Blogfluenza

Posted on April 18, 2005 at 02:04 AM

Definition - blŏg-flū-ĕn-zǝ: (noun) an acute, contagious disorder spread socially by those who read and/or maintain massive quantities of web logs(blogs). The condition is not life threatening but to this day has no known cure.

It has become apparent to me that more and more people are suffering from what I term as Blogfluenza. Since I couldn't find any information on the topic, I commissioned the department for blogopathic studies here at JoeSchmidt.com to conduct research into this area. After spending countless hours analyzing key traits of bloggers on the internet, they have released their findings in the form of the test below.

About the Blogfluenza Test

The test is comprised of 34 questions which are divided into two parts. Part one involves questions referring to general blog knowledge. Part two pertains to those who maintain or write posts on a blog(s). The questions are in the form of yes/no answer or multiple choice. For every question you answer yes, mark the allotted point value for that particular question. For multiple choice questions, choose the answer that best describes you and mark it's related point value for that answer.

Until I figure out how to automate this, use a pen and paper to tally your points, or use this pdf answer sheet (right click on link to download) to keep track.

Good Luck. When finished, please feel free to leave your score or anything you think may add to the better understanding of Blogfluenza.

The Blogfluenza Test

Part 1: General Blog Knowledge

1. Do you know what a blog is? (1 point)

2. Do you utilize a news aggregator to read blogs? (1 point)

3. Do you currently maintain or actively contribute to a blog? (1 point)

4. Have you ever left a comment on someone's blog? (1 point)

5. Are you familiar with any of the following terms: wonkette, kuro5hin, scobleizer, meme, boing boing, kottke? (1 point)

6. How many blogs on average would you say you read per day?

• 1 - 10 (1 point)


• 11 - 25 (2 points)


• 26 - 50 (3 points)


• More than 50 (4 points)

7. Do you know what the acronym GTD stands for? (1 point)

8. If you answered yes to the previous question, do you GTD? (5 points)

9. Have you used the word "blogosphere" in daily conversation? (1 point)

10. If you answered yes to question #2, about how many blogs are in your news aggregator?

• 1-25 (1 point)


• 26-50 (2 points)


• 51-100 (3 points)


• Over 100 (4 points)

11. How many news aggregators do you use? (web based, browser based, email based, client based)

• 1 (1 point)


• 2 (2 points)


• 3 (3 points)


• 4 or more (4 points)

12. Do you hate a person you've never met in real-life, judging them solely on the content of their blog? (1 point)

13. Do you know what getting "dooced" means? (1 point)

14. Is it possible you know more about a blogger you've never met than people who actually know the real person? (1 point)

15. Are blogs your main source of news? (1 point)

Part 2: Blogging Behavior

16. If you answered yes to question #3, how many blogs do you maintain or contribute to?

• 1 (1 point)


• 2 (2 points)


• 3 (3 points)


• 4 or more (4 points)

17. How often do you check the stats of your blog?

• Once a week (1 point)


• Once every couple of days (2 points)


• Once a day (3 points)


• More than once a day (4 points)

18. Have you ever left an ambiguous comment on a highly visited weblog just to drive people to your blog? (1 point)

19. When you experience something new or unique in your life, is the first thing that comes to mind is "I have to write about this in my blog"? (1 point)

20. When asked about something in your personal life have you responded "Don't you read my blog?" (1 point)

21. Do you have more friends with blogs than friends without blogs? (1 point)

22. Do you alienate those in your life who don't know what a blog is? (1 point)

23. Have you ever turned down sex in favor of working on your blog? (1 point)

24. Have you ever blogged while intoxicated? (1 point)

25. Have you ever "Live blogged" a public event, TV show, or movie? (1 point)

26. Have you ever complained to your web host for fucking up your blog's traffic stats? (1 point)

27. Have you ever blogged from a web enabled phone, PDA, or other mobile device? (1 point)

28. If a Google employee has an irregular bowel movement, starts a blog, or was seen in your local starbucks ordering a "Venti triple shot mocha, no whip" would you blog about it? (1 point)

29. Have you ever been "dooced"? (5 points)

30. Have you convinced your significant other to start a blog? (1 point)

31. If you use Google ads on your blog, do you sometimes blog about topics that will bring highly paid ads to your site? (5 points)

32. Do you have , or ever sought out, the autograph of an "A-list" blogger? (5 points)

33. Have you willingly quit your day job to make a living as a blogger? (1 point)

34. You've made it to the last question proving that you do not have blog induced A.D.D. from reading so many blogs. (subtract 5 points)

Tallying up the results

1 - 12 points Congratulations! You are relatively normal. While you occasionally enjoy reading blogs, there are no immediate signs of Blogfluenza in your life.

13 - 26 points Blogfluenza has you in it's sights. While you seem to be in control of your blogging habit, a sudden outbreak of Blogfluenza could occur within the near future. Proceed with caution!

27 - 39 points You are teetering on the verge of a Blogfluenza epidemic. Limit yourself to only light blog reading, get to bed before 1am, and only post about things on your blog that someone may actually care about or find interesting. Your penance: Refrain from reading blogs for 1 month. You'll thank us in the long run.

40 - 59 points You are a victim of full blown Blogfluenza, which at present date has no known cure. It is possible that you alienate those around you who are blog illiterate. You live or die by the RSS feed, ubiquitous internet connectivity and access to bloglines. Immediately trash your news aggregator(s), throw away the power cord to your computer, and preach to others the dangers of Blogfluenza. Your new life's mantra should be "Read books not blogs."

For all your blogfluenzic needs, visit the JoeSchmidt.com store.

Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | post to del.icio.us | submit to Digg