Building Community around a Blog

Nathan PurserMatthew Smith

Christophe Giraud-Carrier

Mar. 15, 2008Data Mining Labsmitty@byu.edu

Introduction

• A blog, the blogging phenomenon

• Community (commonality and connected)

• The Blogosphere

• Do you blog?

Who Blogs?

• Businesses (e.g., Toyota, Google)

• Political (e.g., pundits, politicians)

• Medical (e.g. doctors, patients)

• Researchers (e.g., Dr. K, Phil Windley)

• Family and friends (e.g., moms)

Blogosphere Properties

• Open community that anyone can join (e.g., Blogger, Wordpress, SixApart, your own setup)

• One can blog about anything (e.g., fine cuisine, bluegrass music, CS research)

• Both explicit and implicit connections (e.g., anchor links, interests)

• Measurable (e.g., posts are time-stamped, clickstream available)

Observational Study

• Create a blog

• Record everything we do to it

• Track everything others do with it

• Report our observations

Note: causation cannot be implied

Goals

1. Substantiate claims of how to build community around a blog (and refine them)

2. Increase our social capital among data miners by building community around our research

Claims

• Comment on other blogs

• Link to other blogs from your blog

• Use a blog pinging services

• Participate in blog carnivals

Social Capital

George Bailey alone

George Bailey with Social Capital

Observations

Blog History2008-01-23* Created a blog on Blogger at: http://datamininglab.blogspot.com

Blog History I

2008-01-28* Hooked up Google Analytics so that we could track everything* Posted about the blog analysis we are doing.* Sent out an email to all the lab members asking them to comment and check out the blog.2008-02-04* Nate Purser sent an email to all lab members asking them to post content on the blog2008-02-13* Nate Purser posted an entry about the “Data Mining Search Engine” with links to: http://dataminingresearch.blogspot.com [A]* Nate Purser posted a comment at: http://datamining.typepad.com/data_m...-superb.html#comments [B]2008-02-16* Steve Ivie posted a comment at: http://mycodeblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/record-linkage-resources.html [C

ce

Blog Traffic I

Email sent to lab members

Start getting some traffic

Blog History II

Text

2008-02-20* Sent a reminder email about posting a comment on another blog and linking back to ours.* Christophe posted a comment at:

http://dataminingresearch.blogspot.com/2008/02/small-book-review-super-crunchers.html [A]* Christophe posted a comment at:

http://abbottanalytics.blogspot.com/ (unfortunately, the link back to our blog was not recorded)* Nate Purser posted a comment at:

http://datamining.typepad.com/data_mining/2008/02/blogging-superb.html#comments [D]* Matt Smith posted a comment at: http://www.bioteams.com/2007/02/18/social_networking_and.html [E]* Matt Smith posted a comment at: http://nowisgone.com/2008/02/19/social-media-content-creation-process/[F] 2008-02-22* The blog that Nathan posted about and Christophe commented on wrote an article about our blog:

http://dataminingresearch.blogspot.com/2008/02/data-mining-lab.html [A]2008-02-27* Nate Purser posted a comment at: http://dataminingresearch.blogspot.com/2008/02/data-mining-lab.html [A]

• A blog , who we had written about and

commented on decided to post an article

about our new blog!

• Their post sparked new traffic >>>

Blog History III2008-03-05 * Sent email to KDnuggets’ Gregory Piatetsky-Shapiro requesting that we be put up on his blog list.2008-03-11* Gregory Piatetsky-Shapiro added a link to our blog on the KDnuggets website, which sends a monthly newsletter to data miners all over the world. The March newsletter was sent today (3/11/08).* Gregory Piatetsky-Shapiro also linked to us in his blog highlights section

• Leveraging an established relationship

increased our visibility and helped build

community around our blog

Blog Traffic II & III

Added to KDNuggetsTraffic is maintained and increases

Referral Traffic begins to dominate

Conclusion

Goal 1: Evaluation

• Emails can be used to build

• Comments on other blogs appear to have begun to build community

• Leveraging an existing relationship drove focused visitors to our blog

1. Substantiate claims of how to build community around a blog

2. Increase our social capital among data miners by building community around our research

Goal 2: Evaluation

In under 7 weeks, the DML blog received

183 absolute unique visitors

(coming from 147 different cities in 32 different countries)

