Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Power Laws, Weblogs, Inequality response

Why freedom and diversity equals inequality? Isn’t equality what we’re trying to fight for and push in this nation and worldwide? Let’s remember that there are different types of inequality. The inequality we’re discussing on this article is based on the popularity contest of blogs; who can get the most followers which in other words is the winner-take-all system. This system discussed in the article is not only based on those competing to be the best, but is also discussing how the winners are those that influence others to become part of the competition.
               The article describes that even though blogging has made people to become part of the news media, it also describes how popularity is necessary to be read and approved by those who read it.  There are millions of blogs, but the extension of these blogs and the freedom to write anything you want is the lead to creating inequality. The inequality is that not every person’s blog is read because of the expanding world of blogging.  The 80/20 rule applies to blogging as well.  The article gave an example how 20% of the world’s population holds 80% of the wealth.  Then this means that 20% of the blogs hold at least 80% of the readers. The 20% are those who have been blogging for years, maybe those who were part of the “firsts.” These bloggers then lead to other blogs to be read. Sometimes bloggers share a connection to extend their popularity. Almost 5 years ago I created a blog as part of a high school project. It was only read between my classmates then I decided to delete it for reasons that it was unnecessary for me to have one.
               The power law graph can show how those who are on the top are there because of their popularity.  These are blogs that people enjoy reading each morning and some have been announced on big news corporation. Those blogs that are announced by big corporations receive the most readers. Overall, blogs have been around for years, and millions of new readers are added daily. Competition will always be around. Competition is part of the freedom and diversity that brings inequality. 

1 comment:

  1. I like the way that you say that competition is part of the freedom accompanying diversity and equality. Are there conditions under which less freedom is a good idea?

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