It's a Blog, Blog World

I find I still have to explain what a "blog" is to a good chunk of people. But that's sure to change -- Just look at the blog blitz today:

:: The much-hyped launch of The Huffington Post.

Blog posts vary wildly, from Ellen on dead horses and Laurie David outs her husband as an "American Idol" viewer... to Hilary Rosen complaining about the iPod and Ed Markey on nuclear proliferation.

One early observation about the blog: Too many posts. Granted, it's the first day, so the Huffington Post includes items from just about every contributor. But with 51 posts already online from today alone, a lot is going to get lost in the shuffle. (Meanwhile, in the odd statistics department, I already count two references to "Glengarry Glen Ross" -- here, from Tina Brown, and here, from Dave Sirota -- in the course of two hours.)

:: The New York Times peers into the world of Nick Denton's "Gawker" empire. Just don't call it an empire, Denton warns:

"People come up to me as if it's witty and say, 'How is the empire going?' " Mr. Denton said, "which is pretty pathetic."

At a time when media conferences like "Les Blogs" in Paris two weeks ago debate the potential of the form, and when BusinessWeek declares, as it did on its May 2 cover, that "Blogs Will Change Your Business," Mr. Denton is withering in his contempt. A blog, he says, is much better at tearing things down - people, careers, brands - than it is at building them up. As for the blog revolution, Mr. Denton put it this way: "Give me a break."

For all of the stiff-arming and disdain that Mr. Denton brings to the discussion of this nonrevolution, however, there is no question that he and his team are trying to turn the online diarist's form - ephemeral, fast-paced and scathingly opinionated - into a viable, if not lucrative, enterprise. Big advertisers like Audi, Nike and General Electric have all vied for eyeballs on Gawker's blogs, which Mr. Denton describes as sexy, irreverent, a tad elitist and unabashedly coastal.

:: Happy Anniversary to Kevin Roderick, whose L.A. Observed turns two. The Downtown News publishes a nice profile of the site in this week's issue:

His readership, like many blogs, is rising. In April, it received nearly 184,000 visits. Roderick estimates he has about 5,000 readers a day (many visit the site multiple times). He said that his "core readership" has increased about 20% since January.

The audience is a mix of media types, fellow bloggers and political operatives, including both campaigns in the mayoral race. "I know it's read in the mayor's office, the governor's office and all of the city council members' offices," Roderick said.