Issues in "Blogmetrics" - Case Studies Using BlogPulse to Observe Trends in Weblogs

Abstract

Weblogs ("blogs") have emerged as a significant communication medium. The BlogPulse Trend Search tool was used for a number of case studies, examining trends in the use of terms in blogs. The paper discusses methodology issues in searching blogs, concluding that blogs can indicate new trends in popular culture, language, and science. However interpretation of trends requires careful examination of the postings, to ensure that an apparent trend is not due to problems in terminology, spam, trivial references to the concepts, etc. In particular, there seems to be no easy way to link postings to particular countries.