Using publicly available data from Bloglines, Infoworld's John Udell analyzed
the subscription trends of several major tech blogs (see chart at
left). Udell says he's really not sure how to interpret this because
the data suggests that while growth is constant, the rate of growth
varies episodically. Despite the nuances, here's what I clearly gleaned
- more folks are subscribing to blogs via RSS and they're reading them on
Bloglines.
As of this writing, more than one third of my 1200
FeedBurner feed readers (420 subscribers) are viewing my blog through Bloglines (see chart at right) -
and this number is growing rapidly. As much as I would love to think
this ascent is due to what I write on my blog, I actually believe it is because
Bloglines is attracting users in droves and is growing like a beanstalk. I have heard from
some subscribers that they are ditching their desktop RSS readers
in favor of Bloglines' simplicity. As much as I love FeedDemon,
I too have switched exclusively to Bloglines. However, with great growth often comes great power. Could Bloglines
one day exert the kind of control that Google does? I bet in the near future
they might. Especially if they need start monetizing their users or they get swallowed up by a bigger fish.