Ryan Grimm, Matt Croydon, Guy, Nic, Pat, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BARRY BEARAK, ERICA GOODE, HEATHER TIMMONS, ISABEL KERSHNER and TAGHREED EL-KHODARY, JAMES GLANZ, JIM YARDLEY, KEITH BRADSHER, MARK MAZZETTI and SCOTT SHANE, NAZILA FATHI, NICOLA CLARK, REUTERS, SIMON ROMERO, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, TIM JOHNSTON, VINOD SREEHARSHA,

666888, bryankennedy, Katatoniq, Nat W, scotsman001, thisfred, yhancik, Aki, Amaresh, Amit, Harish, Meesum, Nidhi, Rajat, Shantanu, Subhrajyoti, Jon, Shane, Alan Rimm-Kaufman, Larry Becker, Ryan Gibson, WMQA, Sara, laurenmc18, Aaron Wall, Barry Schwartz, Danny Sullivan, Dave Feldman, Debra O. Mastaler, Galen DeYoung, Greg Sterling, Jonathan Hochman, Marty Weintraub, Matt McGee, Paul J. Bruemmer,

Sherwood Stranieri, Vanessa Fox, albagcorral, chrischne, Daniel Efergan, Digital Tools, fliegerhorst, Ian, Jenna Fox, marius watz, momo the monster, ollygore, pelican, Peter Kirn, Craig Le Clair, Diana Levitt, Erica Driver, James Kobielus, Jamie Barnett, Kyle McNabb, Rob Koplowitz, Stephen Powers, rikomatic, SLHamlet, Cyril Brookes, searchguy, Anthony Ha, Chris Morrison, David Adewumi, David P. Hamilton, Dean

Takahashi, Eric Eldon, Matt Marshall, MG Siegler, O'Reilly Media, Inc., Simon Cozens, Tim O'Reilly, Chris Alden, Ginger Tulley, Communications, JoAnn Peach, Public Relations, Krissy, Michael Sippey, Sarah Sosiak, TypePad Product Manager, TypePad Support, Charlie Bess, Fred Cummins, Jim Miller, Mike Sarokin, Rolf Kubli, Cory Doctorow, David Pescovitz, Mark Frauenfelder, Xeni Jardin, Administrator, Alan, Dian, Steve,

Chris Marmo, Matt, Oliver Reichenstein, Andrew Abela, Andrew Chen, Scott Rosenberg, Jordan Ellenberg, Jordan Ellenberg, earl boykins, Andrew, Alan Shipman, Christina Le Beau, Doug Henschen, Jessica Tsai, Jim Ericson, Katherine Hunt, Maurna Desmond, Mike May, Ph.D., Renee Boucher Ferguson, staff, Stephen Swoyer, Susan J. Campbell, Tracey E. Schelmetic, Glenn Fannick, glennfan, 66.90.73.125, 67.161.46.197, Bi, Grazon, Kroy Wen, Pro-Lick, The Lake Effect, WatchTVEatDonutDrinkBeer, Jessica Hagy, Charlene Li, Josh Bernoff, Jen, JR, kennethn, test, admin, petri.purho, François Schiettecatte, Erik Selberg, Ron Dimon, Peter Skomoroch, admin, Brian Barry, Curt Barry, Gary Conrad, Jeff Barry, Jon Reagan, Brice Blondel HDPT CAR, Emily Bamford, UNICEF, Gisele Willybiro, OCHA, hdptcar, Nicolas Rost OCHA, David Gainer,

