“Rapid insular evolution” was the topic last night of nature talk about the Galapagos.
Of course, “insular” can stretch beyond its literal “island” origins to refer to any small isolated community developing in isolation.
Check out this list of factors that shaped (biological) diversity here, and see if you aren’t also reminded of the blogosphere:
Founder effects
The interests, qualities, even the personal quirks of the earliest “colonists” had a huge effect on all that came after.
Empty ecological niches
Business-blogging is getting pretty full up these days, but a few years ago a biz-blogger was quite a novelty.
Multiple isolation
By now, there isn’t just one “blogosphere” where everybody reads everyone else. Even within the English-language bloggers, you can see little communities excited about a story that is unknown outside their circle.
That’s all my blog-geekery for this beautiful morning!
