Who Let the Blogs Out?: A Hyperconnected Peek at the World of Weblogs (Paperback)

by Biz Stone (Author) "Long ago in a castle built into the side of a hill a particularly important sect of Buddhist monks lived and worked..." (more)
Key Phrases: blogging provider, political bloggers, blogging application, Pyra Labs, Movable Type, Evan Williams (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This overview of Web logs, the currently voguish online journals, begins with a tale about a Buddhist monastery "long ago" that used strings to connect documents in a prototypical Internet. The episode is typical of Stone's approach: facts may be interesting enough on their own, but why not dress them up with snazzy distortions? In this work, Stone emulates the worst qualities of many of the unpolished blogs he celebrates. The prose, reading like it was churned out on the fly, is terminally in love with its own hipness, mistaking generalization for profundity and a lack of critical discrimination for democratization. Some of the claims about blogs, such as the notion they are "hooking people up with book deals willy-nilly," are hyperbolic, while others are simply ridiculous (e.g., despite Stone's assertions, "traditional web pages" had "context" long before blogs became popular). As a "senior blogger specialist for Google," Stone's cheerleading is not unexpected, but its clownishness is an overwhelming distraction from the kernels of useful information about the various blogging software manufacturers and their tools.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
As a pop-culture reference, the title is surely dated, but the rest of this introduction to the history and culture of blogging is anything but. Stone, who cofounded the blogging site xanga and now works for Google, covers every facet of life in the blogosphere, from helpful html codes to "what to do when your mom discovers your blog." The emphasis here is on the personal weblogger; from political pundits to angsty 14-year-olds, it seems everyone has a blog these days, and Stone wants to help make yours worth reading. But Stone also discusses the new frontiers in the blogosphere, like the growth of blogs in business and the classroom. Throughout, Stone maintains a breezy, colloquial style that makes for engaging reading, even when the pages feature a lot of "u". Both for folks who have been blogging for years and for those who have reached the end of this review wondering what the hell a blog is, this book is the best resource to date on the blogosphere. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (November 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312330006
• ISBN-13: 978-0312330002
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #451,682 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Smart Overview of the Blogosphere , December 16, 2004

By	elemenoP (astoria, ny) - See all my reviews

A nice refresher for those familiar with blogs--even better, it's an easy, readable intro for those mystified/confused by blogging and curious about its history.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kind of like a blog itself..., May 16, 2005

By	John Dewey Remy "www.mindonfire.com" (Irvine, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book itself is cioppino mix of everything from code snippets to advice to reflective essays. It's a quick read, fun for someone like me who's immersed in blogdom and willing to gloss over the stuff I already know while picking out the nuggets that when implemented, will transform me into a Blogger Extraordinaire. It's eclectic and blog-like in its coverage of the weblog phenomenon. It might make a good non-technical intro to blogging.

I especially enjoyed Stone's discussion of "The Strength of Weak Ties" and how blogs fit into the weak network scheme of disseminating information, fads, job opportunites, etc.

5.0 out of 5 stars I highly recommend this book, September 20, 2006

By	reader "who_is_this" (USA) - See all my reviews

Biz Stone's book is an excellent introduction to the blog. It's written in a conversational style and I like the humor. I've read a few others about the topic, so this isn't the first of this kind for me. He gives an account that is accessible to someone who has never started a blog, and he makes the world of blogging look interesting if not fascinating. Yes it does read like a printed blog and is very instructive about keeping blogs, development of blogging, and their social interactions and implications. I think that many prople would aspire to his high level of quality in execution of the electronic word transmuted into the printed page. I highly recommend this book for both the casual reader and someone who is already moderately skilled.