ReadWriteWeb

You see it happen every day: a story breaks on Techmeme, and 30 minutes later, the headline is followed up by tens of "discussion links." Some bloggers weigh in just to get the trackback link, or the link on Techmeme, some because they're generally interested in the news, and some because they think they have something new to add to the conversation. Whatever the reason, though, the effect is the same -- the tech blogosphere becomes an echo chamber, and the more bloggers writing about a story, the more clout it has and the more chance it gets repeated by a mainstream news outlet. In all, though, the effects are mostly innocuous. In the political blogosphere, though, a repeated rumor can carry considerably more significant consequences.