It is sheer magic that I should be able to hold a one-sided conversation by means of black (and pink) marks on paper a webpage with an unknown person halfway across the world. Talking, broadcasting, writing, and printing are all quite literally forms of thought transference, and it is this ability and eagerness to transfer and receive the contents of the mind that is almost alone responsible for human civilization. (Beatrice Warde, Graphic design and reading: The crystal goblet. 2000.) – my alterations.

So don’t be centophobic. Go forth into the world, and share the “contents of the mind” with others.

I just don’t feel like I have anything to say at the moment.

It is interesting how for the first six-months of this year I was really interested and willing to give some of my time to write on this blog, and then I just stopped. It is like something happens and you don’t have the same motivation to write about current issues and events. I mean I still think about the things I blogged about like religion, advertising, politics and media but I just don’t have the same drive to spend time writing my thoughts and opinions down.

Interesting phenomenon. It probably has a name like ‘blogging fatigue’, or something and has been studied down the minute detail.

Maybe I think my opinions don’t matter. If my blog is for me, and not for a wider audience, why should I publish my ideas rather than just think about them? Or, if my blog is for a wider audience, why write down my thoughts if I don’t know who is reading them and what they think about them? I have had only a few comments on my blog this year, is it really worth the effort for one comment. Where is the conversation, the dialogue?

Who really cares; I stopped blogging. One day I will start again.

Computers are used to “peruse” millions of blogs and messageboards and measure the amount of “chatter” or “buzz” present in the “blogosphere“. Natural Language Processing is used to analyse the language used in posts, to estimate the demographic information of the author (including their age and gender, and maybe even their ethnicity) (Morrissey, 2005) and determine if the “chatter” is negative or positive.

Umbria Communications and BuzzMetrics [now Nielson BuzzMetrics] are two companies that currently gather and analyse online chatter. Umbria’s Buzz Report, analyses content from 16 million blogs, message boards, opinion sites and other public forums (Umbria Inc., 2005). The BuzzMetrics’ Discussion Miner scours blogs, community websites, listservs and Usenet newsgroups and, according to the company website, is able to “track particular users over time” (BuzzMetrics, 2005), or more accurately track particluar user’s opinions over time.

Unlike traditional market research, this form of research does not require participants to give approval for the use of their opinions and comments because blogs are publicly published. However, as Godes and Mayzlin (2004, p.26) point out, the participation of consumers in online communities is “undoubtedly made without the consideration that firms may be observing these conversations and drawing inferences from them”. These technologies may especially cause concern for consumers who consider blogs to be personal online diaries, and use messageboards to provide personal comments.

Some ‘bloggers’ who have discovered the use of these measurement techniques have used their blogs to discuss the topic. One such blog, called Pop Occulture Blog (2005), contains posts which describe this technology as ‘amazing’ and ‘fascinating’, as well as questionable. Jonathan Carson, president and CEO of BuzzMetrics, also took part in the blog. He suggests that the company is helping marketers engage in conversation-based relationships with customers (rather than disseminating information to them) by helping marketers listen to consumers more effectively.

Which means, no doubt, that the companies mentioned have read what I have written about them (and if so I did try to be accurate and neutral).

What do you think? Please comment.

References/More Information:

• BuzzMetrics (2005) “Technology,” retrieved October 25, 2005, from http://www.buzzmetrics.com/approach/ap_technology.htm
• Godes, D., and Mayzlin, D. (2004) “Using Online Conversations to Study Word of Mouth Communication,” retrieved October 25, 2005, from http://www.people.hbs.edu/dgodes/womfinal.pdf
• Got Marketing (2002) “13 Best Practices for Viral Email Marketing,” retrieved October 25, 2005, from http://www.gotmarketing.com/resources/emarketing/bp_viral_marketing.
• Morrissey, B. (2005, Jun. 20) “Blogs Growing Into the Ultimate Focus Group,” Adweek
• Pop Occulture Blog (2005) “Data Mining by BuzzMetrics,” retrieved October 25, 2005, from http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2005/09/26/data-mining-by-buzzmetrics
• Umbria Inc. (2005) “Umbria,” retrieved October 25, 2005, from http://www.umbrialistens.com/home

Technorati Tags: Umbria, Communications, BuzzMetrics, marketing, datamining, Natural, Language, Processing

This article first appeared at the M/Cyclopedia of New Media.