The fact that Facebook is something of a success and phenomenon won’t come as a surprise to anyone reading the Blog Herald, but the recent mobile growth just might. Apparently they launched some new mobile services, and that sparked this success blog post, with the following message:

People are hungry for interactive mobile features worldwide, and Facebook users are no exception. Usage of our mobile products has grown from 5 million to 15 million active users since the beginning of the year. We have expanded our mobile team and are continuing to make improvements every day.

That by itself is impressive, and the success can probably be put down to the ability to actually interact via your mobile phone, something that isn’t too common, as ReadWriteWeb points out in their story.

Blogs could see the same mobile growth, it’s just a matter of reaching out with content that fits the mobile phone. Sure, you can read traditional blog posts on smartphones, and perhaps even ye olde mobile phone, and if you have a mobile version of your site, via any of the providers or by yourself, it might even be pretty usable. That’s not the real issue here. read more

ReadWriteWeb have a nice little Noise to Signal cartoon up, on partial RSS feeds. I suggest you read it, and then head over to the Noise to Signal site for more of the same. Although not always so bloggy, of course.

ReadWriteWeb has disbanded its blog network, which included AltSearchEngines and last100, as well as the main ReadWriteWeb blog. Richard MacManus says that the reason for the decision is “to focus on building and extending our core ReadWriteWeb brand”. That makes sense, we’re in a recession after all, and it is better to tighten the portfolio and strengthen the things you truly believe in.

Also from the RWW post on the matter:

I will retain a personal stake in both AltSearchEngines and last100, but as of 1 November they are under the majority ownership of Charles Knight (AltSearchEngines) and Steve O’Hear (last100). I’d like to thank Charles and Steve for putting in so much effort to build up AltSearchEngines and last100 respectively. Both have done a great job covering their respective niches and we wish them all the best in continuing to grow the sites.

I can’t find anything about this on last100, but AltSearchEngines writes about it, using cute toons to further push the point. read more

ReadWriteWeb asked 20 top-tier bloggers how much money they make, and analyzed the data. Naturally, the span is great, but the average top tier blogger made $25/post.

RWW also analyzed in-house bloggers, either employed, or with special contracts, and got the following:

Our respondents reported annual pay rates ranging from $45k and $55k with benefits (!) up to $70k, $80k and $90k with bonuses. We’re tempted to say, based on the anonymously submitted but descriptive replies we got, that the closer to pure journalism our respondents were doing the lower their wages were.

For more, like where the big money is, check out the post.

Now, what does this mean? read more

Giga Omni Media have closed a deal with NYTimes.com, which means that content from the GigaOM network will be available on NYTimes.com come early October. They are not alone in this, but rather a part in redesigning the Technology channel at NYTimes.com. Other heavyweights that inked a deal to have their content available through this are ReadWriteWeb and VentureBeat.

This is the third heavy weight syndication deal for GigaOM, with BusinessWeek and CNNMoney already in the bag. Meanwhile, VentureBeat’s content is available on IDG’s Industry Standard. As far as I know, this is the first syndication deal for ReadWriteWeb though, although I might have missed something. read more

Amazon has purchased book sharing startup Shelfari according to posts by Read/Write Web and TechCrunch last night.

The startup, which has one of the most interesting & funky user interfaces I’ve ever seen, is essentially a social networking & book sharing system for those that love to read.. like me!

Shelfari’s team makes the formal announcement on their blog:

We’ve got some big plans ahead. With more resources and Amazon’s expertise in building a platform where people come to share ideas, there are a lot of new opportunities in the future that will benefit each of you. In the meantime, you’ll continue to have access to the great community and tools that you’ve always known and used on the site.

Over at ReadWriteWeb, Sarah Perez takes a look at lifestreaming applications for the iPhone:

For iPhone users, one of the major benefits to owning the device is the application platform it provides. With apps, you can begin a “real” lifestream - that is, one that acknowledges that more life is spent away from the computer than at it. You would think that iPhone would be a great platform for lifestreaming apps, but there were surprisingly few to be found (so far). We hope to see this list improved in time, if not with apps, then at least with iPhone-ready mobile web sites.

Sarah’s article goes on to accurately review several lifestreaming applications and accurately bemoans the lack of videostreaming applications (or video applications in general) on the iPhone. And I agree strongly with her view of the current market.

There are several lifestreaming web applications that have been built for the iPhone, such as Friendfeed’s iPhone interface for the web.. but none of them really allow you to broadcast your lifestream from your iPhone.

The iPhone is one of the most integrated handheld devices ever created - it’s the best example of a converged device that I can use to describe such technology approaches to my clients - but it still has a way to go in terms of its ability to meet the needs of those of us that try to lifestream their lives.

No, I don’t think it is, but if you want to use tags for navigation then just slapping a tag cloud in the face of the user might not be the best way to go. Rob Cottingham declares it dead in a comic strip over at ReadWriteWeb, although he won’t commit to it all the way:

And maybe they were overused and abused back in the day; not every site lends itself to a tag cloud, and not every tag cloud needs to be overwhelming and cluttered. Still, they have their place, and I’d be sorry to see them die out.

What do you think about tag clouds? Share in the comments.