Looking for Words

Blogs are no longer personal diaries if you look at the Technorati top 100. Dooce is the only personal blog I could see in the top 50, and the drought continues in the next 50. There are blogs on politics, technology, celebrities, how to blog, but about a blogger’s personal life? Hardly, unless you include whom Om Malik met or what Scobie has been doing — and their natter is more geek than personal.

I am talking about the Technorati top 100 blogs ranked by authority. A blog’s authority is determined by the number of other blogs linking to it in the last six months, according to Technorati.

The Huffington Post is the current No 1 with more than 27,000 blogs linking to it. But is HuffPo a blog with its roster of contributors –isn’t it more like a magazine?

See, blogs are becoming more like newspapers and magazines. That is evident from the top-ranked blogs: TechCrunch, No 2, Gizmodo,  No 3, Engadget, No 4, Boing Boing,  No 5, and many more down the list.

Looking at the top five, it’s safe to conclude:

• People are more interested in specific information — served in an offbeat fashion in Boing Boing’s case — than in the personal lives of strangers.
• Blogs are providing information like newspapers do.

Newspapers are also getting into blogs. The Caucus Politics, a New York Times blog, is ranked 26th — and Bits, the newspaper’s technology blog, is 40th.

The coming US presidential election in November could be one reason why political blogs are so popular now. The Daily Kos, the Talking Points Memo, the Drudge Report are all in the top 50.

And it looks like this will be the year of Obama. The top political blogs all lean towards Obama. Here’s the top 50.

1. Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post
* By Arianna Huffington · 15 hours ago
* http://huffingtonpost.com
* Authority: 27,124
2. TechCrunch
* By Michael Arrington · 27 minutes ago
* http://www.techcrunch.com
* Authority: 23,419
3. Gizmodo, the Gadget Guide
* 1 hour ago
* http://gizmodo.com
* Authority: 22,135
4. Engadget
* By WeblogsInc · 8 minutes ago
* http://engadget.com
* Authority: 21,122
5. Boing Boing

Boing Boing is a weblog of cultural curiosities and interesting technologies. It’s the most popular blog in the world, as ranked by Technorati.com, and won the Lifetime Achievement and Best Group Blog awards at the 2006 Bloggies ceremony.
* By Mark Frauenfelder · 30 minutes ago
* http://www.boingboing.net
* Authority: 16,950
6. Lifehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done
* 4 hours ago
* http://lifehacker.com
* Authority: 16,028
7. Ars Technica

Ars Technica the Art of Technology. News, analysis, and in depth coverage of technology.
* By Ars Technica, LLC · 2 hours ago
* http://arstechnica.com
* Authority: 15,032
8.  icanhascheezburger.com

Funny lolcats, cat pictures, cat macros, funny captions (and other animals)! Submit your own lolcat!
* By Cheezburger Cat · 47 minutes ago
* http://icanhascheezburger.com
* Authority: 11,598
9. ReadWriteWeb Web Apps, Web Technology Trends, Social Networ…

ReadWriteWeb is a popular weblog that provides Web Technology news, reviews and analysis. It is the lead blog in the ReadWriteWeb Network, a growing network of blogs about web technology.
* By Richard MacManus · 13 minutes ago
* http://www.readwriteweb.com
* Authority: 10,751
10. Mashable! The #1 Social Networking and Social Media News Blog

The world’s #1 social networking blog.
* By Pete Cashmore · 7 minutes ago
* http://mashable.com
* Authority: 10,751

11. Smashing Magazine

we smash you with the information that will make your life easier. a weblog dedicated to designers and web developers.
* By Sven Lennartz · 3 hours ago
* http://smashingmagazine.com
* Authority: 10,302
12.  Daily Kos: State of the Nation
* 32 minutes ago
* http://www.dailykos.com
* Authority: 9,906
13. GIGAZINE?????? Linux?????I/O???????????Iotop?
* By GIGAZINE · 43 minutes ago
* http://gigazine.net
* Authority: 9,716
14.  Official Google Blog
* By Manuel · 2 hours ago
* http://googleblog.blogspot.com
* Authority: 8,928
15.      Seth’s Blog
* By Seth Godin · 9 hours ago
* http://sethgodin.typepad.com
* Authority: 8,927
16. Gawker, Manhattan Media News and Gossip
* 17 minutes ago
* http://gawker.com
* Authority: 8,831
17. Internet Marketing and Social Media: Dosh Dosh

Dosh Dosh is a blog offering internet marketing and blogging tips, alongside social media strategies. Best consumed by bloggers, entrepreneurs, web publishers, marketers, freelancers and small business owners.
* By Maki Maki · 37 minutes ago
* http://doshdosh.com
* Authority: 8,444
18. TreeHugger
* By Graham Hill · 15 minutes ago
* http://treehugger.com
* Authority: 8,233
19. Kotaku, the Gamer’s Guide
* 19 minutes ago
* http://kotaku.com
* Authority: 8,034
20. Blog di Beppe Grillo

Grillo’s gags have tackled financial scandals and political corruption
* By Beppe Grillo · 14 minutes ago
* http://beppegrillo.it
* Authority: 7,981
21. Celebrity gossip juicy celebrity rumors Hollywood gossip blog …

Perez Hilton celebrity gossip blog is the source for Hollywood gossip, juicy celebrity rumors, celeb scandals, and the latest celebrity gossip
* By Hoodlum Productions · 10 hours ago
* http://perezhilton.com
* Authority: 7,569
22.  Noscope | Usability Is Not A Jackson Pollock Painting™
* By Joen Asmussen · 6 hours ago
* http://noscope.com
* Authority: 7,381
23.       Blog Tips to Help You Make Money Blogging ProBlogger

