To Link or Not to Link

After finishing the last few chapters of “Linked: How Everything is Connected to Everything Elseand What it Means for Business, Science, and Everyday Life” by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi my brain is tired. Sometimes the concept of blogging seems simple, right? Create a blog with a relevant topic, take pictures, post blogs, comment on other blogs, and bam! Internet success overnight! Only, it never really happens that way. There are so many pieces to this blogging puzzle that it can seem daunting and overwhelming. I take the time to take pictures of my food, my outfits, and my day-to-day happenings, write an eloquent post (that’s relative), and post it to my blog. It gets a few hits but no comments and certainly no overnight popularity. It makes me question, “What am I doing wrong?”

Technically, I (as a blogger) am not doing anything “wrong.” When thinking about the Internet, we have to consider the code and architecture of our cyberspace. “Code – or software – is the bricks and mortar of cyberspace. The architecture is what we build, using the code as building blocks” (174). The architecture is determined by “code” and “collective human actions” which includes the way we interact with the Internet or in this case, the “blog-o-sphere”. The reason why my blog did not gain popularity overnight is due to my blog having too weak of a voice. Consider the fact that there are many blogs out there basically selling what I’m selling: daily happenings and some fashion. As a reader, you have probably seen and read what I have to say already. The Internet has no way to search me because I’m not part of the “hub.” In order for a search engine to notice me, I must have “twenty-one to one hundred incoming links” (174). This means that other bloggers are linking to me because they agree with my view, liked something on my page (or not), and/or want others to check out something they have discovered. “Your ability to find my Webpage is determined by one factor only: its position on the Web… my node will slowly turn into a minor hub, and search engines will inevitably notice” (175).

By linking, we are creating a network of bloggers who share similar interests and ideas. I believe one thing my blog lacks is a specific topic. At first, my blog was about my weight-loss journey, then it turned into a half-assed fashion blog, and then I just started writing about my daily happenings. In order to have a stronger voice in the blogging world, I have to have a stance. It can be difficult to find when my time to blog is limited and I’m sure you feel the same. “Linked” has given me some great insight to how the internet works and how I can make the internet work for me. At first, you may feel overwhelmed with the topics as they range from networking to viruses (AIDS), but it may help steer your blog and the way you use your blog in a different (and better) direction!

So my lovely bloggers, it’s time to start linking to your favorite blogs to make this hub grow! 

Also - see this video about "Linked" as I thought it was a great overview of the book: "Connected: How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer".

Connecting Bloggers

This week I was asked to read, “Linked: How Everything is Connected to Everything Else and What it Means for Business, Science, and Everyday Life” by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi and at first, the concepts were difficult for me to wrap my head around. Albert-Laszlo discusses the importance of “connections” and how these connections began as mathematical theories which let's face it, I'm terrible at math! But for the sake of blogging purposes I overcame my fear of learning math and then realized I didn't need to know math to understand his concepts and found two that I want to discuss from the book. As a blogger, it’s important for me to understand how to generate traffic on my page, network with other bloggers, and then how to maintain those connections and keep traffic. It’s not as easy as posting link and commenting on another blog, it takes a lot more thought. Let’s consider these concepts: nodes and links and six degrees of separation.

Nodes and links are the driving force behind all interactions in person and on the web. Nodes are considered “people” or “points on a network.” It is by these nodes that we connect by links to from networks. Think about the networks you have created through other people. When I first read about this concept I thought of the fashion blogging world. The majority of fashion bloggers, especially popular ones like GabiFresh, created a network of not only readers but supporters and fans and other bloggers who were doing the same thing. Gabi is part of the Young and Posh Blogger Network: a network of nodes (individual bloggers) who link (create a network) to each other’s site. The website dedicated to the network does a great job of showing the connection between these bloggers. Another network for fashion bloggers is Independent Fashion Bloggers where you can find other fashion bloggers, learn about meet ups, and gain some fashion blogging knowledge!

Now that we know a little about nodes and networks (people and how they ‘link up’), let’s think about the Kevin Bacon game (Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon) and how this theory may not be a game after all. First, let’s say that the world is not as big as we think it is. According to the Poisson distribution “most of us have roughly the same number of friends and acquaintances. It predicts that it is exponentially rare to find someone who deviates from the average by having considerably more or fewer links than the average person” (22). This means that the potential to create bigger and better networks is increased. You may be asking yourself, “why then, do I not have more followers?” Let’s consider the links on your page and other blogger’s pages or lack there of. The important lesson here is to begin creating links and requesting that other bloggers link back to you. The more links you have out in the web, the more chances you gain for click traffic. Some great ways to increase this is through Facbeook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram: start linking back to your site. Give Internet browsers a chance to click back to your site.  While Six Degrees of Separation helps your chances of gaining followers, you have to reach other and discover your own six degrees of separation: what ties you to other bloggers.