This new version of “Blogs and the Economics of Reciprocal Attention” exploits a wider data set and clarifies the way exchange of reciprocal attention between bloggers occurs. We argue that paying attention to other bloggers wins attention to one’s blog. We derive properties of blogging networks from a model where bloggers trade attention and content.
The predictions from the model are then checked against a novel dataset from LiveJournal, a major blogging community. As predicted, the activity of a blogger is found to be related to the size and level of reciprocity within that blogger’s network of relations. We also find that bloggers who do not adhere to reciprocity norms are sanctioned with a lower number of readers.
Behavioral public policy 