What If the Z-list Were on Twitter?

Memes

Two years ago, Mack Collier ran an experiment. He wanted to see if the authority rankings of sites tracked by Technorati etc could be turned around. After all, there are many fine blogs out there – many who don’t receive the links or recognition that they deserve. Calling this the Revenge of the Z-lister, Mack created a viral storm that transformed the ranking and profile of many blogs.

The way it worked was as follows – start with the current list (Mack started with five blogs) and then add your own five. When it wrapped up, the Z-list contained around 200 blogs each linking and re-linking to each other.

While this Z-list could be seen as a form of linkbaiting, there was also something immensely valuable in it – it brought together a community of participants. It activated people in a fun and engaging format. And it introduced those with the patience, to a number of fantastic new blogs and their authors.

Sometime later, Becky Carroll, Sharon Sarmiento and I reworked this list into a wiki format, breaking each blog into a category and providing a short description of each blog and its content. I was reminded of this yesterday by a message on Twitter. And then I thought, what would happen if the Z-list happened now? What impact would something like Twitter have on the amplification of such an enterprise?

Oh, and which new blogs would YOU add to the Z-list? I would add:

And, in case you were wondering, the original/final list looks like this:

 

Blog Name Author Location Category 10 Word Description
Calico Monkey Animation Focuses on the  ToonBoom software to create animation.
Women, Art, Life: Weaving It All Together Tammy Vitale Maryland, USA Art Art-focused, including thoughts on the art that Tammy produces.
Woolgathering  Elizabeth Perry Art Looking, thinking, drawing, being
World Blog Collection ugyen Blog aggregator Blog listings categorized by type; goal to add 1000 links in ’07.
Blogging Secret Louiss Lim Malaysia Blogging Part personal but mostly blogging related site.
Blogging to Fame Divya Uttam India Blogging All aspects of online business from SEO to usability and blogging.
Blog-Op Chris Lodge Blogging How to improve your blogging by Chris and others.
Daily Blog Tips Daniel Blogging Tips to improve your blogging from tools to design.
Mike’s Money Making Mission Mike Blogging Making money using free blogs.
One Reader at a Time Bob Glaza Blogging One blogger’s experiment in building and engaging with online communities.
Ruminate this site The Ruminator Maine, USA Blogging Reviews blogs and sites so that we don’t have to.
SMogger Social Media Blog Linda Bustos Vancouver, Canada Blogging The ethical use of social media for bloggers and other web users.
SuccessCREEations  Chris Cree Georgia, USA Blogging Blog Consultant bringing the twin passions of business and blogging together.
Successful Blog Liz Strauss Blogging The legendary Liz Strauss, blogger extraordinaire and creator of the SOB award.
Troy Worman’s Blog Troy Worman Jacksonville, USA Blogging Focus on writing, ideas and connections
Copywriter’s Crucible  Matt Ambrose UK Blogging, Copywriting The importance of copy in corporate blogging
Copywriting Tuneups  Eric Rosen Blogging, Copywriting How to measure reading effectiveness and why it is important in the blogosphere
Dipping into the Blogpond Meg Sydney, Australia Blogging, Tech Blogging about starting an Internet company in the Sutherland Shire.
BrandSizzle Anne Simons Branding Broad and deep insight into the branding process.
Own Your Brand!  Mike Wagner Iowa, USA Branding Blog to help businesses re-imagine their brands.
The Emerging Brand Anna Farmery UK Branding Corporate branding blog focused on leadership.
The Engaging Brand Anna Farmery UK Branding Using technology and marketing knowledge to improve business communications.
What is Brand? Japan Branding Japanese readers/speakers? Anyone?
Presentation Zen Garr Reynolds Japan Business (Site in English) Tips for great presentations, marketing, and business communications.
Bob Sutton Bob Sutton California, USA Business Discussions of “jerks” in business.
Perspective Niti Bhan Asia Business Health, wealth and the freedom to choose.  Archived blog.  New one is jugaad (http://www.nitibhan.com/jugaad).
Ramblings from a Glass Half Full Terry Starbucker Connecticut, USA Business Views on business life.
Simplicity Mary’s Blog Mary Schmidt New Mexico, USA Business Business development, marketing troubleshooting
Funny Business Scrambled Toast Business commentary Wide ranging discussion on business with a funny and pictorial approach.
Creative Think Roger von Oech California, USA Business, Creativity Fun Ideas to stimulate your creativity.
The Copywriting Maven Roberta Rosenberg Washington  DC, USA Copywriting Marketing and SEO copywriting tips.
