Here are some interesting blog stats from Technorati, courtesy The Register…

Weblog search engine Technorati says it is now tracking over three million webblogs, with 8,000-17,000 new blogs created every single day. That means that a new weblog is created somewhere in the world every 5.8 seconds. Of these, a reported 36 per cent irritate friends or family with their twitterings, while a staggering 12 per cent attract the attention of lawyers with their biting commentary.

Heh. I still think the blog hype is overrated. It’s a tool, people, not a revolution. Blogs are (generally speaking) just a new varient of vanity web sites; just as some vanity sites were useful and interesting, some blogs are useful and interesting. Blogging software makes it easy for nearly anyone to host a site and update it regularly, but honestly, it’s no more of a revolution than say, Geocities was in the 1990s. If there’s anything from the “Blog-o-lution” that is interesting it’s RSS… syndication, finally done right, well, mostly right. But syndication isn’t a new idea either

(*cough*Pointcast*cough*Marimba*cough*Push*cough*).

Tony Pierce has some excellent blogging advice which is pretty valuable. However, I do take some issues with a few of his points:

8. dont worry very much about the design of your blog. image is a fakeout.
Don’t worry much, but still think about it. Completely neglecting the layout/design of your blog can lead to something that is just down right painful to look at… although many readers may never actually see your blog (thanks to RSS) it’s still worth a little time to make it look presentable. Hell, with so many templates, it’s a no brainer to make your blog have a little style.

9. use Blogger. it’s easy, it’s free; and because they are owned by Google, your blog will get spidered better, you will show up in more search results, and more people will end up at your blog. besides, all the other blogging software & alternatives pretty much suck.

If you have a blog worth reading, it will spread regardless of the tool. Blogger is fine, but there are many other good choices out there. Don’t get hung up on the technology. If you find one that does works the way you want it to work, but it ain’t fee, so what? Pay for things you find valuable. I started on Radio, which has some pluses and minuses, and now I’m on Movable Type, and I love it. Being owned by Google doesn’t mean much, you’ll still get indexed. Google indexes your mother.

13. if you havent written about sex, religion, and politics in a week youre probably playing it too safe, which means you probably fucked up on #5, in which case start a second blog and keep your big mouth shut about it this time.

Everything is about sex, religion or politics. Anything you think isn’t really is, you just haven’t put it in context yet.

25. dont use your real name. dont write about your work unless you dont care about getting fired.

Boy howdy. That one should be the #1 on the list.

Most of Tony’s advice is applicable to writing in general. I think that’s the best approach to “blogging”. Fuck blogging. Blogging is for chumps. The best “blogs” are in reality collections of essays by writers, with a few exceptions (which are just collections of cool stuff). So be a writer and do what writers do: write. Stop trying to “shift the paradigm” be an “early adopter” or “embrace the revolution” just write. It’s about the writing.