The Ecosystem

N.Z. Bear's site, The Truth Laid Bear, contains the Ecosystem which ranks blogs by quantity of links. I think that statement is accurate. Interested-Participant is listed and the rank seems to fluctuate based on 60-something listed links. I don't know how the links are totaled or from where they come, but I do know it doesn't include all links because some blogs linked to me are not listed. There must be some criterion for determining what is or isn't a valid link. Even so, the Ecosystem is probably a good barometer to indicate popularity in the blogosphere. Visits to a site are also included in the mix of parameters monitored, but I don't know how that works.

Today, N.Z. Bear suspended some sites from the Ecosystem for the shady practice of cross-linking inappropriately. Apparently this was being done to increase a site's links and, therefore, the ranking in the Ecosystem. The suspension is explained in detail here.

My take on the cross-linking scheme is that I think it's exceedingly dumb. By using mischief to increase one's ranking doesn't fool many folks. The number of links is a mathematical indicator of popularity, but the popularity of a site wouldn't necessarily be much different if the links weren't being tracked. Typically, I'll link to a site if I have plans on visiting in the future. The number of people that link to me is an indicator to me that they plan future visits. Artificially inflating the number of links will not make a person more popular. So it doesn't make any sense to do it.

Popularity of a site is directly related to the quality of the content. I am sure that quality content takes time. Popular bloggers spend their time producing quality content. They don't have time to fudge numbers nor do they think much of people that do.