Brain Based Biz Robyn McMaster Creativity Tips for stirring creativity in business.
Experienceology Stephanie Weaver California, USA Customer Experience How to create great customer experiences on the web and in the “real” world.
QAQNA Tom Vander Well Iowa, USA Customer service Business blog on call centers, quality assessment, and customer service.
Shut Up and Drink the Kool-Aid! Tim Jackson Cycling, Blogging The irrepressible Tim MasiGuy Jackson and Co’s slant on bicycle marketing.
MineThatData Kevin Hillstrom Database Marketing Tips for database marketing from the viewpoint of a DM wiz.
Design Sojourn DT Sydney and Singapore Design How to do good design and create clever products.
aialone JT (Jon) Winebrenner Canada Design, tech Design, innovation, as well as Jon’s cartoons!
Frozen Puck Brock Skywalker Canada Eclectic Making cool stuff with expensive toys
Africa Unchained Emeka Okafor Economy Discussing issues and solutions in Africa.
Energy Blog Energy Industry News, information and updates on the Energy generation industry.
Movie Marketing Madness Chris Entertainment, marketing Marketing with a focus on Hollywood.  No info on About page.
gDiapers Jason Oregon, USA Environment Corporate blog discussing environmental issues.
Time to Budget Mona Weathers Finance How to gain financial freedom by controlling your finances.
Soloride Paul Sanchez California, USA Fundraising A project raising awareness and funds for children with dyslexia and learning differences
Girls Swimsuits Preety Girls The name says it all, new site, small archive.
Home Business Wiz Barbra Sundquist Canada Home business Collection of resources about home business.
Working at Home on the Internet Joe Hauckes Home business, Blogging Home business entrepreneurs and making money from home
Kristie T Kristie Tamsevicius Home business, Online Money Making Fun, mom-geared work-at-home tips and advice on making money on the net.
Asia Inspection Community Industrial Blog for Inspection Engineers based in Asia. Includes job board.
Employment Law Colorado Peter Mullison Colorado, USA Law Resource for employers and employees on Colorado employment law
Leading Questions Ed Brenegar USA Leadership Real life leadership, organisational tranformation and practical tips for leaders of all kinds.
Steve Olson Steve Olson Life Chronicling one family’s quest for personal freedom.
Make It Great!  Phil Gerbyshack Wisconsin, USA Life coaching How to take your life from good to great by focusing on relationships.
You Already Know This Stuff Jodee Bock Fargo, USA Life Coaching Reminding us all that what we need to know is already in our minds and hearts.
HolyMama!  USA Lifestyle Funny perspective on life from a stay at home Christian mom.
My Marrakesh Maryam Montegue Morocco Lifestyle Expatriate American with an eye for style, architecture and good living
Gangster Sonny Mafia Fascinated with all things mafia … from movies to weapons.
Talking Story Rosa Say Hawaii, USA Management Management and leadership, Hawaiian style.
AENDirect Aen Tan Singapore Marketing Freelance art director’s view on creativity and advertising
Being Peter Kim Peter Kim Massachusetts, USA Marketing Personal insights from the depths of Forrester (note: this is his personal, not Forrester, blog).
BizandBuzz  Gianandrea Facchini Rome, Italy Marketing Brand building and marketing from an Italian perspective
bizsolutionsplus Lewis Green Connecticut, USA Marketing A passionate and respected author, marketer and activist.
Blog Till You Drop!  Laurence-Hélène UK Marketing Marketing, advertising, branding, blogging
Branding & Marketing Chris Brown Ohio, USA Marketing Designed for business professionals with an interest in branding and marketing.
Business Garden France Marketing French readers/speakers?
Buzz Canuck Sean Moffitt Toronto, Canada Word of Mouth Passionate exponent of word of mouth from Canada.
Buzzoodle Ron McDaniel Ohio, USA Word of mouth, Marketing Creating buzz with word of mouth marketing.
Christine Kane Christine Kane Marketing, Music A recording artist, Christine harnesses the power of community to reach her audience.
CKs Blog Christina Kerley New York, USA Marketing Clever strategies, the new best practices, and the smart marketers behind them.
Conversation Agent Valeria Maltoni Pennsylvania, USA Marketing Connecting ideas and people—how talk can change our lives
converstations Mike Sansone Des Moines, USA Marketing, blogging Known as the blogging yoda (for insight not looks), Mike is a conversation generator.
CrapHammer Sean Howard Canada Marketing Marketing using new media.
Customers Rock! Becky Carroll California, USA Marketing, Customer Experience Marketing the customer experience; its importance for businesses.
