What is a blog? How would you define an industry analyst blog? What separates blogs from the other online destinations and channels published by the ICT analyst community? Is a blog still a blog without an RSS feed? comments? Is an analyst blog tied to his or her expertise? Yesterday, I asked ten or so analysts and consultants in the US and UK to share their thoughts on what is a blog. They responded with free-range thinking on that and beyond: what is an analyst blog, why do analysts blog, and why does anyone care. Good stuff. Here’s a rough cut of my notes.

Background

My intent is to overhaul the criteria for the Tekrati analyst blogs directory. Already, the conversation offers a rich perspective on grounds for deciding which blogs are listed and why they might be tossed out down the road.

I queried analysts and consultants that are successful bloggers: each has a track record as an individual blogger, and has earned credibility as a thought leader within a professional community of practice.

The analysts are: Carl Howe of Blackfriars Communications, Mike Gotta of Burton Group, Alan Pelz-Sharpe of CMS Watch, Charlene Li or Josh Bernoff (Josh responded) of Forrester Research, Dale Vile of Freeform Dynamics, James Governor of RedMonk, John Blossom of Shore Communications, and Stowe Boyd of The Brannan Street Irregulars.

The consultants are: Jen McClure of the Society for New Communications Research, Jonny Bentwood of Edelman, and Erik SR of Tech for PR.

Again, what follows is a rough cut of the discussion threads. I’m pulling excerpts out of the conversational flow, to make for faster reading. More, and perhaps a little more polished, next week.

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I’m pleased to relay this press release…

Analyst blog directory and special report debut in conjunction with New Communications Forum 2005

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–January 27, 2005–Tekrati(TM) today debuted a new directory of weblogs published by information technology and telecommunications industry analysts in conjunction with the New Communications Forum 2005 – Blog University, taking place in Napa, Calif., today. Available as a free resource in Tekrati’s Industry Analyst Reporter “Analyst Cafe” section at (link), the blog directory provides a single, central resource that makes it easy to find and click through to blogs published by the analysts. The directory displays hyperlinked blog titles plus analyst authors, firms and short blog descriptions.

Introduced with a special report on the state of analyst blogging by Barbara French, Tekrati founder and editor of The Industry Analyst Reporter, the analyst blog directory offers yet another convenience for high tech professionals and watchers worldwide.

Commented French, “The Industry Analyst Reporter is all about providing timely, actionable information on IT, telecom and semiconductor industry analyst research, opinions and events. Weblogs are becoming integral to the dissemination — and even the development — of analyst opinions. We’re bringing it all together in a single location.”

The Tekrati directory of analyst blogs debuts with approximately 50 analyst weblogs and will be updated on an ongoing basis. The directory includes a diverse group of analyst bloggers, representing everything from the largest analyst firms to independent analysts.

French has been monitoring analyst use of blogs since 2003. “Overall, the analyst community has been slow to adopt blogging. I expect a dramatic uptake over the next 12 months, based on comments from the 350 firms we cover,” said French. “Although the analysts have held back on blogging, many other bloggers post comments about analyst research every day.”