I agree with your points about traffic, except for the big orange blogrolls don't provide much traffic (and I think I'm probably the only person to ask to be taken off there to make room for another blog).

However, it is important for SEO. That is why I think it is great MyDD links to the state blogs, it drives up each one when people are checking out a name or campaign. Same with district blogs.

Since it is difficult to argue that most blogs don't get traffic from blogrolls and blogrolls help SEO, it actually makes sense from a campaign victory standpoint to only list state blogs and district blogs.

Instead of bloggers whining about Amnesty Day purges, they should brag that they replaced their blogrolls with state/district blogs.

Is this the scrapped article, or a whole new one?

A small blog wants more traffic (or traffic from particular other blogs) because the owner feels that she has a different and worthwhile perspective to offer Dems/Progressives.  She feels that her writing will strengthen the movement because it will broaden the perspective of the readers.

A big blog may also feel that different perspectives will strengthen Dems/Progressives.  So the big blog owner "owes" it to his readers to link to small blogs that provide eclectic views.

I don't blog, so this is not a personal perspective.  It just seems to make sense.  I choose the genders of the bloggers as I did because this sort of discussion comes up once in a while regarding women's blogs.  But it could apply to, say, rural writers, or older folks, or unionized service workers just as well.

I'm finding that my traffic varies depending on how fresh my content is. That's the key to have returning visitors. It's not the blogroll links that are helping me, it's the fact that I have new information posted when people visit. I've made the mistake of going a few days without posting and I notice during that period my traffic dies down. It helps when one of my posts gets cross posted or linked to from another blog, but the big thing to drive traffic is fresh content.

My reason for blogging (TurnMaineBlue.com) was because Maine is lacking a progressive blogosphere. I may not have the most experience in politics or the best voice, but I knew that there needed to be a platform for people in Maine to organize and discuss. I also blog because I get the feeling that I'm helping to make a difference, which sounds just as corny as Chris's reason.

In most of the meta posts, both by Skippy, Renee in Ohio and Maryscott, the point of linking is technorati and Google page rank, and search engine optimization. They also maintain this is about buildiing community and that the link purges injured community. You can agree or disagree with their views, but you post fails to address their concerns, puts words in their mouths and extends the meta flame war.

The Republic of T made a good poing about David Neiwert, who in my view is doing some of the most important work in blogosphere.

You and Atrios are so preoccupied with his criticism of the blog purge that you miss his point about Niewert (who has stayed clear of this controversy and has no known views). As a result of that post some of Republic of T's readers discovered Neiwert, which is a very good thing.

Give it a rest. The only thing more boring that a small blogger whining about lack of links is a big shot blogger whining about getting criticized.

Responding to the question posed: "What is the blogosphere in general trying to accomplish?" It is clear that some real, not cosmetic, accomplishments are already in place.  Just ask the MSM and the cadre of advertisers that are their base. Or political consultants for that matter. So what we have here is the proverbial reconfiguration, from top-down to bottom-up.  Sounds more participatory and democratic to me.  The important point is that for this upheaval to grow and prosper, the backbone infrastructure must continue to connect and expand - like a developing nerve plexus. Bloggers are the engine driving this change.  Linking, and purging links to refresh connections, is an important part of that process. Maybe that's purpose enough.

I know Chris already understands this point, but for those who like to rush to Maryscott's defense about all the traffic she's missing out on now that Kos has "purged" her from his blogroll, please take a look at the ACTUAL traffic stats for My Left Wing.  Notice that 1/3 decline in traffic since the dkos purge?  Oh you don't?  Maybe that's because it didn't happen.  In fact her traffic has gone up.

