Skip to content

State of UK law blogs : October, 2007

October 4, 2007

Nick Holmes provides the state of UK law blogs, comparing where we were pre 2006 and where we are today.

Although a handful of UK law bloggers were active before 2006, it was only then that the UK blawgosphere started to take off. Since then, new law blogs have continued to appear at the rate of about one a week.

On infolaw I catalogue all known UK law blogs (plus a small number of notable overseas blawgs and blawg directory sites). Currently there are 132 listings (125 UK law blogs). More than half of these are hosted by Google’s Blogger: 57 resolve to blogspot.com, 8 to wordpress.com and 8 to typepad.com; the remainder resolve to 57 other unique domains, though a number of these are nevertheless hosted by one of the big three blog services.

And the trends per Nick.

  • New law blogs appear at a steady rate – no great rush, but no significant falling-off either.
  • Those who have been blogging for a while are posting slightly less frequently.
  • Lawyers are tending to focus more on their core interests, with less posting about peripheral topics and less navel gazing.
  • For many, blogging is largely about self-satisfaction: getting it off their chest, stirring it up, getting feedback, learning from others.
  • Some use it more directly to promote their expertise and engage potential clients and associates.

As to future, Nick sees UK law blogs continuing to grow and blog-like functions increasingly incorporated into all websites. “Whatever your purpose, blogging is a form of networking, putting you in touch with new people, sharing new information and insights and (if you do it right) earning you kudos and new business.”