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Tuesday September 8, 2009 ~ 28 Comments
Kent explains that he chose 181 well known blogs, collected data from each blog (Alexa Rank, Compete Visitors, Google PageRank, Google Reader Subscribers, Technorati Authority, and Technorati InLinks), and then ranked them in comparison to the others. A composite rank for each blog is determined by averaging each blogs ranking from the 6 measured criteria. Kent is up front about his method, that he chose some of the well known blogs, and asks for input regarding those he's missing. Yet, I have seen some unhappy bloggers out there. The list from earlier this year (cached here) only ranked 60 blogs, so the move to 100 shows some changes. Two blogs are no longer listed (Gary Lamb, and Mark Waltz). Which means 42 new blogs have been added. And of those 42 additions 17 of them knocked previous blogs below position #60. Out of the top 10, based on my observation, 6 are from the Reformed camp, while only 1 is Emerging. Throughout the list we see great diversity with representation from men, women, Reformed, emerging, Emergent, various denominations, church growth leaders, celebrity pastors, laymen, megachurches, small churches, house churches, the very serious and the humorous. Head over to Church Relevance and check out the list. Where else where you find blogs like Reformation 21, Acts 29, Emergent Village, Desiring God, Al Mohler, and Perry Noble in one list? I think a few things are worth considering. First, it is fascinating to see how dominant the "Reformed camp" is in blog town. Some see the Emerging Church conversation in decline, so that may be reflected in the rankings. But there are many others who consider the Emerging Church as the leading voice calling for change in the church. However, clearly it is the Reformed who are getting traction in the blogosphere. (Now, of course, that could be because those Reformed people are not at all those great contemporary church conference and are, instead, home blogging!) Second, it is interesting to me how these worlds generally do not mix. If there are three major spheres in blog town today, they might be the Reformed, the emerging, and the contemporary. And, I can tell you with a high degree of confidence that those who read Josh Harris generally do not also read Perry Noble. (I would love to introduce them to each other one day.) Third, blogging is a man's world. There are very few women on the list (unless they are contributors like in Out of Ur and GetReligion). I wonder why. Even in my own limited experience, I have noticed that those who leave comments on my blog are mostly men and those who comment on Facebook are much more likely to be women. Fourth, although group blogs are receiving more attention in some circles, it is interesting to me that (depending on your count) 14 or 15 of the top 20 blogs are associated with individuals-- in several cases named after the blogger. That seems less common in secular blogs. For example, this Technorati top 100 ranking shows no "one-man" blog in its top 20. That may speak to the fact that these secular blogs are much more widely read, but I also think it has to do with the connection to the "person" in the Christian world. That can be both positive and negative, but that is for another post on another day. Finally, it is interesting to me how much blogs have become an influence in the church today. I have found that there are few places where I speak that someone does not mention the blog in a side conversation. In addition, through my Google Reader, I track about 100 blogs each day. They are my primary reading on the elliptical. On that note, several have asked me which of these blogs are in my Google reader. Here is the list, as of yesterday, of those on the list that are also in my reader. I try to read widely and, believe it or not, sometimes I read people with whom I disagree. And, the fact that I don't read some on the list is not a statement of their value, this is just a list of those I read now. I plan to add a few more from the new top 100 list in the coming days. 1 Desiring God Feel free to interact on the list or suggest additional blogs here. Posted on September 8, 2009 at 2:19 AM ~ 28 Comments Tagged with: blogs, diversity, popularity, rank, web Subscribe via RSS or Follow us on Twitter
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honored to be on your list ed! hope to run into you again one of these days soon.
Ed, since we are right up the road and seeing God do amazing things, I'd love to be on your radar screen, so here's a shameless plug.
Ron Edmondson
http://www.RonEdmondson.com
I found the list very useful and tipped me to some great blogs I wouldn't have otherwise discovered.
