8.6.03
Of bell curves and blogs
The Observer has an article on why the web and blogs do not adhere to a bell-curve model in terms of links. I wonder about its main premise, though:...whereas normal distributions seem to be endemic in the natural world, power-law distributions are the norm (as it were) in cyberspace. For those of us who are interested in freedom of expression and access to media, this is a troubling discovery. For up to now we have argued that the concentrations of media power and audience share that exist in the real world are the product of capitalist accumulation or inadequate regulatory regimes. But the web and the blogging culture are completely open.It doesn't seem like it would be this simple, though. Wouldn't the fact that internet access, a prerequisite to having a website or running a blog, skew the distribution somewhat? It also doesn't take into account that the most popular bloggers blog all day. Just having a blog isn't enough. And also it seems like the relative newness of the "weblog phenomenon", in comparison to the older media of radio and television, would play a part, too.
Mano Negra (or some other statistically minded egghead out there), help me out!
