8 Million Blogs In The Naked Blogosphere!

I've come to the conclusion that EVERYONE should BLOG! Before you go on reading, you should click HERE and read THIS and when you come back, you'll better understand the rest of this entry!

Michelle Malkin quotes David Sifry of Technorati, the source of the 8 million blogs number. He concedes that "there is a dark underbelly" to the numbers. He says Technorati removes about 90% of the spam blogs, but even so it is clear that quite a bit of spam remains... Sifry says 45 percent of blogs in Technorati's index haven't been updated within the past six months... read Michelle's entire blog entry HERE.

According to Curt Hopkins, director of the Committee to Protect Bloggers,
The number of blogs around the world has jumped from 5.4 million two months ago... They are read by an estimated 32 million people a day.

In terms of keeping a free flow of ideas alive, the blogosphere has a distinct advantage over other, more hierarchical information sources. It is a radically decentralized system; bloggers quote each other, pass links from site to site, use all the mechanisms of interactivity.

In fact, to imprison or attack a blogger and think that will end dissident or provocative blogging is on a par of foolishness with Caligula ordering his troops to defeat Neptune by attacking the North Sea with their swords. The blogosphere doesn't let things die.

The Committee to Protect Bloggers was started by Hopkins and counts fired flight attendant blogger Ellen Simonetti as a deputy director.

She has since started the International Bloggers' Bill of Rights, a global petition to protect bloggers at work.

Although not the only website committed to human rights issues by any means, it aims to be the hub or organisation, information and support for bloggers in particular and their rights to freedom of speech.

Of course, there are those who disagree, among them, Jeremy Zawodny, who writes, "Dear Bloggers, Get Over Yourselves!" As always, YOUR comments are welcome!