Why are A‐list bloggers continuously popular?

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore why A‐list bloggers are continuously popular and what benefits they may obtain from becoming A‐list bloggers. Design/methodology/approach – This work compared the varying popularity ranking list at two stages of Wretch, the biggest blog platform in Taiwan, and selected 44 continuously popular A‐list bloggers as research subjects. The research used online ethnographic methods, social network analysis, and text analysis to analyse collected data, including personal blog homepages, profile pages, blogrolls, blog posts, and audience responses to 44 continuously popular A‐list bloggers. Findings – The results reveal that, on average, A‐list bloggers publish several articles weekly. Each article draws many responses and quotations; however only a few audience members continuously respond to these articles. The social network analysis and the online ethnographic analysis results indicate that a large audience regularly visits A‐list blogs, and their quotations and diffusion of information promote A‐list bloggers' reputations and build social capital, which consequently provides opportunities to convert popularity into a profit source. Finally the text analysis results show that A‐list bloggers often share positive life experiences in their blogs and receive positive feedback from their audience, which may increase their psychological well‐being and life satisfaction, and motivate them to continue writing. The positive emotions of A‐list bloggers may affect their audience and create emotional resonance with them. Originality/value – This is the first study to explore the success of continuously popular A‐list bloggers to increase the understanding of the blogging phenomenon.