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Daters and Waiters – Serving Up Blogs…

In my blog-related travels this week, came across two unique blog “case studies,” if you will.

Check out the very funny Waiter Rant, which features daily dispatches from the front lines of a New York restaurant.  Sample: “On second thought I don’t like this table!” she hisses with carcinogenic petulance, “I’m leaving!”

Click here for a related article and links to more blogs that feature server-scribes.

And a warning for singles – you may be blogged! Read one man’s account of dating a blogger who “chronicled her dating life” for all to read. But what happens when the relationship progresses… and then it all comes to an end only for break-up pain to be broadcast to all? How does online blogging impact offline dating and relating? An interesting sociological question.

Music, Medical & Marketing Blogs - Oh My!

Recent estimates place the number of blogs at 14 million, with bloggers posting content about 275,000 times per day on every possible topic you can imagine. To help the curious blog-tracker filter through some of the more niche blogs, Forbes has compiled its "Blogs That Matter" list. There are blogs devoted to a plethora of categories, including autos, art, career, economics, literary works (Blog of a Bookslut), marketing, media, music, medical and more.

And also check out an item on something we'll be hearing more about in the near future: video bloggers, or "vloggers." Using digital video cameras, vloggers are producing newscasts, such as New York City's Rocketboom, daily news reports - with a twist. 

What's Your Blog Worth in Dollars??

If you can't answer that question then you need to check out BlogShares, a site that bills itself as "a fantasy stock market where weblogs are the companies." The concept is clever - value is calculated by the "link effect" and the actual trading that goes on between members. To find the valuation of your blog, enter the URL into the box on the right side of the screen just above the members area.

Maybe the idea isn't as far fetched as one would think given the vast amount of money that can be made on the Internet. It reminds us of the EPIC video clip from SnarkMarket that forecasted fictional web wars of the future. In the fascinating scenario explored in this story, bloggers are the newsmakers and paid for their digital content based on popularity and consumption.

RELIGIOUS BLOGS SPREAD THE WORD

Christian bloggers claim the blogosphere allows them to reach a “lively and diverse audience” with whom to debate, discuss and share… on everything from Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ to religious, social and political issues.

"It's rewiring completely how the world gets its information. That barrier and those distortions are now gone.... The ability to reach everyone is now here, and good Christian bloggers have to flood the zone," says one Christian blogger.

Christians discover power of 'blogosphere'

3% of Americans Read Blogs Daily..

Are bloggers journalists and subject to the same laws as journalists (think California's shield law, which protects journalists from having to reveal their story sources)? As that question continues to inspire debate (recall the recent ruling re: the three blogs that published leaked information about an unreleased Apple product), here are some new statistics re: exactly how many people are turning to blogs for their daily dose of news.

As reported in ZDNet:

3% of Americans read blogs daily and only 7% of Americans are very familiar with online blogs, according to a Gallup Poll.

19% are somewhat familiar with blogs, 18% are not too familiar and the remaining 56% of Americans are not familiar at all.

Where do Americans get their news? The percentage of Americans getting their news on a daily basis from the mainstream media is 51% for local television news, 44% for local newspapers, 39% for cable news networks, 36% for the nightly broadcast network news, and 21% for radio talk shows. 3% of Americans say they read Internet blogs every day, and just 2% read politics-focused blogs daily.

Who Reads Blogs? "Influentials"

Thanks to Robb Hecht for this post, tagging a recent survey by BlogAds.

Lawyers Read Blogs

Thanks to Media Culpa for this one. No big surprise here. And did we not say it's the year of the lawyer? Better believe it is.