Blogs and the Economics of Reciprocal Attention

Gaudeul, Alexia and Mathieu, Laurence and Peroni, Chiara (2008): Blogs and the Economics of Reciprocal Attention.

Abstract

We argue in this paper that attention to one's blog is won by paying attention to other bloggers. We derive properties of blogging networks from a model where bloggers trade attention and content. The predictions from the model are then checked against a novel dataset from LiveJournal, a major blogging community. As predicted, the activity of bloggers is found to be related to the size and level of reciprocity within a blogger's relational network. We also find that bloggers who do not adhere to reciprocity norms are sanctioned with a lower number of readers.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Blog; Community; Internet; LiveJournal; Media; Reciprocity; Social Network; Web 2.0
• Subjects: L - Industrial Organization > L8 - Industry Studies: Services > L82 - Entertainment ; Media; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z13 - Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology ; Social and Economic Stratification; D - Microeconomics > D8 - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty > D85 - Network Formation and Analysis: Theory

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