Joseph Chirilov, Alan, notchcode, Christian Lorentzen, Ken Silverstein, Scott Horton, Matt Cutts, Russell Beattie, dminer, charles, Ali, Amanda, Ben, Brad, Faiz, Matt, Satyam, Think Progress, A Googler, Karen, ADPNAS, AlexCRMmanager, Atomic1, BradPhillips, chf, Christoph_K., Cleverlad, DianeWI, Juliosfdc, kprice@sunlandgroup.com.au, misteam, nileSF, rres, sfdcideas, Stevemo, SusanK, TomaszOczapowski, tunedog, Bill Densmore, David Cohn, aaronhierholzer, Alan Grimes, Aubrey Lee, erinnelsen, Matt, ryanwheeler, tanyahall, jeremiah_owyang, Alex Singleton, Martin, Chris Ziegler, Darren Murph, Donald Melanson, Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller, Thomas Ricker, Daniel Efergan, Christian Renaud, ALAN FINDER, ALEX WILLIAMS, AMANDA M. FAIRBANKS, BENEDICT CAREY, BILL PENNINGTON, DOUGLAS MARTIN,

ELISSA GOOTMAN, JENNIFER MEDINA, JONATHAN D. GLATER, JOSEPH BERGER, NEELA BANERJEE, SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN, STEPHANIE STROM, TAMAR LEWIN, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, THE NEW YORK TIMES, Daniel Benmergui, Glenn Fannick, Andreas Nicolas Fischer, admin, Dave Linthicum, scottros, Scott, Andrew Hunt, ozmanjusri (posted by Zonk), samzenpus, Zonk, James Grahame, Peter Kirn, Jack D. Lail, Baba Ganoush, Bill Brasky, J Diggles, Mike Honcho, Mitch Martin, Admin, Benoit Schillings, Brough Turner, Chris Sacca, Christopher Allen, Fabrizio Capobianco, Gary Miner, Jonathan Christensen, Koushik Chatterjee, Martin Geddes, Michel Bauwens, Paul Golding, Rich Miner, Shirish Andhare, alex, Ade McCormack, Kara Swisher, Justin Smith, Phil Edwards, Andy Oram, Michael Feathers, Michael G Schwern, Olivia

Judson, ChinaTechNews.com Editor, By BRAD WONG / P-I REPORTER, By CHERIE BLACK / P-I REPORTER, By CHRIS MCGANN / P-I CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT, By CLAUDIA ROWE / P-I REPORTER, By JESSICA BLANCHARD / P-I REPORTER, By LARRY LANGE / P-I REPORTER, By LEVI PULKKINEN / P-I REPORTER, By MANUEL VALDES / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, By MIKE LEWIS / P-I REPORTER, By ROBERT L. JAMIESON JR. / P-I COLUMNIST, By ROBERT MCCLURE AND CHRIS MCGANN / P-I REPORTERS, By SCOTT GUTIERREZ / P-I REPORTER, CASEY MCNERTHNEY / P-I REPORTER, P-I STAFF, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, j22smith, Jason Calacanis, David Berlind, plamere, Dan Russell, Kathy, Kathy Sierra, Baierman, Echowood, Evil Richard, Haterade, Jellio, Miss Cellania, Scaramouch, datacharmer, Rational

Man, Stardom, stevecla01, Michael, adellam, ani625, bkerr, chpapa, eecue, fozbaca, HillyTheGak, mrshoefly, phineasgage, Rallllle, rdixon22, reachbach, ricetopher, sirmaq, sophisticate, SudhaMB, techlawadvisor, vimes656, wildgreenyonder, zigorou, Michael Geist, westi, Debra Mastaler, Amber, Joe, John, Tom Fishburne, nirrosen, EARDRUM, ecool, eelco10, elmanco, girlinthegreendress, Imprint, jcmoonraker, jefframos,

jtropp, materialicious, maxandhenry, nickpapageorgia, NOTCOT, PK, Roberto, rugenius, sub-studio, turbografix, enussenbaum, Jordan Golson, Melissa Gira Grant, Nicholas Carlson, Paul Boutin, Darren Rowse, DeWitt Clinton, Sara, Skellie, Anthony Carrabino, francois, Ram Ramanathan, Edelman, Betsy Schiffman, Bryan Gardiner, Kim Zetter, Megan McCarthy, Ryan Singel, dan, seek3r, admin, Chris, Chris Sherman,

