Now onto my least favourite topic - metrics. I have to make a case to my colleagues about why I think we should not get into metrics argument or case with clients as I believe that looking at blog from that perspective misses the most important aspect of blogging. iMedia connections writes about blog metrics that include in-bound links, velocity, feedback and stickiness. This makes sense:

Because the heart of social media is in the aggregation and amplification of community expression, metrics based on the strength of the message and quality of the receiver are more valid. As technology consultant Shel Israel told the audience, "While traditional media establishes a passive, static relationship between author and reader, the social media provide true interactive, passionate exchanges of information and ideas."

It is true that neither businesses nor blogs have reached consistency in the measurement of their influence and authority. That is part of the problem with social media - the ability of those who see their potential to convince of their 'power'. Blog are a good demonstration of influence of a single person in an online community but this effect needs to be first understood correctly in order to achieve the same in business context.

We try to avoid metrics - as understood by 'interactive media' types - hits, clicks etc. Not only are such measurement one-dimensional, they change the way people see tools such as blogs and other communication mediums. There is also a problem with understanding what communication is about and just because you cannot measure something the way you are used to, it does not mean it is irrelevant or even intangible.

Technorati is measuring in-bound links and using it as a "vote" for attention to understand a blogging site's influence.
With a database of 3.2 million bloggers, A-list bloggers move to the top of Technorati's list based on the blogger's number of in-bound links. But even this novel approach is considered crude by Technocrati CEO David Sifry who told BlogOn audience:

Only looking at the number of in-bound links is too blunt. We need a measure of relative authority. We're closely watching velocity - the change in the number of a blogger's links in one hour divided by the blogger's total number of links.

For myself, I find the metrics discussed in the article only a starting point. What constantly amazes me about Samizdata.net is not the number of unique visitors but the fact that they happen to be each day. We need metric for affinity and loyalty.

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