The Teal Thing

7.4 seconds. Damn.

According to a Pew Internet Research study, a new Weblog is created every 7.4 seconds. That same study shows that nearly 50 million internet users regularly check blogs.

Technically, what it takes to be "hot" in the blogosphere is simple: Get linked to by other bloggers. Really, the blogosphere is a self-sustaining community. The more you get everyone else to link to you, the cooler you are. It kind of reminds me of fourth grade, when I went from being the dorkiest to the coolest kid in the class. You see, I only had a starter jacket when winter rolled around that year. Of course, those were so third grade. I hadn't gotten the memo that Adidas jackets were the new cool things.

Picture a teal one of these and you'll know just how cool I was.

After a month or so of begging and pleading with my parents, there was my teal adidas jacket waiting for me Christmas morning. Not only was I cool because I had an Adidas jacket, but I had the coolest, most original color as well.

It's the same with these crazy blogs. Technorati says that it displays what's "important" in the blogosphere. Blogosphere importance can really be equated to popularity, just as I was the most "important" fourth grader when the school bell started ringing again that January.

The great part is that if you've got "it" - the Adidas jacket of the blogosphere, if you will - you're given the power to determine what's important. Gawker's got "it." They claim to have the power to mold and change the agenda. They claim to be the spot that other agenda-setters go for inspiration. While they might be tooting their own horn a bit, they have posted a rather convincing quote from the New York Times to help their case. The Times said that Gawker was "the national go-to spot for keeping up with the rich and scandalous, the media elite and the pop-culture trends of the moment."

I remember recesses from the January of fourth grade with more detail than any other time at Ascension Catholic grade school. That's because I got to be one of the captains for picking soccer teams. And I know it's because of that sweet teal jacket.

So the question we face is: How do you get that jacket?

The top site on Technorati right now is Boing Boing, with more than 67,000 links from more than 17,000 different Web sites. Looking around the site, it doesn't seem to be anything more than an Internet version of Larry King's People, News & Views - a light smattering of everything from politics to goofy humor. There are other political and entertainment sites and even a woman from Utah's site called "dooce" on the list. But there isn't a magic solution to "it." We just need to keep our eyes open to the latest trends.

Or we could just make our blogs teal.