because it's a daily reminder to stay up on and really analyze industry news, web gems, and all things Internet (which as you may remember, I love).
My New Year's Resolution is to blog more. And you all can feel free to hold me to that. Ok, ok, I'll stop this mushy fest post before we all start crying.
Edit: I Googled "saddened" to make sure I'd spelled it right (looks like lots of d's, right?) and the first hit is a newspaper article, "Dog Condom Creator Saddened Over Product Recall." I knew you all would want to know.
I made you, damnit - and now I watch with jealousy as you've surpassed me in all the rankings.
You call us friends? Friends don't let friends blog drunk!
Posted by: Jetpacks | January 03, 2008 at 10:05 AM
haha - I think it's because you're not a Wolverine - we have this whole underground network going on. Sorry, that's all I can tell you...
Posted by: Catch Up Lady | January 03, 2008 at 12:19 PM
Like I said - band of criminals. Or maybe more akin to the Skull and Bones guys.
Posted by: Jetpacks | January 03, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Yay for like minded people! Speaking of blogging more...tell Brian G. to get off his duff, I haven't seen anything of his yet lol
Posted by: Andre | January 04, 2008 at 12:43 AM
damn straight Kaitlyn! keep it up--I definitely enjoy reading your musings and opinions
one of my New Year's resolutions was to blog more as well.
Posted by: Jen | January 07, 2008 at 04:59 PM