Joey MoJoey’s Atheist Blogroll: I don’t get its popularity
Posted by: RB on: February 2, 2008
If you’re an atheist blogger or a regular visitor of atheist blogs, you’ve probably seen this link:
I’ve seen this link so many times. At least 350 atheist blogs are members of this blogroll, with many of them displaying this link on their site. Now first off, let me say that I have absolutely no problem with Joey MoJoey (indeed, I’ve never interacted with him in any way), his Deep Thoughts blog (I haven’t read it), or his popular Atheist Blogroll. I just don’t get it. What makes this blogroll so popular? It’s not like it’s a huge blog like Pharyngula. And given that there are so many blogs on it, it’s not like more than a handful of people per month are going to visit your blog just because it’s on the list (except perhaps for those whose blog is at the top of the list, or whose blog was already popular in the first place, but these exceptions apply to any blogroll). On a list like this, any particular blog is just another brick on the wall. I guess it’s all about search engine rankings—every link is a good link—and perhaps the illusion that being on this Blogroll is valuable, what with so many bloggers being on it and boasting the cool link button which surely adds to the image of being a particularly valuable blogroll.
Again, I’m not in anyway trying to knock Joey, the blogroll or his blog. I’m just perplexed by this particular blogroll’s disproportionate popularity—and there is no way that I’m the only one who has ever pondered this. I figure that the popularity is simply the result of Joey being clever enough to create a cool link button and being able to get a certain critical mass of bloggers to display the link. Good for him. Surely it does provide a worthwhile service by providing a salient listing of atheist bloggers.
19 Responses to "Joey MoJoey’s Atheist Blogroll: I don’t get its popularity"
February 2, 2008 at 7:14 pm
You’d be surprised.
My blog in on that list and the blog stats reveal I get quite a few click-throughs via it.
February 2, 2008 at 7:29 pm
I think it’s a work of genius. Between that and Planet Atheism, I’d give the award for simplest most powerful idea to advance atheism I wish I’d thought of.
February 2, 2008 at 7:39 pm
It is all about links and traffic. The blogroll points like minded people to your blog. I don’t know about it being popular, but it does make finding atheist related info easier. Most people pump the blogs into their news reader or use the dedicated search engine.
And I think most people know this by now. I read like 10 of the blogs on the blogroll and as far as I can tell about 25 people read my blog. But most people tell me it serves two purposes well. New blogs get a boost in readership when I introduce them, and most blogs get more traffic.
Sean – thanks for complement.
February 2, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Plus, we bloggers on the list get to join the weekly orgy meet-ups.
February 2, 2008 at 11:45 pm
I think of it as a way to support other atheist bloggers. When someone visits my site, they’re exposed to other blogs on the same theme. If the topic interests them, I would hope they’d follow those links and visit a few of my fellow bloggers. Likewise, visitors to their blogs may visit mine as a result of being on their blogroll. Hyperlinking is one of the cornerstones of the world wide web. This is a valid and valuable use of that technology.
February 3, 2008 at 12:16 am
Besides the weekly orgy, when I first started blogging, I did go through the Blogroll to find other sites worth reading. Most weren’t that great. Some were excellent. But it was a one-stop shop to find the atheist sites that were out there.
February 3, 2008 at 12:39 pm
I like it for a lot of reasons, but especially like it because it immediately and visually demonstrates the popularity of atheism in terms of the number of atheist bloggers. There are hundreds of us! Who knew!?
February 3, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Um, this is very odd. I’m The Apostate, from apostate.wordpress.com and I followed a click-through from my site to find someone else commenting under my nom-de-plume, linking to my blog (comment at 12:39 PM on Feb. 3).
That person is not me — you can confirm it, if you want, by emailing me at the address listed on my blog (alapostate@gmail.com) and I will respond.
Thanks.
February 3, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Never mind — that’s my husband. I was using his computer and didn’t log out.
I’ll go away now. 
February 4, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Besides the weekly orgy, when I first started blogging, I did go through the Blogroll to find other sites worth reading.
Hey, speaking of the orgy this week, remember that the cookout afterwards is baby back ribs night. Bring your own Christian baby. Awards will be presented for best BBQ sauce! Yum!
February 4, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Brent: HAHAHAHAAHAHAHHA!!!
Joey: The wisdom elicited by this thread suggests that I should hop aboard.
February 4, 2008 at 4:46 pm
MoJoey: I have sent thee an email requesting addition of TFP. If I’m late for the party, please put aside some ribs and I’ll throw them in the microwave when I get there. Either that or I’ll just grab a Christian toddler from the local church nursery on my way there. Lemmeknow.
February 10, 2008 at 12:10 am
well, I think that the particular popularity of this blogroll may be due in part to the fact that it has a very obvious title.
March 11, 2008 at 11:37 am
Thanks to the blogroll, I’ve met some interesting like-minded individuals in cyber-space. It’s hard relating to people around me, because I live in a bible zone.
I’ll bring the jello mold to the bbq/orgy, shaped into jeebus on the cross.
February 2, 2008 at 5:50 pm
I agree: it’s perplexing. I am not quite sure what “service” this blog roll provides either. I usually don’t look at blog rolls that are too long (and my tolerance is probably at about 10 or 15 links). And my own is more a portable bookmark file for my use
.
Originally, I thought that maybe he’s trying to show how many atheist/agnostic blogs are out there. But membership doesn’t make sense then since that would be a collection of submissions, not necessarily by the blogger themselves.
So, as a person trained in marketing, I’d say, this is a very poorly defined product: the need it’s supposed to meet is not clear, nor the intended audience, really.