Chocolate and Gold Coins

Friday, July 29, 2005

The Most Popular Blogger

Today is Friday. It is time for a light Friday post.

Who is the most popular blogger (MPB) in the Indian blogosphere? I’m not necessarily asking who has the most popular blog, although any big blogger would be an obvious candidate for MPB. By far, the biggest blog in the Indian/desi blogoshere is Sepia Mutiny, and, of course, the SM bloggers are all enormously popular, especially Abhi Tripathi (who once commented on this post) and Manish Vij. Other candidates might be Amit Varma of India Uncut, Prem Panniker of Sightscreen, Patrix/Ash of Desipundit and maybe Kiruba Shankar of Kiruba.

However, I would define popularity in a slightly different way than just, “I like to read his/her blog.” I would define popularity as, “I really like that person.” This gets back to a question posed by the post: “are blog friendships phony?” Can you really know that you like X just because X writes a nice blog and comments nicely on your blog. But if blogger were politicians running for office, you really wouldn’t have any other information. So maybe this is the way to think about the popularity question: “if all of the bloggers were running for class president, which one would you vote for.”

Again, you might vote for any of the famous Indian bloggers, but I know one blogger who would get a ton of votes way beyond the popularity of his blog: Sunil Laxman. Why? – Because Sunil comments on everyone’s blog. To some extent, he is everyone’s personal blog buddy. I don’t have any idea where he finds the time to do it. But I’m sure that a lot of minor bloggers (like me) really appreciate that someone bothers to comment on their blog, and therefore Sunil is enormously popular.

So here is the question: Whom would you vote for as your personal MPB? Please don’t vote for me – I say that because I would otherwise be hurt when no one did. Is there someone else who would be everyone’s blog buddy: Charu, Uma, Sayesha, Kaps, Patrix/Ash, or someone else?

Please comment.

Update: Read Vikram Arumilli's excellent post on ranking Indian bloggers by page rank.

posted by Michael Higgins at 05:21 | permalink

66 Comments:

  • Michael,
    There are a bunch of other bloggers that i dub 'famous bloggers' for the want of a better term. They are famous outside the blogosphere as well and some of that rubs off on their blogs. This includes Ashok Banker (http://indianenglish.blogspot.com. Am sure there must be other journalists/ media personalities who run blogs and are famous.
    Going by your definition though- I'd rate Kaps tops simply cos i know him for a long time (in the physical world though :)
    Largely, blog friendships seem to be phony - its like a 'i scratch your back and you scratch mine' arrangement. There are exceptions -I have seen some frienships forming through blogging meet (but then that's offline, isn't it- only the start of the friendship was blogging).
    Interesting blog - wherever u try to impose a bit of economics on real world situations - reminds me of my own professors!
    - puddles.

    By Blogger Vaibhav Arora, at 7:02 AM  

  • Hi Puddles
    I had not heard of Ashok Banker before. Obviously, if you are already famous, your blog will be famous and you will be a famous blogger.

    That is interesting that you know Kaps. Whick Chennai bloggers have you met and have become friends with?

    Thanks for the kind words. I hope that my blog does not sound too much like a college lecture.

    By Blogger Michael Higgins, at 7:18 AM  

  • Michael
    I would nominate Dilip D'souza and his blog 'Death Ends Fun'. I also immensely enjoy Vikrum Sequeira's Vislumbres and his articles on teaching the kids in India. Charu, Ashish Hanwadikar and Uma are other two bloggers besides you, Sunil and Curious Gawker whose bogs I regularly visit. So from my POV, I do not warrant a bloggers personal friendship, but as long as the articles make me sit up and think about socially relevent issues, I would be happy to nominate them the class captain.
    Sourin

    By Blogger Sourin Rao, at 8:19 AM  

  • Hi Sourin (chappen)
    I was remiss in not including Delip D'Souza. I don't read his blog everyday but I do come across it frequently and I know his is a well respected and popular author in his own right. Maybe I should read it more often - but where's the time.

    The question, though, is less "who writes blogs you like" but "which bloggers do you like" which might mean they have visited your blog and shown some interest in your blog. I can think of many bloggers who write great blogs but would never come visit my blog or your blog. They cannot be bothered. So I like their blogs but not them so much.

    By Blogger Michael Higgins, at 8:39 AM  

  • Michael, interesting thingy you have going here :)
    agree with what you say about popular bloggers, whose blogs I like, never bothering to visit other blogs - I often wonder what kind of attitude makes them that way?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:51 AM  

  • Michael
    Would you vote someone president, just because they satisfied or gratified my personal ego or because they stand for something that you beleive is right and you believe that they will stand by their convictions ? So I will take issue at the statement that "I like someone because they visited my blog".

