News

...And so when I started following the phenomenon of blogging, where people post their thoughts, the deep and the drivel alike, in online journals, it was difficult to understand why millions of people are signing on. Who could possibly care to read what is often intensely personal information and who has the time to write it?

Lots of people, millions in fact, according to the statistics. Jupiter Research estimates about two per cent of people who are online have created a blog (short for Web log) and four per cent are reading them.

...At the Blogging Network that drive could be monetary. At www.bloggingnetwork.com, bloggers, readers and creators alike, pay a flat monthly fee of $5.95 US or $49.95 a year to use the site. Fifty per cent of that fee goes towards the people whose blogs you read. The system sets up intense competition for bloggers to top the most read list.

"What we were trying to do was come up with a venue for blogging where there would be a ready audience of readers, where there would be an incredible community and there would also be an economic incentive," said Lari, who has his own blog, readyfireaim, a twist on the dot-com days when Lari said the idea was to fire and figure out the target afterwards.

"If you wanted to blog regularly, there would be some way you would be rewarded for it."

...Lari echoed Berk's view that blogs are creating the new communities on the Web.

"There's a woman whose blog's name is Army Wife and she is dealing with life while her husband is fighting in Iraq," he said. "She has an amazing virtual support network now."

Hope all of you are having a great new year! We're planning exciting new things for the Blogging Network community in 2004 including a new name for this site.

While all of us have gotten used to the name Blogging Network, it has always been a mouthful. This meant it was often abbreviated to BN. But BN.com is Barnes & Noble which this site is definitely not!

We felt it was time to find a better name. A name that was short, memorable and available. A name that captured the excitement, the drama, the competition of BN. A name that captured the incredible sense of community. A name that simply blew you away...OK, so maybe the name won't do all of this. But we do think we've found a wonderful new name.

We'll be sharing it with you in the next few days!

Brian / Blogging Network Team

P.S. What? You want to know it right now? You don't like this teaser? Hmm...uhhh, well, how about this, we promise not to make you wait too long.

BN will now pay $10 to you for each referral, effective immediately. This increase applies to all bonuses that will be awarded in the future, even if the referral has already subscribed.

We wanted to make sure we adequately reward the members who promote Blogging Network to their friends, family and colleagues.

So Refer a Friend today and start earning those ten dollar bills! Thank you!

Thank you for continuing to submit your testimonials about Blogging Network.

We're currently featuring over 50 testimonials from you that describe why Blogging Network is such a unique venue for bloggers and blogs.

Blogging Network is compelling
Blogging Network is entertainment
Blogging Network is community
Blogging Network is addictive
Blogging Network is the place to write