Add blogs to the Linux/Open Source/Apple list

Blogdex confirms again today something I’ve been thinking about for a while. This Newsweek story on blogs is the latest addition to a steady stream of mainstream business & technology publications to chronicle the rise of the blogosphere.

Back when I was running InfoWorld’s news department, we used to joke that the best way to generate tons of hits on the site was write about Linux, Open Source, or Apple – or hit the jackpot by wrapping all three subjects into one (preferably in the headline).

Doesn’t take too many brain cells to realise that you can now add "blogs" to the mix of easy traffic generators, thanks to the blog "echo chamber" mentioned in the Newsweek story. Look at the index of blogs linking to Newsweek piece.

Meanwhile, a happy discovery for me in the same story. I’ve been trying to remember the name of HP’s blog research (see prior post), and here it is:

A good idea gets amplified by the "echo chamber" of the blogosphere. It need not be the original thought of the blogger. In fact, as scientists from the HP Information Dynamics Lab wrote in a paper titled "Implicit Structure and the Dynamics of Blogspace," ideas move on the blogosphere like viruses; the alpha bloggers spread concepts like Typhoid Marys.

Thanks to Google I’ve also found the report, available in pdf. I’ve printed it off for some compelling bed-time reading…