Monday, April 2, 2007

Pharma Blogosphere Genesis

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."



But to understand it all, humans undertook to characterize the heavens. Dante, in his Divine Comedy, describes the Nine Spheres of Heaven, which you can read about here.

The important thing is that Dante believed that "All parts of heaven are accessible to the heavenly soul. That is to say all experience God but there is a hierarchy in the sense that some souls are more spiritually developed than others."

And so it is with The Pharma Blogosphere.

I'm no Dante (nor Judge Dredd as I am portrayed by Pharma Giles; see "I Am The Law..."), but I also find it necessary to divide The Pharma Blogosphere into categories. As more and more blogs enter our Sphere, it is helpful to break up the list so that readers can focus their telescopes on the nearest neighbors.

Here's my schema, which is in flux:

The Inner Sphere
Some blogs in our heaven have been here a long time, are leaders, and are very developed. I put these in the "Inner Sphere." Aside from my personal view that these blogs deserve more attention, I also notice that they are 100% focused on pharmaceutical issues, are updated very often, and have scored highest in a reader survey. Readers may wish to visit these blogs more often.

The Outer Sphere
Others blogs in our heaven are new and not yet fully developed or are like comets -- very brilliant, but they only occasionally focus on pharmaceutical issues. I put these in the "Outer Sphere," meaning they have less influence on readers seeking a pure pharmaceutical experience. Readers may wish to visit these less often than blogs in the Inner Sphere.

All blogs in The Pharma Blogosphere are on some level always in contact with pharma heaven and are available to the soul seeking greater pharma knowledge.

I am sorry if my schema has hurt people like CL Psych who lamented: "Sheesh, I wonder what I gotta do to pick up a little respect over at John Mack's Pharma Blogsophere. It ain't enough that this site apparently ranked highly on Mack's own survey -- I'm still only getting second-tier billing over at his site. Where's the love, John?"

To which I responded: "You are like a comet: a wonderful sight to behold and much anticipated, but you only visit our sphere periodically." May I also add that CL Pysch was indeed a highly regarded site by survey respondents. I just don't know if it's focus is more medically oriented than pharma oriented. But, on further review, I think CL Pysch belongs in the Inner Sphere.

If any one else has a problem, let me say this: "I am the law! Put down your weapons and prepare to be judged."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

CP could also be a pulsar.

. said...

Rankings are totally subjective. The analytics are objective. I wish, even in this blogging environment, you guys would quit the pissing contest... who cares?

Readers should read a wide variety of opinions, not just a small group of blogs that just keep citing each other and digging sensational stories.

You all have converged into a giant single blog in the minds of most outsiders. Maybe you should try harder to collaborate than to keep deciding who is the alpha dog. 'Cause ultimately.. we are all BITCHES to PHARMA, because without pharma, we would have nothing to complain about :)

Cheers! BK

PharmaGuy said...

BK,

Thanks for your comments.

First, regarding the alpha dog debate -- that's a non-issue. I am the alpha dog and everyone will just have to recognize that or I'll bite 'em on the ass or whatever it is that alpha dogs do!

As far as we all are a "giant single blog in the mind of outsiders" -- heaven forbid! First of all, I think the First Ever Pharma Blogopshere Survey proves that you are wrong, wrong, wrong! There will be more on that soon.

Secondly, one of the primary purposes of THIS blog is to point out that only by visiting several different blogs in The Pharma Blogosphere can you get a well-rounded view on issues facing the industry.

Also, don't take all this classification and ranking stuff too seriously. It's all about generating buzz and keeping readers coming back (my dirty little agenda).