Diva Marketing Toby Bloomberg Atlanta, USA Marketing The Diva herself, aligning technology, marketing and branding for businesses.
Dmitry Linkov Dmitry Linkov Moscow, Russia Marketing, Business Everyday and business issues
Drew’s Marketing Minute Drew McLellan USA Marketing, Eclectic Where strategy and passion collide
eSoup Sharon Sarmiento Alabama, USA Marketing, Entrepreneurism Productivity, marketing, web media, small biz development and other stuff entrepreneurs ought to know.
Flooring the Consumer C. B. Whittemore New Jersey, USA Marketing, Customer Experience Improving the consumer experience, particularly in flooring (carpeting)
Get Shouty!  Katie Chatfield Sydney, Australia Marketing, Planning Digital strategy and thoughts on blogging.
Golden Practices Michelle Golden Marketing Thoughts on marketing for professional services firms, including lawyers and CPAs.
Hee-Haw Marketing Paul McEnany Texas, USA Marketing There is no box. New media marketing strategy thrown together with a few cuss words and a dash of panache.
Hola! Oi! Hi! Katia Adams New York, USA Marketing, Multicultural Thoughts of a Brazilian newly arrived in the US with a marketer’s point of view.
Jeremy Latham’s Blog Jeremy Latham Vancouver, Canada Marketing A marketing-business oriented blog on website development.
John Wagner John Wagner Texas, USA Marketing News and views on marketing, advertising, media, PR and grass-roots communications
Kinetic Ideas Wendy Maynard Oregon, USA Marketing Marketing tips, ideas, strategies, and musings for small businesses.
Logic + Emotion David Armano Chicago, USA Marketing The
intersection of marketing, brand engagement and experience design. How
to turn your passive consumers into active brand participants.
Marketing Hipster Cord Silverstein Raleigh, USA Marketing Online oriented blog on marketing and web 2.0 tools.
Marketing Nirvana Mario Sundar USA Marketing How corporate marketers can leverage the web & social media for better results
Mindblob Luc Brussels, Belgium Marketing Using alien intelligence to follow the path of ideas as they come to life.
Multi-Cult Classics HighJive Marketing, Advertising Musings on Multiculturalism in the Ad Industry and Beyond.
Nick Rice Nick Rice Kentucky, USA Marketing, branding Marketing strategy combined with creative thinking and design.
On Influence & Automation Douglas A. Karr Indiana, USA Marketing A marketing and technology blog
OTOInsights Jeremi Karnell Marketing Corporate blog focusing on using technology to create and sustain customer conversations.
Pardon My French Eric Frenchman New Jersey, USA Marketing Online strategy and marketing with great case studies of real projects.
Pow! Right Between The Eyes! Andy Nulman Marketing The importance of surprise in business
Purple Wren Sandy Renshaw Iowa, USA Marketing Tools and techniques for communicating life through print and images.
Servant of Chaos Gavin Heaton Sydney, Australia Marketing Gavin’s rant on the world of branding and storytelling.
Shotgun Marketing Blog Chris Houchens Kentucky, USA Marketing Musings on marketing and related ideas.
Small Business Blogging Andy Wibbels Chicago, USA Marketing, Tech Using web media to market your business
Tell Ten Friends Jordan Behan Canada Marketing Marketing using new media to make connections.
The Branding Blog Martin Jelsema Marketing Branding principals, opinions and prejudices he’s developed
The Experience Curve Karl Long California, USA Marketing, Social Media Social media and marketing from an experiential point of view.
The Instigator Blog Ben Yoskovitz Montreal, Canada Marketing Entrepreneurial focus on marketing, ideas and building your business
The Marketing Minute Drew McLellan Iowa, USA Marketing Expert insight into marketing and branding. And Drew loves Disneyland.
The Viral Garden  Mack Collier Alabama, USA Marketing Mr Community leads the way in using technology to create conversation.
Two Hat Marketing Steve Miller Washington, USA Marketing Views on targeted marketing.
Unconventional Thinking Mark Stevens New York, USA Marketing The art and science of growing businesses
Viaspire A biz blog—Viaspire Marketing Marketing and Communications consulting firm blog
Popcorn n Roses TC Kirkham and Kim Brown Massachusetts, USA Movies Movie industry blog with reviews and musings.
Current World news News “Breaking” news across a couple of categories. Small archive.
Choice at Your Fingertips  News, Blogging News and tips for making money blogging. No archive.
Blogtrepreneur Adnan UK Online Money Making How to be an online entrepreneur and also build community!
Can I Make Big Money Online George Brian Manty Online Money Making Tips for making money online including research, design and blogging.
Dosh Dosh Maki Online Money Making Trying to source legitimate methods for making money online.
