Paul Scrivens articulately draws the dots together in a post on Why Blog Networks Failed.
But why did they fail? Were they just cool because anyone could start one and it was a sweet buzzword to associate yourself with for a while?
He makes some very strong points on content and community, all of which are right, but as Matt Mullenweg notes correctly in the comments, management was a serious downfall in that many just couldn’t or didn’t scale properly and hence the management (both in preplanning and in effect) was lacking….which are supringsly (perhaps not) my exact thoughts on the matter. Worth a read.
Tags: Paul Scrivens
Originally posted on February 21, 2007 @ 7:56 pm
Mark says
I recall that you yourself said much the same in your interview on 1938media with the “boat has left..” remark. But “network” is a very loose term that has multiple meanings and I take the view that “networking” amongst blog-related sites will gain huge value going forward- as the mainstream audience comes to the fore. There is also an assumption of multiple freelancing – which I agree, is nigh impossible to manage. And lastly, “just like there is no big money in investing in penny stocks”- is of course patently untrue, as anybody in the City will tell you. The % gains can be unbelievable.
Duncan Riley says
I concur Mark, and Network is a loose term. I think the Weblogs Inc., clones have run there course, at least in English speaking markets, but if we count 9rules as a network, I think there’s a world of opportunity waiting in the more social networking/ community side of the broader term of networks, indeed for memory I predicted we’d see 9rules clones this year, we haven’t yet, but it’s only February :-)