Jeredb said on December 19, 2006 at 04:37 PM

I believe Gartner is also the group of analysts who said the internet was not going to take off. Also, blogging for more people, including my wife and friends, peaks after about a month.

russ stalters said on December 19, 2006 at 06:06 PM

I agree that things may slow down a bit, but maybe the Time “Person of the Year” may fuel some addtional growth by folks who want to see what the social web is all about.

All I know, is that when I speak about blogging the audience is inerested, engaged, and curious about how they can leverage this additional communication channel.

I agree with the previous commenter that Gartner’s track record is spotty at best.

Alex Manchester said on December 19, 2006 at 07:44 PM

I don’t much go for these Gartner numbers either, it’s like saying internet growth is finite and all those people who tried blogging once will never ever go back or try it again for the rest of their lives (I’ve started four blogs personally, the first three were rubbish and I deleted them, the fourth I’m happier with), but I keep trying it because when it works it’s a superb way to communicate.

Sure growth will tail off, it has to (to keep doubling every six months would mean a blog for everyone connected to the internet within two and a half years - very unlikely), but they’re more or less embedded in internet life already.

I also agree that the corporate blogosphere is just beginning. It may never be as connected as the regular blogosphere, but for sure many companies are just switching on to the format (us included).

Unfortunately it’s unlikely we’ll have a corporate Technorati to keep track of it all.

Mike Sigers said on December 20, 2006 at 09:57 PM

We’ve built 4 corporate blogs in the last 6 weeks and have 2 more in the pipeline for the next 6 weeks.

The corporate community is just starting to catch on ... there’s still a lot of them to go.

I’d say it’ll take another 2 years to get near the summit.

But the interaction of customers and corporations or businesses is here to stay ... forever.

teresa boardman said on December 22, 2006 at 08:40 AM

2007 will be interesting.  So many people started blogs in 2006, and posted for a couple of months and ten just stopped.  Maybe writing a blog is not for everyone.

Easton Ellsworth said on December 22, 2006 at 12:50 PM

Agree, Debbie.  Corporate blogs are just catching on among a great many companies, both small and large.  I think we’ll see more companies start blogs next year than we did this year.

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