    There are many personal friends who visit my blogs regularly and sometimes comment as well. I read their blogs as well, most of which are of a personal nature involving their daily lives.

    So by your definition, would I term them as "Most Popular Blogger" ? I dont think so.
    Sourin

    By Blogger Sourin Rao, at 9:00 AM  

  • Hi Charu
    I the defense of some of these bloggers, once they get to be "biggies" it may be very hard for them to visit all of their many fans. I find it hard to keep up with my blogroll, (sorry if I haven't visited your blog recently). And sometimes I visit and I have nothing to say. And I have a relative small list of "fans". I would expect the biggies like Abhi Tripathi and Manish Vij and Amit to come to my blog often, let alone comment, but if they do, I really appreciate it.

    What I think is odd is the bloggers who will not ever comment on their own comments section. I remember someone defining them as blogsnobs. I think that is appropriate.

    By Blogger Michael Higgins, at 9:13 AM  

  • Hi Sourin (chappan)
    I wrote about running for president, I wrote "class president" which is purely a popularity contest. As for a president of a country: yes you would want some substance. But popularity help there too. You never want to vote for someone you think is a bad person even if he/she has positions closer to yours. Always vote for good people. So, yeah, go for the guy/gal who gratifies your ego and hope he/she is half intelligent as well. :)

    By Blogger Michael Higgins, at 9:23 AM  

  • Popular is too vague a term to measure a blog. I would consider 2 criterions A) Quality of Readership B) Quantitative Measure of Readership. B is objective and can be measured, while A is subjective and hence does not lend itself to easy analysis.

    Desi blogs which I frequent like are Winds of Change, Chocolateandgoldcoins, India-Uncut, Vulturo & The Examined life.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:42 AM  

  • Hi Sean
    Thanks for your comments.
    Winds of Change (which is down now) is that a Indian blog? I never knew that. I thought it was Canadian. Are there some famous Indian/desi bloggers associated with it?

    Ravikiran's blog "The Examined Life is very good, and he will comment on his own comment section. I don't think he has every visited me (if he has and commented on my site apologies) and has never linked to me so that diminishes his popularity with me a notch. But I'm sure if I ever did meet him, I would think he was a great guy.
    I don't recall seeing him comment on other's blogs.

    Saket (aka vulturo) who has joined desipundit with Patrix/Ash, Vikram, and Kaps, writes an excellent blog that I have linked to often. He would rank very high on any popularity list.

    By Blogger Michael Higgins, at 10:22 AM  

  • Hi Uma
    I should visit your site more often - where's the time?

    I am glad you made it over here.

    By Blogger Michael Higgins, at 11:05 AM  

  • Not quite the same, but we are a bunch of friends who just started a new blog project, Seven Deadly Cynics. Let us know what you think.

    All best,
    the s.d.c.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:20 AM  

  • Thanks Michael, although I must say you are making me blush. :)

    In answer to Charu's question those of us who are blessed by a high "hit count" on our websites get caught in a downward spiral. The more people that read your blog the more you feel obligated to put out more good material everyday. The more good material you put out the more people read your blog. The spiral continues until you lose your girlfriend and your schoolwork/job suffers. Soon you suffer a nervous breakdown and require therapy. We do read other peoples websites but we lurk there usually since time spent leaving comments worth reading on other people's sites would take away from posting on our own. It sucks but thats what happens.

    Someday I hope to enter re-hab and then I will read an comment on other peoples blogs more often. :)
    -Abhi

    By Blogger The Elephant, at 11:27 AM  

  • Hi Abhi
    Thanks for coming by.
    You could not possibly visit all of the sites that blogroll and link to Sepia Mutiny regularly. But I do appreciate it when you do come visit and the fact that you read and respond to comments on Sepia Mutiny.

    By Blogger Michael Higgins, at 11:33 AM  

  • Abhi, I appreciate what you say about lack of time to comment on others' blogs - blog hopping can be quite taxing :) but I am a fan of conversational blogging - and that gets enhanced by visiting and commenting on other blogs...

    maybe fewer blogs but more "quality time" (to the extent of leaving comments!) is the solution to this? keep dialogue channels open, without letting your own blog posting suffer?

    but not responding to comments people leave on one's own blog, cant think of any reasonable excuses for that one...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:51 AM  

  • Michael.......I'm awfully embarrassed and flattered with the pitch I get in your post today....

    To me.....if I read something that makes me think, I would like to discuss it to learn more.....so I usually comment on most posts that make me think. I don't read more blogs than most people.....I probably spend a total of about an hour and a half daily reading blogs, but usually comment on interesting and high quality posts.

