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Monday, February 11, 2008

LR Index: The Top 10 Russia Blogs in the English Language

We've conducted another of our occasional reviews of Russia blog performance data. There are two main sources of data about such performance; Technorati provides data about links between blogs and "favorites" by readers, whilst Alexa provides data about visitation.

To compile our review we collect four types of data:

  • linking blogs (a measure of blogosphere interest)
  • links from blogs (a measure of blogosphere loyalty)
  • traffic (a measure of interest level among readers)
  • favorites (a measure of loyalty among readers)
Then we rank the top ten blogs according to each criteria, awarding 10 points to the top blog in each category, 9 points for second place, and so on. Finally we tabulate scores for each blog and rank them by score in what we call the LR Index, published below (followed by the base data in each category).

We are delighted to announce something that will get under the skin of the Russia apologist filth even more than our own influence, namely that Robert Amsterdam, Mikhail Khodorkovsky's lawyer, is now the undisputed king of Russia blogs according to the latest LR Index (LRI). His blog was also a finalist in last year's Weblog awards, the sole Russia blog to be considered for such an honor, clearly cementing its place as the top dog, to say nothing of blogger Robert Amsterdam's regular appearances on television and in the news media. Given that ideologically Amsterdam's blog is the spitting image of this one, we couldn't be more delighted at the ability of this powerful lawyer to inject his blog into the international discussion on Russia. Producing original video content and a wealth of translation materials, carrying the fight to the Kremlin as no other, Amsterdam is clearly the cream of the Russia blog crop. It's always been our dream that our agenda would be driven onto the front pages of the world's newspapers by mainstream figures, and now it is happening! Hooray!

Honorable mention should go to three other blogs:
  • La Russophobe now divides its content between three different blogs (this one, Publius Pundit and Pajamas Media), the only blog in the top ten to do so. If the traffic and Technorati data for all three blogs were combined (as well as the traffic done by our backup blog, which is quite significant), we would dominate all blogs.
  • Both Edward Lucas and Mark MacKinnon recently published books about Russia; none of the other bloggers on the list, not even Amsterdam, can brag about such an accomplishment. Lucas also regularly publishes commentary and reporting on Russia in major British newspapers, to an even greater extent than Amsterdam. Kim Zigfeld will soon be publishing a review of both books on Pajamas Media.

Also noteworthy is that the venal "Copydude" blog is a now a dead link, yet another Russophile institution we've seen into its grave (remember "Russian Blog"?). Still more encouraging is that the even more loathsome Russia Blog is mightily in decline, having dropped out of the top three and hopefully bound for the ash heap of history. Good riddance! It's a pretty conclusive statement about the level of fraud that reprehensible institution in engaging in that though Technorati data shows it is clearly in decline it still leads all blogs in traffic as recorded by Alexa, indicating that quite simply they are manufacturing their traffic artificially (the pathetic number of comments they receive is further conclusive proof of this fact) -- and the same goes for Russian Spy, hardly a significant factor in the Russia conversation. Russia Blog is just as dishonest in its actual content; there's simply no market for a ridiculous pile of neo-Soviet lies, and the blogosphere is properly euthanizing this malignant effort, the only one of its its type in the top 10. People don't want to be lied to, especially not in such an embarrassingly lame manner. One can also point to the humiliating failure of Russophile wacko Petter LaVelle's blog at Russia Today, which has only been linked to on Technorati a pathetic two times and was canceled by RT for a time. His own blog was an equally ridiculous disaster, and he operates a "discussion group" on Google that he doesn't even have the guts to publicly display. These are the depths to which apology for dictatorship has sunk where Russia is concerned these days. With "friends" like LaVelle, Russia needs no enemies (and yes, we're spelling his filth-laden name wrong on purpose).

Note too that Vilhelm Konnander and Sean's Russia blog have no registration at all for traffic on Alexa, meaning that their level of visitation is too insignificant for Alexa to measure. By contrast, Lex Libertas and Copydude (even though it doesn't exist any longer) have traffic that registers on Alexa, but their Technorati data is too minor to make the top ten. Thus, we've designated Konnander and Sean's with an * in the Technorati sections to note that they have no place in the top 10 for traffic, and we've included Technorti data for Copydude and Lex Libertas even though their stats preclude them from top-10 consideration on the LRI. In other words, there really aren't ten "top" Russia blogs in the English-speaking world, but only eight, an indication of the fact that most of the world simply couldn't care less about Russia. (It should also be noted that Sean's Russia blog has changed its address, which tends to dilute its Technorati data to some extent.)

