from Technorati.com
This is a sort of amazing phenomenon: Writer/blogger Cathy Seipp, who passed away on Wednesday, has been the number-one search term on Technorati for the past two days, at least. The search for her name jumped to #2 on Wednesday evening when the sad news began to spread, and since at least Thursday evening has been firmly in the number-one spot. It still is at the time of this posting, and has remained firmly at the top while search terms like "Twitter" "YouTube" "Paris Hilton" "Steven Furtick" "Sanjaya" "John Edwards" and "Kim Kardashian" have been moving up and down the ranks. Seipp's passing, which represents the first loss of a high-profile blogger from the online community, was marked with an outpouring of posts from writers and bloggers on both sides of the aisle (Seipp was a conservative), and both from industry colleagues and fans of her work. Still, this level of popularity is noteworthy, especially considering that usual top-spot fodder like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears (at #11and #15 on Technorati on Thursday, according to the Hollywood Reporter's Ray Richmond, a friend of Seipp's). He puts it in perspective thusly: "This is a little bit like having your neighborhood softball championship team land higher primetime ratings than the World Series."
It's another measure of how the blogosphere has a life of its own, reflecting but not duplicating the priorities of the world at large, and reacting to its own specific stimuli. Seipp was a writer for years, in print and then online and then on her blog, which exposed her writing to readers all over the place, way beyond the reach of, say, LA's City Beat, which created an audience that was distinct and singular, and specific. It's that audience that has kept her on the top of Technorati for the past three days, and is making damn sure she's not easily forgotten. This week, especially, it would be hard to forget her, given the current implosion at the LA Times over Grazer-Gate. There's no way she wouldn't have had opinions about that. Wow. We agree with Stephen Spruiell. A first! Yet another testament to her influence.
Update, Sunday @ 3:20 pm: Still there.
Paris and Britney, Eat Your Overexposed Hearts Out! [Past Deadline]
Search: Cathy Seipp [Technorati]
Related:
NRO Symposium on Cathy Seipp [NRO]