The only reason I'm pointing this out is to show that blogroll links don't matter, even if they're from one of the most trafficked blog in the world.

alice has already mention my work in this area.

it's not about traffic, and that's a straw man so fanciful as to be republican in inspiration, if not actual nature.

it is, to paraphrase jon swift, about community, and to paraphrase me paraphrasing the old fashioned patriot, about google ranking.

anyone who cares to read my thoughts about it can sift thru the amnesty day tag at my blog, or go to my diaries at my left wing or booman.

in short, tho, i'd say that one of the apparent reasons that republican memes are so easily transmitted thru-out the land is the republican willingness to support each other, especially in blogtopia, and yes i coined that phrase.

blogroll purges rend lefty blogtopia assunder emotionally and tangibly via google ranking.

and declaring one's self to be immune from any consequences via a self-proclaimed "amnesty day," is simply bad manners that only compounded the insult.  what, markos, and to a lesser extent, duncan, couldn't find my email address to alert me to their decision?  what am i after 5 years of support, chopped liver?

markos, and to a lesser extent, duncan, can blow me i am distraught.

As the proud owner of a "Q-list" blog that I don't have the time or immediate inclination to inflate up to M- or, heaven forbid, L-list status, I blog because there are a few issues that I do give a damn about.

My focus is on Maryland.  I don't give a damn particularly about Texas.  Texas is simply not my country, except in a technical, legalistic sense.  I live in the cold-and-then-stinkingly-hot swamp between the Chesapeake and Potomac; that is my universe, for the most part.  Only when a national issue threatens Maryland (e.g. constitutional rights get shredded, or the nation goes to war over bullshit and Marylanders get called up) do I care.  What the federal government does in Nevada in the desert or in Colorado with the Colorado River, for me, doesn't exist.  Philadelphia is about as far as I will willingly extend my gaze (and with pleasure, to a city that seems to be doing more and more things right, especially with public transit.)

I deal with separation of church and state issues, because Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson lie in wait in Virginny, that southern hostile land of peanuts and tobacco and genteel right-wing madness that G-d apparently gave to Cain.  I deal with transit issues because we are a crowded and wealthy state, and public transit should be far better here than it is.

Who links to me?  Primarily people in Maryland, public transit buffs, people who care about theocratic creep and creeps.  Crablaw Maryland Weekly cannot use a link from MyDD and doesn't want one; 98% of MyDD-ers people won't want what they see.  CMD cannot use a Big Orange link.  CMD LOVES the nice linky love from Free State Politics, a Soapblox group site that MyDD readers would love.  But most of the prominent liberal sites are kind of like the crowd at an athletic gear big box store, and I am kind of like a Hallmark retailer - can't handle the traffic, can't keep the traffic, worried about the fire code.

I am a firm believer that the "mainstream" of the political bloggers on the Internet have or practice a tad of disdain for Special Interest Groups, so let me add two ideas to this debate in order to "help" if possible, our center-left bloggers.

By way of background, I am the primary writer for the Cactus Juice Commentaries on our internet website called Chicano Veterans Organization.  (and, no this is not a adv. plug). Consequently, the twin perspectives of military veterans and of the Sonoran Desert, are addressed and expressed. And neither with perfection nor with considerable articulation, but with the sincere desire to raise issues and points, not normally considered by the national pundits, who are not shy in expressing the self-perceived "wisdom".  And if one understands Common Sense, being readily "dismissed" equates to "not caring".

And thusly, my first point is that a political blogger should create for itself a "community of self/special interest" in which once the reader arrives to the site, is encouraged to participate, especially from the perspective of becoming a front page writer/contributor.  In doing so, the "emotional" connection is established and maintained, and hopefully, perpetuated among the like-minded in America.

And my second point, is that in tandem with the political blog, the managers of the political blog should create a "news letter" that informs and educates the "tangential" community.  By this I mean the folks who may have a political interest in one aspect that can become the "hook" that leads to greater participation in the future.

In closing, the issue of "original content" comes from the front page writers and not neccessarily from the national news media outlets. To wit, at the local level, the front page writer can conduct an interview with an Elected or Appointed Official that has both consequence and significance for the self/special interest group.  Take, for example, I am prepping with currently available research since I will be conducting an interview in the near future with Congressman Raul Grijalva from Tucson.  Why?  He is the Sub-Committee Chairman with oversight responsibility for our National Parks, among other things.  And "tangentially" he is important to tourism, not only here in the Sonoran Desert, but all across America.