    I guess it comes from having lots of academic discussions over coffee with collegues from various research areas.......we in academia like to talk :-)


    But amongst the "more famous" bloggers....I would rate Dilip very highly, and Uma, and Amardeep.....they respond to most comments (though it's almost impossible to keep up with Uma's rate of blogging).

    Charu's very good with leaving comments........I think her attitude is a bit like mine....if something makes you think, you leave a comment :-)

    By Blogger Sunil, at 12:13 PM  

  • Hi Charu
    I suppose if you are getting 50 comments per post, you cannot keep up. But if you only get 2 or 3 comments (which is what happens when you have a great blog but never respond to comments) you would think that one would want to say something. But it does take time. Maybe, these bloggers have decided that they will be disciplined about the time they expend. Or maybe they are blogsnobs.

    By Blogger Michael Higgins, at 12:24 PM  

  • Hi Vikram
    Intelligent comments deserve an intellegent reply. Most of my comments are very high quality and it make for a pleasant experience. I did get a really odd one above (vulgar - deleted) but that's the exception.

    Hi Sunil:
    You're a big bluffmaster!
    One hour a day? Is that what you tell your wife?
    How is it possible that everywhere I go, Sunil was there first. Sites I have never been to before and I'll see a nice long thoughtful comment by Sunil Laxman. How is this possible in 1 hour per day?

    Anyway, you're a much "loved" (see above) blogger in the blogosphere and for many bloggers the only hope that anyone will ever read and consider what they spent an hour or two to write will be if you come and comment on their blog.

    By Blogger Michael Higgins, at 12:35 PM  

  • Good Question Michael and I like your idea of defining Popular...

    I will have to hink over and vote now.....

    By Blogger Amit, at 12:55 PM  

  • I second what Abhi says. Although my readership is just around half of SM's, and I suspect you overestimate it, I find myself working hard to please my readers, and trying to blog as often and as well as I can. I'd rather spend my internet time blogging than commenting on other people's blogs, though I read blogs I like voraciously and link to any interesting posts I find.

    In fact, I wonder who these popular bloggers are that Charu speaks of, who never visit other blogs. How naughty of them! Tsk, tsk.

    By Blogger amit varma, at 1:22 PM  

  • I'll stand by what I said......30 minutes of blog reading in the morning, 45 or so at work (mostly during coffee time (like now), or lunch), and 30 minutes or so in the evening (coffee time again)!!

    Except on blogmela days, when I spend waaaay too much time reading posts.

    But, this means I cannot post daily.....since I work hard on good quality posts. So, I usually have 3 posts a week.

    But here's my question......where do you find the time to comment on various blogs (where I find Michael before me :-), AND post an excellent post daily, sometimes twice a day?!

    By Blogger Sunil, at 1:41 PM  

  • Hi @mit
    Keep thinking...

    Hi Amit
    Nice to see you here. This has been a real party. Wonderful coverage of the Mumbai flooding Btw. Much better than the newspapers (so I've read, and read, and read).

    There is no possible way that you could keep up with all of the blogs that link to India Uncut. IU has become a real blog phenomenon. And yet if I write to you, you (almost always) reply. I find that remarkable. That's why you would get my vote for MPB if you were running for President of Indian Blogdom.

    By Blogger Michael Higgins, at 1:49 PM  

  • Hi Sunil
    I admire your efficiency.
    Hmm... Your comment about 3 quality posts instead of maybe posting everyday, maybe twice a day with half of it being not so good...hmm.
    Yes, maybe if I focused on quality instead of quantity, I would have a much better blog. But I don't bother with pictures and stuff so it doesn't take me too long to write a post. I usually have it in mind and type it out before work.

    I definitely spend too much time doing this stuff. No doubt.

    By Blogger Michael Higgins, at 1:58 PM  

  • My deepest apologies to Dilip D'Souza for misspelling his name above. But the link above does lead to his excellent blog Death Ends Fun.

    This poses a question: is it better to have your name spelled correctly and no link or misspelled but a good link?

    By Blogger Michael Higgins, at 2:48 PM  

  • Michael........I was quite sure my question was "how do you manage more than 1 EXCELLENT post everyday"......

    The mind is amazed by the largely uniform quality (mostly chocolate) of your posts. Uma's quality of posts just blows me away, and there are 4-10 in a day!

    Now, that, in my mind, is supreme efficiency.