Congrats on the top 25 ranking. :)
I must recommend this as one of the best Christian Blogs from a woman's perspective: http://www.conversiondiary.com/. Well worth reading.
I think the bigger and better question, in ranking "Christian" anything, is why the perversion of the faith that is "reformed theology" would be included in a list, at all.
I think it's far too easy for 'camps' to be be further polarized in the online realm.
Ed, I'd love to hear which blogs you read who aren't no the 'top 100' that you think ought to be.
Thanks for sharing this list. Interesting that you point out the gender divide in blogging. A blogger friend the other day posted about how women are less self-promotional than men. I wonder if that plays into it? Not sure if it holds true any longer, but the 90/9/1 rule used to
hold that online, 90% are lurkers, 9% participate, and 1% create. I always wanted some demographics to go along with that -- how does it fall between men/women?
Anyway, thanks for sharing the list. Some goodies I need to add to my reader, it looks like.
Uh... Seth Godin is #16 on the Technorati list, so that's one "one-man" blog in the top 20.
Your point is still interesting and valid—the most popular Christian bloggers (unlike the most popular secular bloggers) are far more likely to be one man shows.
I'd like to nuance your observation that blogging is a "man's world." Actually, it's a WHITE man's world. Where are the people of color? Not on this list. I guess they are neither Reformed nor emergent enough. That's not a critique of the list per se - the research protocol is fairly well spelled out. But it should make ALL OF US ask what this means in our culture and in the Church of USAmerica.
It seems there are some Christian blogs missing with better numbers in those categories used for measuring.
It's still in interesting mix.
Anybody have a list of small church or rural church blogs?
iMark, agreed. Post them and Ken will see them here or over at his place.
Steve, I tend to agree with you, but I hesitated to add since I am unsure about the ethnicity / race of many of the people mentioned. I could tell they were men (from the name), but was not 100% sure about them being "white." But, you are probably correct.
Brian, forgot about Seth! Good point. But, 1/20 vs. 15/20 is still a pretty big difference.
I really like the list...it's well-balanced and there is a ton of great insight for all parts of life. Tips, discussions, teachings, and opinions are spanning the globe from website development to the latest book.
Brilliant analysis! Grateful to be included in your Google Reader. I'm not real comfortable with the biases in the various web statistics tools, but audience size does say something. I'm also curious to see the complete 181 list, and see where we can help fill out that list.
Your analysis is much more informative about the 3 camps among top bloggers, and the comparison of solo vs team blogs.
I feel like I've read a lot on the subject, but I am still very cloudy on the divide you describe here between "Reformed, emerging, and contemporary". I get Reformed. I most people who are part of the conversation use that word more or less to mean similar things. But emerging/emergent? Every time I think I know what someone means by it I am wrong. And "contemporary", is that just a catch-all group? Isn't there a group of blogs out there by non-reformed, non-emergent, non-contemporary people?
I guess what I need is a Who's Who list that categorizes churches, books, and Christan celebrities so I can finally get my head around this whole discussion. Of course, I'm not sure a static list would be very good since the lines seem to be pretty fluid. Perhaps a daily update on who's in what camp?
By the way how is http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/ not on the list? Beth Moore's blog gets more comments than any blog I have ever been to. Not that I read it. My wife told me about it. :-)
I have started a blog for those interested in Muslim ministry called "Circumploar": a series of short readings related to Muslim ministry intended to equip and resource followers of Jesus to advance the gospel among Muslims.
http://muslimministry.blogspot.com/
Maybe the comments on this post prove your point, Ed. It looks like me and Tiffany are representing the women.
I'm an editor and writer for a major Christian media company. I actually have found most of our writers (for one of our newly launched sites) through blogs and most of the writers happened to be men.
I started blogging seriously as one of my New Year's resolutions. My blog is exported to facebook and I get more comments and messages from my posts on there than I do my actual blog but I would say I've had both men and women comment. I blog about faith, life, and writing at samanthakrieger.com
John- thank you for the link to conversiondiary.com
Really, a very good and insightful post on an interesting topic. Given the fierce movement of technology and culture how we communicate continues to transform.