ChrisE, claire, Danny Sullivan, Seth Godin, Ted Patrick, BRENDA GOODMAN, ERIC LICHTBLAU, FELICITY BARRINGER, GARDINER HARRIS, JOHN SCHWARTZ, KATIE ZEZIMA, LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN, MARK MAZZETTI and SCOTT SHANE, MATTHEW L. WALD, NEELA BANERJEE, TAMAR LEWIN, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, WILLIAM YARDLEY, lundberg, vincent, By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO, By ALISON

SMALE, By BRIAN KNOWLTON, By DANNY HAKIM AND ANAHAD O'CONNOR, By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI AND DANNY HAKIM, By DON VAN NATTA JR. AND JO BECKER, By ERIC LICHTBLAU AND DAVID STOUT, By FELICITY BARRINGER, By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN, By MARK MAZZETTI AND SCOTT SHANE, By MATTHEW L. WALD, By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM, By PATRICK

HEALY AND JEFF ZELENY, By RICHARD BERNSTEIN, By SERGE F. KOVALESKI AND IAN URBINA, By SIMON ROMERO, Eric Enge, Robert, kdawson, s1d (posted by Zonk), ScuttleMonkey, Soulskill, Zonk, Danny Dover, Eric Enge, gillian, great scott!, Jane Copland, randfish, rebecca, rishil, Sarah Bird, Esquire, jbrainard, ross, Brian Clark, Damien Van Vroenhoven, Dean Rieck, Holly Buchanan, James Chartrand, Jesse Hines, Matthew Peters, Michael Stelzner, Nick Cernis, Roberta Rosenberg, davej, Jennifer, nospam@example.com ( Aaron Gustafson), nospam@example.com ( Eric Meyer), nospam@example.com ( Jeffrey

Zeldman), nospam@example.com (ALA Staff), nospam@example.com (Alex Bischoff), nospam@example.com (Andy Rutledge), nospam@example.com (Craig Hockenberry), nospam@example.com (HÃ¥kon Wium Lie), nospam@example.com (Jeremy Keith), nospam@example.com (Jim Ramsey), nospam@example.com (Jonathan Follett), nospam@example.com (Keith LaFerriere), nospam@example.com (Lachlan

Hunt), nospam@example.com (Naz Hamid), nospam@example.com (Nick Padmore), nospam@example.com (Richard Rutter), nospam@example.com (Roel Van Gils), nospam@example.com (Sarah B. Nelson), Brian Haven, Christine Overby, Dave Frankland, Jeremiah Owyang, Julie Katz, Laura Ramos, Peter Kim, Shar Van Boskirk, Will Price, Mary Jo Foley, Matt, admin, Nick (Admin), Alexandre Roche, Andrew

'Boz' Bosworth, Carolyn Abram, Chris Kelly, Ezra Callahan, Jason Sobel, Julie Zhuo, Justin Rosenstein, Kate Losse, Leah Pearlman, Mark Slee, Mark Zuckerberg, Natalie Minor, Nico Vera, Paul C. Jeffries, Philip Fung, Tom Whitnah, Victor Valdez, Yishan Wong, Brad Stone, Claudia H Deutsch, Jonathan D. Glater, Laura M. Holson, Laurie J. Flynn, Louise Story, Matt Richtel, Miguel Helft, Saul Hansell, Steve Lohr, Chris Messina, Becky Stern, Collin Cunningham, Gareth Branwyn, Jonah Brucker-Cohen, Marc de Vinck, Admin, Cindy Davis, Jennifer McClure, Steve Lubetkin, Meryl, Hans, John Wilker, Tom Ortega, Eunice Sari, Madelein, Tarmo, Teemu, brendan, silpstream, George Borjas, admin, Michael Martinez, Fred, Alex Patriquin, Compete, Cynthia Stephens, Debra Miller, EdWilliams, Elaine Warner, GreggPoulin, JackieODowd, Jay Meattle, Jeremy Crane, Max Freiert, MikeRedbord, Paul Zeckser, RobChapman, Scott Ernst, Stephen DiMarco, charles@sheehanmiles.net (), Ray Beckerman, mikechambers, Edit Staff, Om Malik, Raghav 'Rags'