    By Blogger Sunil, at 3:00 PM  

  • I think Amit Varma is the "Instapundit" of India, probably the most popular Indian blogger.
    Other great Indian blogs are those of Uma MD , Dilip D'Souza , and Desimediabitch.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:10 PM  

  • Lookey lookey Michael...now see what u've started :))) See u all Monday. Off to the Upper Penninsula for the weekend.
    Sourin

    By Blogger Sourin Rao, at 3:18 PM  

  • Sunil: Indeed, you did say "excellent" and I appreciate the compliment. I think that some of my posts could be better, but I would have to put in more time, and I don't want to. Maybe I'll cut down to 3 or 4 posts per week.

    Daniel: Definitely Amit is amazing. And he doesn't get paid for all that work too. Soon, cricket season will start and Amit will have to go back to his day job. But Amit is a great cricket writer. What ever happened to 23 Yards or even Cricket Uncut?

    Sourin (chappan)
    Indeed...have a great weekend


    And I'm off for the weekend as well.

    See you Monday.

    Oh...and if you are the 10,000 visitor to my blog, let me know, and I'll give you a special mention somewhere.

    By Blogger Michael Higgins, at 3:36 PM  

  • Michael,

    I am a little late in getting here. Better late than never.

    I have to agree Sunil Laxman is Mr Popular.

    I have always found your discussions with Sunil very entertaining. Especially the one on rasam and sambar:)

    From now on, I will be lurking around here as well :)

    By Blogger Riot, at 11:02 PM  

  • Perhaps we could do a poll on this at DesiPundit

    But I guess, it is very obvious that Amit Varma is the undisputed king of Indian Bloggers, If Bloglines Subscriptions are anything to go by, or even the valuation on Blogshares (http://www.blogshares.com) or for that matter a Technorati Search for links

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:41 PM  

  • Don't get me wrong, but what I see here is the best example of 'I scratch your back, and you do that to mine'!! Ironic to read 'thanks for mentioning me' more than once in the comment section.

    Good going :-?

    By Blogger eismcsquare, at 12:27 AM  

  • Is popularity/famous-ness just a factor of comments - isn't it about interactions outside of blogworld? Isn't how well you move with a blogger offline? In the real world?

    I consider it a good day if I mail/speak/chat with three bloggers and not one mention is made of either of our posts.

    Popularity also is a factor of how often you update, the care you take to reply to comments, and how relevant your post is. That count, more than half the entire blogdom is popular and equally so.

    By Blogger Ravages/CC, at 1:07 AM  

  • Hi Michael,

    I don't think whether I deserve the mention in your blog. I know Puddlefrog bcoz both of us did our MBA together. I guess Rashmi Bansal (http://youthcurry.blogspot.com) can also be regarded as one of the Popular Bloggers. I would like to draw a distinction between Popular Blog and Popular Blogger. You might like a blog for the content, but you may not be sure if you might not be sure whether u'll like the blogger.

    However u can start liking a blogger based on online (not necessarily thru blogs) and offline interaction. Under normal circumstances, if you like a blog, you might start liking the blogger as well.

    By Blogger Kaps, at 10:08 AM  

  • Amit Varma, I must say, would be my most popular blogger for I started this whole blog thing by reading his blog 23 yards on Cricinfo.

    By Blogger Iyer the Great, at 1:51 PM  

  • Michael, let's make a deal to mis-spell each others' names whenever possible. How's that?

    But seriously, thanks to you and the others for the mentions here. I appreciate them. And I shall read you now.

    By Blogger Dilip D'Souza, at 2:40 PM  

  • From the comments it is clear the backpatting in Indo Blogosphere is in full switch.

    Bottomline:

    You can become a popular blogger by

    1. ..being a jobless dude who has access to broadband net 24x7

    2. ..you are bored in your job and use employer's bandwidth to browse all the blogs and write comments all over

    3. ..bored NRI who is out of place in his adopted land unable to adjust to local community, so ends up on all Indian blogs leaving comments. Not to mention the "solution" to all of India's problems.

    I guess all the toppers you have mentioned can easily fall into these three categories?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:21 AM  

  • Anonymous,

    >>I guess all the toppers you have mentioned can easily
    >>fall into these three categories? [Emphasis mine.]

    So you merely guess? Oh then it's fine... And, ever heard of a concept called "hobby"?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:20 PM  

  • Hi Vulturo, Dilip, Kaps, Srikanth, Squared, and others.
    What a response to this silly post! It just proves what narcists bloggers are. :)

    By Blogger Michael Higgins, at 6:56 AM  

  • Sayesha's got my vote. I don't know who Sayesha is, but like many of the people who read her blog, I feel a certain warmth that is there. Damn cozy place. 'Sayeshaz' - the place to be. I always find myself smiling after reading her blog. Addictive man.

