MVB + MSM

So I'm kind of liking this "blog tournament" idea Joseph Jaffe started recently.  I think what I like about it is that it's kind of random.  Basically Jaffe posed the question "what are some of the most valuable blogs in your opinion?" and used the comments on his blog to cultivate some of the entries.  He then took these and placed them into a list which can be voted upon.

So why do I think this is interesting?

Couple of reasons.  First off, like I said it's kind of random and by soliciting from his readers—Jaffe bypasses the "conventional" blog success indicators such as Technorati, RSS subscriptions, Alexa rankings etc.  If you threw up a link that you found "valuable"—it was thrown into the ring.  Of course we need to realize that the blogs are mostly skewed to the marketing-related space due to Jaffe's audience, but that's kind of a given.

But something else caught my attention.  BusinessWeek's Nussbaum On Design made the list and Bruce writes about being honored by being featured alongside some of his favorite bloggers.  Let's take a moment to digest this nuance.  A member of the mainstream media takes pride in being included in a list created and composed of "bloggers".  Has it not traditionally not been the other way around?  As I've stated in many ways before—the relationship between the MSM and content creating citizens is becoming more open—more like a dialogue.  It's still slow going but it does appear to be happening.  This doesn't mean that lines are blurred in my opinion—but it does show subtle signs of mutual respect and credibility.  And maybe a new kind of "media collaboration".  See visuals below:

Anyway, it's more of an observation than anything else.  I just wonder if it's something we'll see more of.  What do you think?  PS, there are some really good blogs on the list.  If you see one you haven't checked out before—take a moment to do so:

1. Logic + Emotion - http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/
2. Russel Davies - http://russelldavies.typepad.com/
3. "Why Business People Speak Like Idiots" - http://www.fightthebull.com/blog/
4. "Eggs, Bacon, Chips & Beans" - http://russelldavies.typepad.com/eggbaconchipsandbeans/
5. Seth Godin - http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
6. Jaffe Juice - http://feeds.feedburner.com/jaffejuice
7. Cool Hunting – http://www.coolhunting.com/
8. NussbaumOnDesign -http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/NussbaumOnDesign/index.html
9. Beyond Madison Avenue - http://www.beyondmadisonavenue.com/
10. Wired – http://blog.wired.com/
11. Adverlab – http://adverlab.blogspot.com/
12. BrandAutopsy - http://brandautopsy.typepad.com/
13. Gaping Void - http://www.gapingvoid.com/
14. Hello_World - http://missinglink.typepad.com/hello_world/
15. Mark Cuban - http://www.blogmaverick.com/
16. SpringWise - http://www.springwise.com/
17. PSFK - http://www.psfk.com
18. Adliterate by Richard Huntington - http://www.adliterate.com/
19. http://servantofchaos.typepad.com/
20. http://conversationagent.typepad.com/
21. http://blog.creativethink.com/
22. http://www.scottweisbrod.com/index.php/
23. http://www.micropersuasion.com
24. http://www.toprankblog.com
25. http://www.pronetadvertising.com
26. Where's The Sausage - http://wheresthesausage.typepad.com/
27. Branding Strategy Insider - http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/
28. http://www.ck-blog.com/
29. http://powrightbetweentheeyes.typepad.com/
30. Church of the Consumer - http://www.churchofthecustomer.com/blog/
31. Modern Life is Rubbish - http://www.modernlifeisrubbish.co.uk/
32. radical Trust - http://www.radicaltrust.ca

Comments

[jJ]

Dude, you didn't just put that together now did you? WOW

How about a bracket visual?

Should have the seedings in place by end of day today :)

[Radical Trust]

Jaffe is such an instigator!
I love it.

collin

[John Dodds]

Excuse my cycnicism, but such lists are also a nice way to boost one's traffic and, as such, lead to gaming.

More seriously, I think the informal aggregation of blogs defeats the explorative nature of the blogosphere. I ahve no rational as to why that's a bad thing, but it just feels like that.

[David Armano]

Jaffe, those are recycled visuals. I'm not THAT fast.

John, I agree—a bit cynical. Unlike the Squidoo Z list where folks were voting blogs down, this seems harmless and might even give some lesser-known blogs a shot at some recogntion.

[Max Kalehoff]

David,
First, I voted. Second, interesting feedback you offered. Third, you note that "Jaffe bypasses the "conventional" blog success indicators such as Technorati, RSS subscriptions, Alexa rankings etc." That is actually key, and reminds me of an interesting paper I read this week at the International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media, a technical conference for social media research scientists. Basically, a group of academics from Brazil found that blog traffic/popularity doesn't necessarily correlate with inbound links. My point, I guess, is there is much validity to social-navigational gestures, such as Jaffe's MVB. But why aren't I included :-)? More on that paper here: http://www.attentionmax.com/blog/2007/03/inbound_links_dont_necessarily_correlate_with_blog_popularity.php.

See you in Chicago in a few weeks!
Max

[Valeria Maltoni]

Awakening the Child Within. That is the title of my post on this ;-) Coming...

[Amelia Torode]

While part of me dislikes the idea of "this is the best blog, this is the second best blog etc etc", there are so many blogs out there that it is sometimes hard to find the really smart stuff, but for me it's also important to keep finding fresh stuff. I'll be interested in seeing how the voting pans out.

[Eric Friedman]

Left off another list. ::sigh::