Anglican Blogs – How do they stack up?
Out of a conversation today I started wondering just what the relative influence was of various Anglican Blogs. A good place to start thinking about this is Technorati, which ranks blogs on the basis of how many links from unique sites they have acquired in the past six months. That’s a much better way of assessing influence than raw page views, because referrals indicate that what you have to say is being treated as important.
So, without further ado, here is a preliminary table of Anglican(ish) blogs with a technorati influence over 25, and where they fit in the grand scheme of things. Some of the results might surprise you.
| Blog | Technorati Influence | Comments |
| Virtue Online | 371 | Love him or loathe him, David Virtue is top of the pile when it comes to Anglican blogs that are linked to. Some say that’s a good thing, others start turning their Bibles to Genesis 11.
Interestingly, David Virtue appears absolutely nowhere on the Telegraph list of the 50 most influential Anglicans. Perhaps Technorati rankings aren’t all that… |
| Episcopal Café | 349 | Whereas Thinking Anglicans used to be the site of choice for liberals, that mantel has now fallen to Episcopal Café, resourced by the Diocese of Washington. ECafé has become the hub of all things TEC on the web, easily outstripping the official ECUSA website. |
| Church Times | 308 | Not to be mistaken with the Church Times blog, the Church Times website is widely quoted and accessed. |
| Ruth Gledhill – Articles of Faith | 250 | Ruth Gledhill of the Times has developed a blog on Anglican and general religious affars that is second to none. Absolutely the place to find the most important and influential stories and comment. |
| CaNN | 195 | They started it. Seriously. Binky and the elves were blogging away way before any of the rest of us had even heard of CMS or PHP. Not as active as it used to be, CaNN is still way up the list, a tribute to the huge impact it has had on the rest of the Anglicans who are now on the web. Undoubtably the original, if no longer the best. |
| Titus One Nine | 174 | In the beginning was the word, and the word was “Kendall Harmon”. OK, so that’s actually two words, but such has been the influence of Kendall on the Anglican blogosphere and the conservative wing of the church that we can stretch that far for him. An eclectic blend of church news with a particular emphasis on things Anglican, as well as economics, politics and culture. And the Superbowl. If his team is winning. |
| Stand Firm in Faith | 156 | Known by its detractors as Viagraville, Stand Firm is probably the leading conservative site on the web. It’s strength is the coming together of all streams of conservative Anglicanism, whether Sydney or Fort Worth style, in a fusion of wit and incisive comment. |
| Thinking Anglicans | 139 | TA is to the liberals what Stand Firm is to the Conservatives, but with less Pfizer product witticism potential. |
| Anglican Mainstream | 108 | Once upon a time, the grand-daddy of conservative websites, now fading fast. A mixture of Anglican and culture-wars news, spearheaded by the well connected Chris Sugden. |
| Bishop Alan Wilson | 98 | All Alan Wilson ever wanted to do was be a suffragan bishop in a green and pleasant corner of Oxfordshire. That all changed when he started blogging and picked up a growing band of followers. Charming, provocative and thoroughly English. Hurrah!!!!! |
| Preludium | 90 | Mark Harris, member of TEC Executive Council and scourge of conservatives. Rumour has it, he has a collection of cat-o-nine tails hanging in a closet. We cannot confirm…. |
| BabyBlueCafe | 54 | “Am I blue? Am I blue? Are these tears in my eyes telling you?” – Mary Ailes has done a fantastic job of producing her little corner of the Anglican web. News from Virginia and beyond, with a healthy dose of Bob Dylan for company. |
| Covenant | 46 | “We are evangelical and catholic Anglicans, and fellow travelers from the wider household of God, assembled and summoned to a common labor in the ecumenical Church of Christ, not least through the present struggles and gifts of our communities.” Church. Deep. Reading Covenant you get the impression it’s where C S Lewis would be hanging on the internet… |
| George Conger | 43 | Apparently only slightly more influential than yours truly, Uncle George’s blog simply records electronically his pieces for various papers, but in doing so demonstrates the strength of his journalism. |
| An Exercise in the Fundamentals of Orthodoxy | 42 | Should be much higher up the list (and all the people said “Amen”). Do something about that folks. |
| The Ugley Vicar | 39 | U G L E Y, He has got an alibi, ‘cos the extra E stands for Evangelical as in “Conservative”. John Richardson’s blog provides food for thought and content for his regular appearances in New Directions. |
| Anglican TV | 30 | Kevin Kallsen has worked hard to provide video coverage of major Anglican events. Still fairly low down the table, despite this he is increasingly seen as a vital resource. |
Any more for any more? Leave links to your favourite Anglican blogs in the comments below and I’ll add them to the table.
Very good Peter, however may I suggest Fulcrum maintained by the energetic Dr Graham Kings and his team, an eclectic mix of news, articles, analysis, art, poetry as well as some comments by people not necessarily connected with the management?
I would also recommend Anglican Wanderings, Anglo-Catholic and I consider one of the best UK blogs – a joyous celebration in pictures, words and comment of the higher things in Anglicanism.
I’m finding it impossible to find Fulcrum on Technorati. If anyone can help with that do let me know.
Anglican Wanderings has a Technorati rating of 21, which is below the threshold of 25 to get on the list. Good blog though.
That’s a shame – still we all know its not about numbers, its quality Peter.
[btw I don’t like my icon]
If you don’t like your icon, then click the link below where it says “Do you want to change the picture…”
Thanks so much for this, Peter!!
-Mary
I like Chris Johnson’s <i><A href=”http://themcj.com/”>Midwest Conservative Journal</A></i>
My website isn’t a blog per se and really shouldn’t be included in this list. It is an archive of the articles I have written and have had published in various newspapers and magazines. It is a site of second notice for items published elsewhere…. One example, a story I wrote on Al Gore and the Church of England at year’s end was viewed a few hundred times on my blog, but had 138,966 views on its original site, Religiousintelligence.com
Essentially, my website is a vanity affair—a clipping service that showcases my work that has been published elsewhere. It doesn’t contain original materials (save for a few photos)
The rankings business is somewhat difficult to quantify and a little circular—-many of my pieces are posted on other blogs after their publication.Â
No comment!
And for Canadian content? Â felix hominum is generally in the low 40’s in technorati.
Greetings
A reader of my website pointed me to this site. I have seen several of this sort of lists and the problem is starting with a set of sites you know about/visit and then ranking them. Rather than going down an objective listing of sites/blogs and checking which are “Anglican(ish)”. There is no mention here of Liturgy which, I just checked, has a Technorati authority of 120 and so would be ninth on your list here.
Have a blessed Sexagesima
Bosco+
My Technorati ranking is currently 52, it was a bit higher in the thick of all the SPCK goings-on. Are you listing blogs by Anglicans, or just those involved in the politics (he asked cheekily!)
Sam Norton (Elizaphanian) should be on this list (also 52), ditto Mark Meynell (Quarentia, 38), the Cartoon Blog (242), and Maggi Dawn (95). Peter Kirk has a ranking of 68, Doug Chaplin is 91.
Also I’m not sure if Fulcrum is a blog, or a more of a news/opinion site with forums. Speaking of which, that’s exactly what Anglican Mainstream is too – as you say in the comments, it’s a website. It’s not a blog.