The Butt Ugly Weblog

New professional blogging network launched

Amidst the discussions in Finland whether the entrance of Helsingin Sanomat into the blogging arena "spells the doom of independent bloggers, as the big media will crush the competition and redefine the blogosphere", new professional blogging networks are being launched in the Big World. b5media comes from Australia and Canada, and they offer some snazzy new weblogs like the Play Girlz for female gamers, Cooking Gadgets for people who just can't live without twenty different cheese graters, and Unplugged Living for those who are trying to produce their own power and "live off the grid."

Guys... Don't worry about the big media. Blogosphere is really about niches and finding your own audiences - this is something that the big media simply cannot cover due to cost efficiency reasons. They're big, because the produce news and entertainment for the masses. Blogs are small, because they produce news and entertainment for smaller audiences - maybe even as small as you and your mother. Blogs are really about the long tail, the things that make individuals different from the masses. We're all a part of the mass (no matter how different you are trying to be), and as such we're served well by the mass media. But for the things that we really love and care about, specialized media, such as blogs, are far better.

Just keep writing.