LR Index: Top 10 Russia Blogs in the English Blogosphere
(ties broken based on linking blogs)

#1 Robert Amsterdam LRI 36 (10 + 10 + 9 + 7)

#2 La Russophobe LRI 34 (9 + 9 + 10 + 6)

#3 Siberian Light LRI 30 (7 + 8 + 7 + 8)

#4 Russia Blog LRI 28 (8 + 7 + 3 + 10)

#5 Edward Lucas LRI 20 (6 + 5 + 6 + 3)

#6 *Vilhelm Konnander LRI 16 (5 + 3 + 8 + 0)

#7 Russian Spy LRI 13 (2 + 1 + 1 + 9)

#7 *Sean's Russia Blog LRI 13 (1 + 6 + 6 + 0)

#9 Mark MacKinnon LRI 12 (4 + 4 + 2 + 2)

#9 White Sun of the Desert LRI 12 (3 + 2 + 2 + 5)



Links (Blogosphere Interest)

Robert Amsterdam 250

La Russophobe 167

Russia Blog 157

Siberian Light 123

Edward Lucas 59

Vilhelm Konnander 51*

Mark MacKinnon 43

White Sun of the Desert 36

Russian Spy 33

Sean’s Russia Blog 25*

*(Lex Libertas) 6

*(Copydude)(dead link) 11


Links from Blogs (Blogger Loyalty)

Robert Amsterdam 1,330

La Russophobe 1,008

Siberian Light 966

Russia Blog 765

Sean’s Russia Blog 582*

Edward Lucas 495

Mark MacKinnon 302

Vilhelm Konnander 241*

White Sun of the Desert 223

Russian Spy 198

*(Copydude)(dead link) 174

*(Lex Libertas) 124


Favorites (Reader Loyalty)
(ties are broken based on traffic data but same points are given to each)

Russia Blog 6

*(Copydude)(dead link) 4

Traffic (Reader Interest)

Russia Blog 244,001

Russian Spy 306,641

Siberian Light 311,125

Robert Amsterdam 414,808

La Russophobe 793,269

White Sun of the Desert 1,366,751

Lex Libertas 1,687,226

Edward Lucas 2,291,820

Mark MacKinnon 3,032,150

*Copydude(dead link) 7,859,020


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I could have sworn I left an extensively critical but non-abusive comment here a couple of days ago. Surely this blog isn't exercising censorship.

La Russophobe said...

Surely, you read our comment publication requirements, clearly posted in our sidebar for many months now, before submitting your comment, right?

http://russophobe.blogspot.com/2007/06/comment-publication-guidelines.html

So, to answer your question, yes we are exercising censorship, and have been since day one. Another word for censorship is ownership. This blog isn't public property, and it's certainly not YOUR property, little boy.

Surely, you don't think you have a "right" to comment on this blog, but only a privilege, right?

Surely, you don't think you're one of the owners of this blog, right, and aren't presuming you have the power to tell us how it should be run, right?

Surely, you know that THOUSANDS of comments criticizing this blog have been published already, although we have no obligation whatsoever to publish even one. But let us guess: You think we're afraid you and your devastating mind, right?

Surely, you're not a paranoid egomaniacal weirdo, right?

Anonymous said...

Again with the abuse.
Of course you are entitled to reproduce any comments you wish. However, your case for decrying limited freedom of expression in Russia becomes ever so weak when you choose to excercise similar policies yourself in order to conceal inconsistencies in your own blog's general mission.
In short, yes, it would seem you are afraid of publishing criticism that does not consist purely of insults and ideological presumption.
On point of fact, none of the remarks in my original post breached any of the "guidelines" set forward in your link.
The only conclusion one can derive is that this is not a forum for promoting further understanding of Russia, but merely a soapbox for propagating misunderstanding and one-sided views.
Now, which one of the rules has this comment broken. Or will you choose to arbitrarily ignore or stifle the observation in the style of, oh I don't know, a certain Russian leader.

La Russophobe said...

You are a raving psychopath, convinced that you hold a monopoly on the truth can cannot be mistaken. If you don't like this blog, make your own -- and we'd like to see how many people read it.

Our comment guidelines clearly state that we prefer all commenters to have a blogger ID and use it here; all those who don't are subject to immediate refusal of publication.

Your suggestion that if we ever delete a comment it means we cannot criticize the Kremlin for dictatorship is bizarre fantasy of a neo-soviet propagandist. Is the New York Times obligated to print every comment it receives on its website or lose protection under the First Amendment? Your raving nonsense disqualifies you from being taken seriously. You write as if you operated one of the most powerful Russia publications on the planet, not us. It's senile.

This very post itself contains negative information about this blog, showing that we are not #1 in Technorati links, and we had no obligation to publish it. The blog is FULL of negative comments, and your suggestion that we are afraid of them is full of egomania and self-delusion -- and jealousy.

You have no right to comment on this blog, nor do you have any right to decide what comments are "fit" for publication. Your attempt to assume that power is simply crazy, and indicates that you are polluting our blog with your presence.

You have made NO attempt WHATSOEVER to discuss the data set forth in this post much less to point out any error in it. The fact that you don't care for what the data shows or believe your own personal opinion should supercede it is a matter of no consequence to us.

The data shows we are one of the most powerful and well-attended Russia publications in the world. You clearly can't handle that fact, so you respond with neo-Soviet propaganda. It's pathetic.