Ethan is talking about the Berkeley Intellectual Property Weblog (BIPlog). His research partner, Mary Hodder, blogs about intellectual property as part of a “knowledge community.” Ethan is going to talk about communities of weblogs that are topic-based: Weblog Knowledge Communities.

The dynamics of a WKC is self-sustaining. As authors produce high-quality information, it attracts other authors. Much of this is driven, says Ethan, to build and maintain a reputation.

He provides some “best practices” for a WKC his research has found:

1. Determine your topic. “Write what you love.”

2. Determine your blog team’s size.

3. Analyze your audience

4. Determine your infrastructure

5. Decide on your mission

6. Define categories

7. Voice

8. Decide on an information architecture

9. Link!

10. Participate

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