Internet Bazaar Guhan Mathivanan Online Making Money Tips and ideas for making money online.
Kumiko’s Cash Quest Kumiko Tokyo, Japan Online Money Making Trying to make money online and sharing the experience.
Million Dollar Experiment heads Down Under Rob St George New Zealand Online Money Making Can thinking positively make you a cool mill? Rob hopes so.
Money Spider England Online Money Making An experiment to see if can make money writing, plus some tips.
Quest to make money on the internet UK Online Money Making Currently up to £128, this site makes money by letting out its posting space.
Above Popular Mark Personal Motivated to make the world a better place.
Critical Fluff Jayniek Maryland, USA Personal Ranks various things in life with mulligans, crabapples, and pineapples.
Forged Euphoria Personal Some sponsored links.
OrbitNow!  Troy Worman Florida, USA Personal Miscellaneous musings
The Sartorialist Photography, fashion Photos of fashion on the streets, geared to inspire designers.
Bullshitobserver Todd Anthony Politics Politics and commentary.
New Millenium PR Andrea Weckerle PR Bringing business, branding, marketing and PR together.
The New PR Ryan Anderson Ottawa, Canada PR Public relations in the online world.
Carpe Factum Timothy Johnson Project Management Blog that focuses on the things you need to do to accomplish things. Especially big things.
Work, in Plain English Penina S Finger Project Management A design and marketing focused blog on project management. Interesting mix!
turned out David Turner Illinois, USA Religion Minister blogging to connect everyone with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Evolution…not just a theory anymore Greg Laden Minnesota, USA Science, Religion Creation vs evolution, commentary and archaeology by an independent scholar.
SEO Blog SEO New site on SEO and use of blogs to improve rankings.
Flee the Cube ICesar California, USA Small Business Starting up a small business in web design.
Community Guy Jake McKee Dallas, USA Social Media Online and offline community building tips and tricks.
The Social Media Marketing Blog Scott Monty Boston, USA Social Media, Marketing Blogger with a maniacal passion for anything related to new media / social media.
A Free and Decent Blog Host Unfathomed_Psyche Tech Technology news focusing on blogs and blog software.
Billions With Zero Knowledge Austin Hill Canada Tech, Business Changing the world with little bits of knowledge
Connected Internet Everton Blair London, UK Tech All things to do with technology, mobile phones and gaming.
darrenbarefoot.com Darren Barefoot Canada Tech, marketing Tech news, writing and marketing
Deepak Deepak Tech Focuses on the technology of the Internet and loves Google.
MapleLeaf 2.0 Mark Evans Canada Tech Tech news stories relating to Canada
Scott Burkett’s Pothole on the Infobahn Scott Burkett Georgia, USA Tech Musings on technology, IT management, and online community.
Small Surfaces Gabriel White Tech Interaction design, user interface design, user experience, usability and social trends related to mobile devices.
TechBuzz Thilak Mangalore, India Tech Tech new and reviews written by 17 year old in India. Awesome.
Masey.com Rob Masefield Travel Design and photography blog.
Through the Lenses Jas Vancouver, Canada Travel, Photography Travel/photography blog includes stunning shots and photography tips.
Travel And Vacation On Blog Travel Lightweight travel guide/destination information on selected cities. Needs more.
The Best Guides to eCommerce with Favor Viral marketing Viral marketing tools, memes and SEO tips.
Web Metrics Guru Marshall Sponder Web analytics Web analytics, in particular for blogs
The Future of the Web Jesse Skinner Canada Web Development Use of new technologies for the web.
Social Media on the fly Mark Krupinski Florida, USA Web media, blogging Learning social media on the fly
Asyuu @ Forest Japan Japanese readers/speakers? Anyone?

 

8 thoughts on “What If the Z-list Were on Twitter?”

  2. Wow, lots of time has passed. You can find me on Twitter @douglaskarr
    Also, I rebranded the blog to a better name and domain! Hope you find me.
    Thanks!

  4. Gavin – Google or T-rati juice or not .. it became a great resource especially after you, Becky and Sharon created that amazing matrix. Thanks again for the time and energy you invested. A huge undertaking!
    Hope you and yours are enjoying a joy filled holiday season!

  6. Wow, late to the party. What a great idea! Love to get on the list – http://hernaturehisnurture.com is a his & hers blog sharing and comparing insights from the very different worlds of Marketing and Genetics.
    We both recently twitter too:
    Nature – @alliejanson
    Nurture – @shazell

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