There are upwards of 27 million blogs in the world. To discover how they relate to one another, we’ve taken the most-linked-to 50 and mapped their connections. Each arrow represents a hypertext link that was made sometime in the past 90 days. Think of those links as votes in an endless global popularity poll. Many blogs vote for each other: “blogrolling.” Some top-50 sites don’t have any links from the others shown here, usually because they are big in Japan, China, or Europe—regions still new to the phenomenon.
1. Boing Boing
A herald from the expanding fringe of Net culture: nerdy and fun.
2. Engadget
The Net’s premier tech blog and the flagship of the Weblogs, Inc., blog network. Pete Rojas, the brains behind the blog, specializes in product reviews and breaking news in gadget-land.
3. PostSecret
An online “art project” that allows people to read your deepest secrets on scanned anonymous postcards.
4. Daily Kos
Started by a U.S. Army veteran, Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, Daily Kos is the standard-bearer for liberal political blogs Netwide.
5. The Huffington Post
Famed national syndicated columnist, former California gubernatorial candidate, and former conservative Arianna Huffington gets on the blog bandwagon with a posse of famous friends in tow.
6. Gizmodo
Where Rojas used to work, before he jumped ship.
7. InstaPundit
University of Tennessee law prof Glenn Reynolds started spinning his libertarian-conservative punditry pre-9/11 and ranges freely among tech issues, law, politics, and the war on terror.
8. Thought Mechanics
A mishmash of Website design, code, music, and art.
9. Crooks and Liars
A lefty blog composed mostly of links to video clips from the MSM (that’s “mainstream media” to you).
10. spaces.msn.com/klcintw
The Horn Village Blog, in Chinese.
11. Michelle Malkin
Dubbed the Filipino Ann Coulter, Malkin writes about America-haters, illegal immigrants, and Democratic windbags.
12. SamZHU
In Chinese.
13. Dooce
The public suffering of a postpartum depressive. Mommies everywhere seem to relate.
14. Beppe Grillo Grillo, an Italian political satirist noted for packing stadiums in Italy and having giant wavy hair, writes an English/Italian blog peppered with strong anti-corruption, anti-globalization outrage and a pro-tech, pro-little-guy ethos. He knows his audience.
15. theme.blogfa.com
In Arabic.
16. Herramientas para Blogs
Madrid, Spain–based blogger Marcelino Madrigal writes in Spanish on music, graffiti, and whatever else he wants.
17. Lifehacker
Part of the Nick Denton blog empire, Lifehacker envisions a better world where computers make us more productive, rather than suck down our spare time.
18. locker2man
In Chinese.
19. Open Palm! silicn
In Japanese.
20. Think Progress
House organ of the Center for American Progress, a think tank led by former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta.
21. Official Google Blog
As the name implies.
22. Kottke
Jason Kottke got his big break in 2000, when he was profiled by The New Yorker. Now he blogs full time.
23. Fark
A frenetic mix of Star Trek: The Next Generation tidbits and dorky Photoshop contests.
24. Gawker
The gossipy flagship of the Denton blog empire.
25. chattie555
What’s not to love about sketches of skinny adolescent Kimono-clad girls playing with hippos? In Japanese.
26. spaces.msn.com/gb2312
In Chinese.
27. spaces.msn.com/msn-sa
In Japanese.
28. lwhanz1981530
The blog of one pensive-looking Japanese boy with photos that highlight his six-pack and pecs. In Japanese.
29. Wonkette
Part of Denton’s empire, gossip for the D.C. set. Founding editor Ana Marie Cox handed over the reins in January, but it still dishes Cox-like ’tude.
30. shiraishi seesaa
In Japanese.
31. The Space Craft
Where Microsoft discusses its rather lame network of blog sites called Spaces.
32. Talking Points Memo
Josh Marshall has taken the blog form from couch-potato punditry to real journalism. He recently hired a reporter to muckrake full time.
33. spaces.msn.com/huangmj
More Japanese.
34. A List Apart
If the term liquid center makes you think of candy rather than a Web page, this site isn’t for you. Design tips and tricks for those in the business.
35. manabekawori
More Japanese.
36. spaces.msn.com/atiger
Welcome to “a Tiger’s Space.” In Chinese.
37. Power Line
A conservative political blog by three lawyers. The blog got famous during “Rathergate” for helping to prove that the docs used by CBS questioning Bush’s military record were fakes.
38. Weebl’s Stuff News
From the creators of Weebl and Bob, cartoon talking eggs who love, I mean love, pie. They’re Internet stars and were recently picked up by MTV UK.
39. Eschaton
Liberal pro-Dem political blog of Duncan Black (a.k.a. Atrios). Known for its serious, in-your-face invective.
40. Xiaxue
Self-absorbed travails of twentysomething lovelorn Wendy Cheng. Famous in Singapore, she has also been criticized as racist and xenophobic.
41. Joystiq
All things video-game related, and part of the Calacanis blog network that includes Engadget.
42. Little Green Footballs
A rabidly conservative war blog. The source of so much Net controversy that it spawned a watchdog, LGF.blogspot.com.
43. AMERICAblog
Lefty political blog famous for exposing Jeff Gannon, the male prostitute cleared to attend White House press conferences.
44. nosz50j
In Japanese.
45. Joel on Software
Joel Spolsky, CEO of a small New York–based software company, computer programmer, and book author, shares his coding tips.
46. spaces.msn.com/gouy2k
In Japanese.
47. princesscecicastle
Lots of blurry cam shots of 19-year-old Ceci and her friends in Toronto. In Chinese.
48. Google Blogoscoped
A Google gossip-watch site run from Stuttgart, Germany.
49. The Superficial
Maliciously funny celeb gossip that—along with the ubiquitous celebrity boob and butt shots—keeps you coming back for more.
50. Andrew Sullivan
A gay, Catholic war supporter, albeit one who is very critical of Bush. In January, he leased the site to Time Warner.
The Blog Establishment
• Blogs to Riches: The Haves and Have-Nots of the Blogging Boom
• Linkology: How the 50 Most Popular Blogs Are Related
• The Early Years: A Timeline of How Blogging All Began
• Five Cool Blogs to Check Out Now
• Meet the Bloggers
• The Long Tail Theory: Why B-list Blogs Can Make It, Too