Mathemagenic

• Weblog conversations revisited: an introduction
• Weblog conversations revisited: is there more than one?
• Weblog conversations revisited: conversations with self
• Weblog conversations revisited: conversations with self vs. conversations with others

Has been playing a bit more with the data from Anjo... This we are looking at the speed of linking (=number of days between two linked posts) for links to own weblog and links to others. One of the hypotheses is that people would be more likely to link to their own "very old posts" than to those of others (simply because it's much easier to remember relevant things in one's own weblog. The results are below (in both cases number of links on the left is cumulative):

Some notes:

• There are more self-links (1086 total) than links to others (635 total), which is strange given that most of bloggers in our sample do not link much to their own content.
• I guess we should look at the influence of outliers and to see if grouping bloggers by their self/others linking behaviour we give different picture.
• Another reason for that could be in our dataset, since only links between bloggers in the sample are counted. So, may be there is someone who links a lot outside this group and those links are not in the picture.
• Number of links decreases as time passes (=older posts are less likely to be linked)
• Makes sense
• For longer time-frames could be screwed up by the nature of dataset: if someone links to a post which is not in it those links are not counted.
• As expected, linking to others is more "short-term" than linking to self.
• Some numbers
• Linking to others: 50% of links come within 3 days, 90% - within 51 day, longest time between posts is 283 days
• Linking to self: 50% - 20 days, 90% - 169 days, longest time - 356
• Does it mean that conversations with self are more longer-term?

It took me a while to blog that Jan's paper on blogging practices has been published:

Schmidt, Jan (2007): Blogging Practices: An analytical framework. In: Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Vol. 12, Nr. 4. Available online: http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue4/schmidt.html

Abstract. This article proposes a general model to analyze and compare different uses of the blog format. Based on ideas from sociological structuration theory, as well as on existing blog research, it argues that individual usage episodes are framed by three structural dimensions of rules, relations, and code, which in turn are constantly (re)produced in social action. As a result, "communities of blogging practices" emerge - that is, groups of people who share certain routines and expectations about the use of blogs as a tool for information, identity, and relationship management. This analytical framework can be the basisfor systematic comparative and longitudinal studies that will further understanding of similarities and differences in blogging practices.

I wrote on it before (Jan Schmidt on blogging practices, Blogging practices, episodes and uses), but rereading it now. A couple of sidenotes:

• happy that my initial comments were pretty inline with those of other reviewers and Jan splitted the original paper into two (survey results have moved into Blogging practices in the German-speaking blogosphere. Findings from the "Wie ich blogge?!"-survey)
• Jan uses "framework" and "model" interchangeably, something that is considered to be a sin by one of my professors. I guess I'll call Jan's creation a "framework" :)

Also, Jan points to other blogging articles in the same JCMC issue:

• Anonymity and Self-Disclosure on Weblogs - Hua Qian and Craig R. Scott
• Psychological and Social Influences on Blog Writing: An Online Survey of Blog Authors in Japan - Asako Miura and Kiyomi Yamashita
• Gender Differences in British Blogging - Sarah Pedersen and Caroline Macafee