Now that I have gotten somewhat "windy," I will cut this commentary short.  And lest I forget, I see and read Mydd on a regular basis, since I too see Mydd as a "self/special interest group" on the "process of politics". And needless to say but I will,Chris Bowers and Matt Stoller and others behind the curtain, do an excellent job that is not easy to accomplish.  Thus, my hat tip in appreciation.  

Jaango

...I am surprised by how much Markos, you and others sound like Republicans when talking about link-currency, and make no mistake it certainly is a currency.

I do agree 90% that you're "pulling up the ladder" behind you. Do you have a responsibility not to do that?

Hell if I know.

here is my own perspective.  it might not be that useful to others since my goals are different, but maybe it is illustrative.

i blog on structural problems facing the progressive movement, and lately i have begun to focus on how to address those problems through liberal entrepreneurship.

i don't need millions, or even thousands, or actually even hundreds of people to read my posts.  i need people who will read my posts, be inspired to adapt and expand on those ideas, and convert them into actual results.  (or i need people who will send links of my posts to people they know who will do the same.)  i also need people who will give good constructive feedback or criticism, and who can help sharpen the ideas and make them more action-able.

a short while ago, i decided that i would stop cross-posting and commenting at dailykos and any other big, general-purpose blogs.  that's not because i don't value what they do there, but because it's just not worth the effort.  there may be 1,000 budding liberal entrepreneurs there, but there are probably 10,000 wind power enthusiasts, 10,000 patients-bill-of-rights-enthusiasts, and 50,000 fitzmas-enthusiasts, meaning that the much larger crowd of people who more or less don't care about my posts are going to crowd them out of the diary list before the 1,000 budding entrepreneurs have a chance to find them (except in the rare cases where i'm lucky to make the recommended diaries list).  and i don't have the time to keep up all of those cross-posts and respond to all those comments.

instead, i devote my time to cross-posting and commenting here and at a few other choice communities, like future majority, street prophets, (infrequently) commonweal institute, the working life blog, the ndn blog, etc.  these communities are much more likely to cover topics of interest to me and vice versa, so it makes sense to engage in conversation with them and attempt to cross-link.  this is not an issue of snobbery or sour grapes with regards to dailykos et. al., it's just a matter of figuring out how to use my time most effectively.

i don't think much about the problem of cross-linking.  as far as i'm concerned, every cross-post and comment i write (including this one!) yields a link to my blog, so everyone who reads my comments and is sufficiently enthralled will click the link and find out what i have to say.  that's more than enough for me.  the problem is really, how do i engage in conversation with other communities in a way that's beneficial to myself and to them?  the links are just a very, very trivial side-benefit of that conversation.

...

having said all that, i also know what it's like to manage a geographic blog, as i spent a good part of last year doing that (i wrote the blog for the dfa group in cambridge, ma).  i didn't have a particular focus there, outside of "making stuff better", but if someone had asked i probably would have said my goal was to encourage people in cambridge to join our group and become active.  i certainly did appreciate links from the gorilla of Massachusetts political blogging (Blue Mass Group), but I probably would have been better off getting links from the scores of Single-Flirty-Girl-Living-In-Boston blogs which appear to have popped up in my area lately - in terms of reaching my goals.  i didn't really care for any revenue, and i never tried to sell ads, merch, or any of that stuff, so i suppose there again my perspective might be slightly different from those who are trying to turn their blog into a bona fide business.

As is frequently the case, I think Chris asked the right question. Why do we blog? Our response to issues of community obligation to use the mechanisms available to us to drive traffic (especially search traffic) follows from the answer to that question.

I blog because this is ONE of the places where progressive collective action is at the present time. The blog world is not to be missed! And I think, sometimes, I can add a tidbit.

And I blogroll folks because their stuff says something to my widely eclectic interests and I read them. I don't keep them blogrolled if they stop posting or I lose interest. Women, queers, people of color and non-US bloggers get preference on my blog roll because I tend to be interested in them -- and because they have to shout louder to get heard.

A-List bloggers are not doing the same work I am. I don't expect to get on their rolls -- and I find that I read some of them less and less -- DKos in particular because it has simply gotten too big to follow meaningfully.

I love this site because a significant number of its posts are practical campaign cogitation (if that is not a contradiction) and that is one of my eclectic interests as well as my work.