Fair play, the beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder on that though. Blogging hasnt broken out of its ghetto, in Wales its still very much a political bubble thing.

Also, bloggers largely like to self congratulate – the ones that largely chime with the group think tend to win out (and also the ones that largely avoid spats).

Valleys Mam: “Plaid did well, they have a well oiled machine and are IT users ,so I guess there was a skew there.”
There may have been a mini-machine at work, but I don’t detect it operated too extensively. Which shows how few votes you need to make breakthroughs in this poll. As Simon says, “Seriously though, getting to the top was a doddle – BOTH times!”

Peter – “What is not clear is how its results can be categorised geographically and by type when voting did not take place on that basis.All of us were up against the likes of Iain Dale and Guido in the popularity contest and on how high we were ranked in any particular list. Incidentally, as an indication of how trends change with regards to hits, the Ianto post, which was my last before going on holiday has so far had over 3,500 hits and counting. I doubt I will have a post that popular for some time.”
These observations are very useful. Having not voted, I simply assumed categorisations were clear for voters. Totally accept you have not lost readers, but remain bemused as to the popularity of the Ianto post! I probably look at social media through a very narrow prism…

Marcus – “I actually bemoan Simon’s lack of blogging, because along with him, Blamerbells, Miss Wagstaff and Normal Mouth there was a clear set of bloggers who despite having allegiances, weren’t blindly party loyal. I sense that currently the Welsh Blogosphere is dominated by people who seem committed to having an argument rather than having a debate, of which I include myself at times. ”
Eighteen months ago was a lot less party loyalist, and as a consequence was more provocative. The past year has not been Welsh blogging’s best, though I am heartened by the number of new bloggers coming through and the rise of the “new thinker” blogs over the past couple of months. Hence I gave the blogosphere an overall thumbs up, but at times the general direction has worried me.

As much as I like GWF, he is very, very partisan and does so anonymously. This leads to a lot of people commenting and viewing the blog – you sense that many people like the blog (as I do) because he at least sticks his chin out on issues. I do question whether he would do so if his real name was on the block though, in fact I know he probably might not be able to.
His combative approach makes it highly readable, so good on him.

The Plaid thing is interesting, particularly because it will be interesting in how it alters. At the time I criticised the Plaid blogs for maintaining a deathly silence over the tuition fees split, pointing to professional interests being behind it. If (and I hope) it is the case that Plaid grows into a party of regular Government, we will have to as Plaid bloggers face up to that challenge. To merely say Welsh Labour ‘don’t get the interwebz’ is false, being in Government brings its own challenges, particularly when entering the blogging arena. Labour for all its web 2.0 faults, has been the Government when the internet has come to the fore, it was a very much a test case.

I actually bemoan Simon’s lack of blogging, because along with him, Blamerbells, Miss Wagstaff and Normal Mouth there was a clear set of bloggers who despite having allegiances, weren’t blindly party loyal. I sense that currently the Welsh Blogosphere is dominated by people who seem committed to having an argument rather than having a debate, of which I include myself at times.

I still maintain that staff should not be writing anonymous blogs however, regardless of party.

Bottom line – this poll says nothing, means nothing and it is difficult to really take anything from it. Daran’s analysis of it says a million more things than a rather cliquey poll does.

Cheeky!

Seriously though, getting to the top was a doddle – BOTH times! Having been there and bought the T-shirt at least twice, I now prefer to blog when it suits me. I made my position clear when I resumed blogging in April:

“The political blogosphere in the UK is obsessed with blogrolls and ‘getting linked’. That’s all fine and dandy, but it takes up time I’d rather spend on other projects.”

And that’s the way it’s going to stay.