What Makes a Blog Successful?

hi, this is zean: underachiever extraordinaire.

ive thought a lot about what makes a blog “successful”. originally, i would have posited this as “what makes a successful blog”, but i quickly realized there could be a wide array of definitions for the word “successful”.

consider the following examples:

1. a personal blog– really, nothing more than an online journal– that is updated daily, but has very few commenters (but an unknown number of visitors).
2. a blog syndicate, like a small scale gawker, in which each contributor posts somewhat sparingly, but the sheer number of contributors makes up for it. the viewership is widespread and dedicated.
3. icanhascheezburger.com: a bunch of random, loosely tied media with a huge, but not intricately interested audience.

my opinion is that level of “success” in each of these instances is inverse to the amount of money they make. icanhascheezburger makes thousands a day, but how does it fit the notion of being a “log”? what does it log? nothing really (other than the rise of infantilism among previously normal adults). on the opposite end of the spectrum, the personal blog fits the idea of a “web-log” much better, i think.

im always impressed when i look at someones blog (its not stalking, its due diligence) and they have a compendium of entries, yet very few commenters. i wouldnt be able to maintain a blog like this… i dont get much gratification from doing work without any recognition. but in many senses, such a blog very much aligns with the notion of a journal… a web-log! the fact that the readership is low, yet it is still frequently updated is what defines success.

did any of this make sense? no? im not much of a writer, so an alternative definition of “successful blog” could also be “the opposite of whatever zean writes”.