Gupta, Stacey Higginbotham, Wagner James Au, emgusk, Robert Kosara, pelican, Michael Gorsuch, Bill Densmore, Adam Richardson, CNET Download Music Staff, Declan McCullagh, Erica Ogg, Jasmine France, Jonathan Skillings, Martin LaMonica, Mike Ricciuti, Mike Yamamoto, Phil Ryan, Richard Defendorf, Rick Broida, Steve Guttenberg, Tom Krazit, Will Greenwald, Dan Frommer, Henry Blodget, Jay Yarow, Michael

Learmonth, Peter Kafka, Vasanth Sridharan, Jenny Davidson, Kenny Johnston, Shane, watz, Lane Kenworthy, blagicagalsguide, david@davidmaister.com (David (Maister)), david@davidmaister.com (StressLimitAdmin), sml, david, Razvan Antonescu, otomano, Anthony Chaves, vmtn@vmware.com (VMTN), Edson Tirelli, Geoffrey De Smet, Mark Proctor, Michael Neale, paul browne, haiwang.yuan,

rob.harbison, sandy.staebell, Tamar Weinberg, Brian Brooker, CEO/Chief Creative Officer, Caroline Quissell, Account Supervisor, Erica Wren, Communications Manager, Jeff King, President, Jeff Risley, VP/Social Media Analyst, Joe Sciara, senior vice president for Sponsorships & Events, Liz Benditt, Account Director/Direct Marketing, Mark Logan, VP/Director of Interactive, Michael Chatten, VP/Emerging

Technologies, Mike Swenson, Executive Vice President, PRWeek, Barkley Public Relations, Vicki Stuckwisch, Chief Operating Officer, Tubbypaws, Christopher Finke, John Biggs, John Kullman, Mark Hendrickson, Christine Herron, Robert Scoble, Jenna Fox, GDC Operations, Jamil, heatherbailey, eduwonkette, Anonymous, Who da'Punk, Dan Nunan, Neil Davidson, Chris, donavon, Kip Kniskern, ScottIsAFool, Sunshine, Hamilton Nolan, Nick Denton, Pareene, rebecca, Richard, Sheila, Willem Buiter, pk, Alicia, Tom Coates, Dan Kahan, Emily Pronin, John Jost, Jon Hanson, Jon Hanson & Michael McCann, situationistguest, The Situationist Staff, Jake McKee, Paul Krugman, Bill Perry, David Fleck, Eric Anderson, Ben Forta, Glenn Thomas, Brad Henderson, Jason Michael Perry, Jen deHaan, Lisa Larson, Lynda Weinman, Macromedia,

macromedia reviewer, jen dehaan reviewer, Grant Skinner reviewer, Michele Howley, Mike Downey, Mike Sundermeyer, Troy Evans, Vera Fleischer, Bobbie Johnson, Charles Arthur, Jack Schofield, Charlie Bess, Fred Cummins, Jim Miller, Mike Sarokin, Rolf Kubli, Rich, Igor, Biz, Ev., jack, Susan, Aubry, N., Singh, P., Janjua, M., Nudurupati, S., Ballister, E. R., Lai, A. H., Zuckermann, R. N., Cheng, Y., Mougous, J. D., Bandyopadhyay,

Future Work

• Identify and confirm new techniques for building community around a blog

• Build automated tools that

• Discover blogosphere structure (explicit and implicit)

• Identify blogs to connect with (that maximize social capital)

Questions?

Contact Us

Website: http://dml.cs.byu.edu

Email: dml@byu.edu

Blog: http://datamininglab.blogspot.com

My Blog: http://dmine.blogspot.com