For the last two days, I've been checking Ken Jennings' blog constantly. I want to hear his reflections on his Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader performance. I have this theory on why he didn't go for the million dollar question that must be addressed. I'm thinking the title of "winningest game show contestant" meant too much to him, but I digress.

This is supposed to be a blog about communicating on the Internet, and just the other day I delivered an inspired lecture based on Technorati's State of the Blogosphere 2008. I had charts, I had graphs, I had screen captures. OK, I cribbed most of them directly from the report, but I added animations in PowerPoint and they looked pretty cool. That's what I really should be talking about because it's good information for both novice and professional bloggers alike. Instead I'm fixated on a game show. But as my fixation has grown, I've started to realize the two topics may not be as opposite as they seem. Ken, when he decides to update, is a pretty good blogger. So in honor of his title, I present Technorati's findings from the Ken Jennings framework.

Finding 1: Why blog?
One of the things I liked immediately about Ken's blog is what he decides to blog about. Sure, he does his fair share of selling his books and his columns in game magazines, but he also has some great tidbits about his family and his life. That, I guess, would make Ken similar to most of the bloggers in the Technorati study and the other 133 million blogs the site has tracked since 2002. No, that's not a typo. There are more than 130 million blogs floating in the Internet ether, and they don't all exist for shameless self-promotion. In fact, more than 79 % of the people Technorati surveyed reported blogging just to speak their mind. Another 62 % blog to connect with like-minded people. Less than 25 % do it to make money, while only 14 % are trying to attract new clients.
The way bloggers measure success supports these findings. More than 75 % say personal satisfaction is the most important measure for them. None of the tangible mesaures, such as increased traffic, comments or clients, even broke 50 %.
This means that most people blog because they enjoy it, and the more I get into it, the more I'm realizing that. My blog is a good place to explore my thoughts and force myself to write.
I've also realized that I read others' blogs to share in their enthusiasm, not to build business contacts. I think I check Merilee's sisters' blogs more than she does because I know I can always find a humorous slice of life anecdote to brighten my day. I wish my family were more on the ball. Keep carrying the torch Jenn and Carl, and maybe we can get the rest of the family to write about more than just the Utah Jazz.

Finding 2: What to blog about?
I guess that explains why I keep coming back to Mr. Jennings. Sure we share similar backgrounds. We both attended BYU. We both love Jeopardy. We're both smart, about crap that really doesn't matter. But Ken's blog doesn't just cover his game show success. It's about his observations on life around him. In fact, if I had to count the number of different topics on his blog, I'd settle at around 5. What a convenient number because that's exactly the number of different topics the average blog in Technorati's study covers! I don't know why this finding surprised me so much. I guess the little bit of journalist left in me knows he has to keep focused. That's the part that screams at me for writing about ER on this supposedly serious, job-impressing milieu. Thanks to Technorati maybe I won't feel so guilty anymore.
If I really think about it, the blogs I like the most bounce around from topic to topic. I showed my class Boing Boing and we all had a good laugh at John Hodgson's SpamMasterpiece theater. But in trying to describe it, I couldn't because the site is such an eclectic mix of junk, and that's probably why I go back day in and day out. I'm dying to see what happens next.
Even the family blogs I like best are the ones that don't always print cute kiddie pics. They're the ones that complain about T-ball coaches, or muse about old high school cars, or share personal stories about cakewrecks or invasive surgeries.


Finding 3: How often to blog?
Despite all this newfound Technorati-inspired knowledge, there's still a lot I need to learn. I need to figure out how to keep these posts shorter (Maybe that's why I have 7 readers!) I also need to blog more frequently. The top blogs on Technorati post more than 10 new items every day. That's probably not realistic for me, but I know I could do a post a day, and if my readers are as obsessive compulsive about checking for new content as I am, they might even stick with me. At the very least, I can show them how to set up the RSS feeds so they don't actually have to visit my site to see if I've written anything new. They can get a notice right in their browser.

I think I'm going to add Ken Jennings' blog to that site right now, and I'll set my computer to loudly play "We are the Champions" when that new post comes in. If I learned anything from him or from any of the other dozen or so blogs I regularly read, new posts are like the letters I received as a missionary. They're strong connections to the places, topics and people I love best, even though I might be far away.

P.S. If you are at all curious about my theory, I've embedded the proof below. SPOILER ALERT! If you watch, you'll know how much Mr. Jennings won, but it's worth it to see his reaction at the end.