Today, Beth Kanter, Shannon Whitley and I are launching the List of Change, a ranking of the top English-language change and cause-related blogs in the world. The ranking provides a glimpse into the change and cause bloggers who are trying to positively affect our lives throughout the world. The List of Change only uses open APIs to weigh statistical performance, and does not include any subjective measures. Any blogger can participate by submitting their URL for inclusion in the List of Change.
The List of Change was developed by programmer Shannon Whitley and I, and is co-facilitated by leading Changeblogger Beth Kanter. The List was also one of Qui Diaz’s last projects as an employee of Livingston Communications.
Shannon and I created the List because we ended up owning the ranking code, something that happened during the past year and a half. We wanted to use the code for good, and as participants in the nonprofit industry we could think of no better place to do so. Beth thought it was a great idea, and graciously agreed to lend her name to and promote the List, thereby helping us give the ranking to the nonprofit industry. By creating the List of Change we felt we could benefit the sector for several reasons:
1) It will provide a single point of aggregation for change blogs, allowing new and old readers alike to discover new blogs
2) Change and cause bloggers can use the list to promote themselves to new readers. They can also use the list to benchmark their own performance against their peers.
3) We realize that some people see rankings as competitive or subjective, and don’t want to participate. The List of Change is an opt in ranking where change bloggers have to submit their URL to become part of the ranking. Only those who truly want to participate will, thus keeping a spirit of fellowship among the listed.
4) At SXSW Panel on Social Media ROI for Nonprofits – KD Paine was asked a question about metrics for blogs. KD said that she couldn’t answer that because you’d need to have some industry or nonprofit benchmark. And, if one does not exist – trade that information with your colleagues. The list helps facilitate the exchange of benchmarks. So, it isn’t about the score or the number – it gives an industry number and way to begin thinking about to improve our effort.
And so here we are. We hope you agree, and will join the List of Change today.
“The “List of Change” is something that has been needed in the non-profit and social change blogosphere for awhile,” said Fly4Change Changeblogger Alex “SocialBttrfly” Rampy. “It’ll help welcome newcomers and highlight our growing and diverse community. Whether you consider yourself a changeblogger, do-gooder, non-profiteer or have a heart for social good, get to know this valuable community. Engage them in conversation and recruit others in your wake as our times call for all hands on deck.”
There is no profit motive behind the List. While this is currently being hosted on the livingstonbuzz.com URL, my professional blog’s domain, the ultimate intent is to move the list to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s site when it launches its redesigned philanthropy.com. Thank you to Peter Panepento and the Chronicle team for serving as our partners in this endeavor.
When we do move the List to the Chronicle’s site, we will donate the code without financial compensation. You will also note there are no corporate logos affiliated with the list either. This is literally a gift from Shannon, Beth and I.
Methodology
Credit for the idea behind the List of Change Index goes to Todd Andrlik, who developed the AdAge Power150. Many of the sources for the List of Change are the same as the original Power150, including Technorati Rank, Technorati InLinks, Bloglines Subscribers, Alexa Points, Google PageRank, and Yahoo InLinks. The List of Change takes a slightly different approach in generating the actual ranks. All of the blogs are essentially graded on a curve, using standard deviations to rank the blogs against each other on a scale of 0 – 100.
P.S. I want to thank my employer CRT/tanaka for supporting my philanthropic side projects. Without their silent, but substantive help it would be much harder for me to participate.
I think the idea of a list of the most important change blogs is great, and this will be a terrific resource. Thank you for leading the charge to put it together. But, I think this list only has limited value. Not every post on these blogs is useful or focused or even change related. Not every blogger talks about only change in the context of nonprofits or philanthropy or social change.
It would be even more valuable, I think, to develop a ranking/rating method/system and using it to aggregating the most important POSTS about change. I work with and speak to nonprofit leadership, social change advocates, corporate leaders and media all the time about these issues. They are overwhelmed. A list of blogs for them to follow or experts for them to chase alone is not all that helpful. People who are looking for guidance, and information, and support on these complex issues should be able to find the 100 articles that they should read, the posts that address specific issues or coordinate. It will come from this list of blogs, no doubt, but there are also other bloggers or thinkers who might have a single post that is a ‘must read’ or a conversation that people should be a part of. You won’t be able to find that easily from just a list of the important blogs.
Just a thought.
Brian: Thank you for your feedback. The only problem with a subjective look at which posts are better than others, which blogs are better than others is that one man’s treasure is another’s garbage. Causes are so personal that I couldn’t imagine saying one blog is better than another regardless of ranking on a list like this.
@brian @geoffliving
I think what Brian is describing is very valuable,but not the purpose of the change list. I think that’s another animal. Actually, it could be constructed taking the list of change bloggers and using some of the automated filtering tools. Of course, it would require some tweeting and be individual to each person.
Also, it would require that each of these bloggers has an RSS by category — to fine tune it — and some human curating.
Yes, Beth – different animal. But I think a useful and necessary next step. I agree with your thought to take the list, feed the articles, sort and review/curate a bit. I think a scan of the list plus a little help could result in all these blogs having the right feeds, promoting the best content. True collaboration to promote social good without requiring centralized management or a new organization to structure. The power of information, directed and supported a bit, on full display. Hope we can get to that point, together.
This is a great resource! Thanks so much for creating it.
Great concept and post…not tweeting but would love to be added, obviously, as Shaping Youth is alllllllll about mindshifting on the media front, as you know! I’ll plop it in my FB feed pronto!
Britt: Thanks, anything you can do to help would be greatly appreciated.
Amy: Simply go to the list and submit your blog.
Thank you for including my blog on the List Of Change!How do I post your badge on my site? Would like make this valuable resource available to others.
It will provide a single point of aggregation for change blogs