It is interesting that we have a "Top 100" Blogs post. About 100 years ago we could have had the "Top 100 Pamphlets"...um, pamphlet. This is what evangelicals do. We enjoy the sounds of our own voices and speaking those voices to others.
Now I'm not saying this is wrong, or right, it is the way things always have been. Yet when we look backwards 100 years, forwards 100 years what will be the eternal result of our keyboard meanderings? How does blogging make the Church stronger and the Gospel spreadable?
I dunno, but reading others' contributions seems to help me consider my own. :)
You are the Church!
Robert Angison
I don't agree that blogging is a man's world...depends on the subject matter. I read several blogs on your list and also read lots of mommy blogs of course written by women :)
I'd be honored if anyone would read what I have to say. I mostly write for my own learning and reflection, but it's always nice to get a little affirmation or encouragement.
I'm in your reader? I knew there was something I liked about you . . . He he he
The subject matter probably is the issue. I think for the most part, I see more men blogging on theological issues, being missional, the gospel, etc. I'd love to know if there are other women bloggers writing about their faith in that way?
I usually read blogs that are of that nature.
It's not only a white mans world, it's a white Anglo-American world. I seem to be the only Aussie on the list and from my initial screening it seems the rest of the world is likewise poorly represented. How world wide is the Christian world wide web?
Thoughts on female resprentation. My observation is women write more personally and relationally, which is great for their friends, but less accessible for non-friends. This potentially limits their scalability.
both Josh Harris and Perry Noble are in my google reader.
does that make me weird or balanced?
i do find it funny that the research for the "Top 100" blogs only looked at 180 blogs... (not very thorough?) i wonder if the Reformed dominance is a reflection of a lack of exposure to other blogs?
one more thing. i prefer Mark Waltz (one blog which dropped off the charts) to most of the blogs on the list!
The reason why Reformed bloggers are out-stripping emerging bloggers on this list seems pretty obvious to me: the original 181 blogs from which this list was compiled were personally selected by one guy based on his own perception of "well known" blogs. So if Reformed blogs predominate, it's most likely a reflection of his own personal preferences/perceptions.
On a very much related note, I notice that only THREE of the top 100 blogs are by women. My suspicion is that this is for exactly the same reason.
If only 3 out of 100 blogs are by women, is that because women don't blog as much about theology/church stuff or is it because church blogging is very much a man's world? Hmm...
Then again, if women aren't permitted or encouraged to lead or teach men in theological matters, it kind of makes sense why they would blog about other subjects.
That the Reformed camp dominates this list is no coincidence.
Ed, Thought you might find this Christian Prophecy website interesting, and thanks for sharing sir...
Bible Prophecy- The Rapture
http://bibleprophecy-rapture.blogspot.com
Hebrews 13:2
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Kind Regards,
Hmmmm... fifteen years in Christian literary publishing, contemporary Christian music and ministry and somehow I STILL can't understand what "category" I fit into. Reformed, Emerging, Contemporary... huh?
What is the category that thinks "the church" is asleep at the wheel? What category supports the thought that we as individuals are often behaving like modern day 'Jonhas' and it's time to start living in obedience? What category believes we have too many "professional" Christians that are building walls, not bridges toward unbelievers?
I want to be in the category that believes churches within the same community should encourage participation from the WHOLE community to support outreach efforts. I want to be in the category that preaches Grace and Consequences and isn't afraid to explore the depths of relationships. I want to be part of the group that defeats apathy, defends freedom, speaks truth and isn't envious of the ministry/church/retail group/denomination/church next door that may be "getting" more of the pie than they are currently.
I want to be a follower of Jesus in a more authentic way than I have ever been. I want to be less hedonistic and more holy.
What does that make me because I truly do not know the label?