    Simple and pure. Funny and intelligent. Emotional and so genuine. Definately my favourite blogger by far.

    By Blogger Sahil, at 10:31 AM  

  • Hey Michael,

    Dang! I missed the greatest party of all. Too bad I was on the road when this was posted. Thanks a lot for the mention and I am flattered to be counted as one of the popular bloggers (via DesiPundit)...SM and Amit are leagues above me.

    I agree with some that popular blog and popular bloggers might be two different concepts. It is important to comment and keep a personal touch to your blog to maintain a friendly persona however with the number of blogs I have been following continuously increasing, esp.due to DesiPundit I find it hard to keep up and comment but I do try to chime in whenever possible.

    --Patrix

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:32 AM  

  • there is an interesting discussion on the relevance of the A-list during the BlogHer conference

    check here

    By Blogger Gautam Ghosh, at 12:17 PM  

  • Michael,
    Ashok Banker is the author of Ramayana retold in 6 volumes. The first 4 are already out - 'Prince of Ayodhya', 'Siege of Mithila', 'Demons of Chitrakoot' and 'Armies of Hanuman'.
    I have met some other Chennai bloggers via blogging meet.
    I agree with Srikanth about blogging being a hobby - but during the meet, i had a feeling that bloggers are not only narcissistic, but some of them also have a rather sad 'real world' social life. For a fair number of bloggers, there's little happening outside the blogosphere -and they are the ones who tend to be in a 'networking through blog' mode more than the others.
    This is in-line with the other modes available on the interenet for social networking (including chat, dating sites, discussion groups, etc)
    There are ofcourse people who have this as just another dimension of their lives. From the limited exposure that i have to blogosphere - i believe these people have more interesting blogs, simply because they have more interesting (happening?) lives!
    cheers!
    puddles

    By Blogger Vaibhav Arora, at 11:46 PM  

  • Hi Patrix, Sahil, Gautam, and Puddles

    Patrix: It's not like everyone was here at the same time. Anyway, I'm sure desipundit will become more popular over time, I check it several times a day.

    Sahil: Sayesha does have an interesting blog. She is enormously popular with her circle and her fame as a blogger is growing. I think she should write a book. I would buy it.

    Gautam: Thanks for the link. I know that Anna of Sepia Mutiny was at BlogHer. She hasn't posted about BlogHer on SM yet.

    Puddles: Bloggers havings sad social lives...probably true.

    By Blogger Michael Higgins, at 4:56 AM  

  • Hey Michael,
    I have a post partly inspired by your post, and partly inspired by my own negative thinking. :)

    Worst Popular Indian Blog

    By Blogger Sibyl, at 11:33 PM  

  • Michael,
    Deepak has a ranking of blogs based on Technorati.
    http://www.antrix.net/journal/misc/technorati_desi_blog_rankings.html

    By Blogger Kaps, at 12:10 PM  

  • Michael,
    I am touched and honoured that you like me ;) I like you too and read you regularly. I've actually been meaning to link to your post on the difference s between India, US and Finland for quite some time.

    I do comment on others' sites. If I do so rarely, it is not because of snobbery. It is because when I find something interesting, I have quite a bit to say about it. I don't like to clutter other people's site with long comments, so I decide to make a post out of it. Sometimes I actually carry out my decision. :)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:03 PM  

  • Hello Sybil, Kaps, and Ravikiran
    Sybil: I don't know about the worst popular blogs. All the popular blogs seem really good. I wonder why that is?

    Kaps: Thanks for the link.

    Ravikiran: Thanks for coming by. If I find something interesting, I like to link to it. Leaving comments does take time, but if they are thoughtful, I think they add something to the post. But I can only comment on every 20th blog I read. Comments take time.

    By Blogger Michael Higgins, at 2:59 PM  

  • What is the average time that these *popular* blogs took to reach there?.. that might be an interesting statistic to look at!

    By Blogger Aswin, at 11:05 PM  

  • Hi Ashwin
    It takes a while to get established. Sepia Mutiny has a site meter that you can visit at the bottom of the page. Look at the "Year Visits" graph and you'll see it took nearly a year to get to where they are now. They only peaked about 2 months ago.
    In my case, I have nearly tripled my readers in the last two months. On the other extreme, a blogger I know "Half Sigma" kind of slacked off blogging and his readership fell by 65% in just one month.

    By Blogger Michael Higgins, at 10:41 PM  

  • Michael,
    I'd like to suggest Bhavna's blog.
    http://thegirlinthehat.blogspot.com

    She really got me hooked onto her blog!

    Cheers!

    By Blogger Sandeep, at 6:08 AM  

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