Helping Bloggers Earn Money. Blog Tips and News for the Professional and Hobby Blogger.
* By Darren Rowse · 17 hours ago
* http://problogger.net
* Authority: 7,340
24. JAUHARI | Everything Is POSSIBLE

Personal Play Ground of Nurudin Jauhari in English version, This is my place to share my knowledge, my photos, my themes (WordPress Theme, TxP Themes, Blogger Themes, etc) Also in this place I will covered what I like and dislike.
* By Nurudin Jauhari · 17 minutes ago
* http://www.jauhari.net
* Authority: 7,155
25. TMZ.com Your official site for the latest entertainment news…
* By TMZ dot com · 24 minutes ago
* http://www.tmz.com
* Authority: 7,087
26. The Caucus Politics New York Times Blog
* 50 minutes ago
* http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com
* Authority: 7,013
27. PostSecret

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.
* By frank warren · 1 hour ago
* http://postsecret.blogspot.com
* Authority: 7,001
28. CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blogs from …
* 16 days ago
* http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com
* Authority: 6,858
29. Daily Blog Tips

Improve your blog with Daily Blog Tips. A fast paced blog featuring articles on blog design, SEO, promotion, monetization and more.
* By Daniel Scocco · 1 hour ago
* http://dailyblogtips.com
* Authority: 6,670
30. Think Progress » Home Page

Hard hitting progressive political news site
* By Judd Legum · 1 hour ago
* http://thinkprogress.org
* Authority: 6,389

31. Copywriting tips for online marketing success from Copyblogger

Copywriting tips for effective blogging and online marketing.
* By Brian Clark · 3 hours ago
* http://www.copyblogger.com
* Authority: 6,065
32. The Consumerist: Shoppers Bite Back
* By The Consumerist · 5 hours ago
* http://consumerist.com
* Authority: 6,043
33. Tech News, Blogging Tips, Wordpress, And Other Assorted Random…

Tech News, Blogging Tips, Wordpress And Other Assorted Randomness.
* By Daniel · 12 days ago
* http://thewrongadvices.com
* Authority: 5,965
34. Threat Level Wired Blogs

Wired News investigative reporter Ryan Singel and senior editor Kevin Poulsen scare peace loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, in a daily briefing on security, freedom and privacy in the wired world.
* By Kevin Poulsen · 40 minutes ago
* http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6
* Authority: 5,754
35. uthink — Home

uthink.co.nz is a website on a mission to revolutionise the way New Zealanders communicate online. uthink provides people everywhere with a voice and a means to engage in debate with others without someone, dictating how that debate can progress.
* By uthink team · 160 days ago
* http://www.uthink.co.nz
* Authority: 5,686
36. Valleywag, Silicon Valley’s Tech Gossip Rag

Valleywag is a tech gossip rag. You people in Silicon Valley are far too busy changing the world to care about sex, greed and hypocrisy. But if you ever need a break, come visit us at Valleywag.
* By Nick Douglas · 5 hours ago
* http://valleywag.com
* Authority: 5,631
37.  Neatorama
* By neatorama · 3 hours ago
* http://www.neatorama.com
* Authority: 5,504
38. The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
* By WeblogsInc · 1 hour ago
* http://tuaw.com
* Authority: 5,463
39. GigaOM
* By om malik · 31 minutes ago
* http://gigaom.com
* Authority: 5,264
40. Bits Technology New York Times Blog
* 7 hours ago
* http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com
* Authority: 5,162

41. Joystiq
* By WeblogsInc · 26 minutes ago
* http://www.joystiq.com
* Authority: 5,158
42. dooce ®
* 1 hour ago
* http://dooce.com
* Authority: 5,109
43. CrunchGear

Crunchgear is a blog covering gadgets and computer hardware. It is edited by John Biggs.
* By John Biggs · 42 minutes ago
* http://www.crunchgear.com
* Authority: 4,860
44. DRUDGE REPORT 2008®
* 4 hours ago
* http://www.drudgereport.com
* Authority: 4,835
45. Scobleizer — Tech geek blogger

Robert Scoble’s personal blog. He’s a geek that writes about the technology industry and especially Silicon Valley’s Web, consumer electronics, computer, and other high tech companies.
* By Robert Scoble · 3 hours ago
* http://scobleizer.com
* Authority: 4,807
46. Talking Points Memo
* 189 days ago
* http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com
* Authority: 4,763
47. The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

A blog updated daily since June 2000 on politics, culture, faith, art, science, and anything that makes me laugh.
* By Andrew Sullivan · 5 hours ago
* http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com
* Authority: 4,682
48. TopTut.com Top Tutorials: Bloggers and Designers tips, Word…

TopTut.com is a blog dedicated to web development and design, helping young webmasters by providing Photoshop tutorials, graphics, free downloads, promotion and optimization tips and articles as well as reviews of web hosting services.
* By Liza Kliko · 5 hours ago
* http://toptut.com
* Authority: 4,662
49. Crooks and Liars
* By John Amato · 1 hour ago
* http://www.crooksandliars.com
* Authority: 4,598
50. A List Apart: A List Apart

A List Apart, For People Who Make Websites, is one of the longest running, most trusted, and most influential independent user experience and web design magazines.
* By Jeffrey Zeldman · 12 days ago
* http://www.alistapart.com
* Authority: 4,450