CMS Popularity Contest
CMSWire recently conducted a CMS popularity contest amongst top 100 sites on Technorati.
The idea is this: If the most popular sites are using a particular CMS, it must be good.
It's a bit like asking the Homecoming Queen and all her runners-up to name their favorite mascara. Or like asking MySpace about anything besides being popular... but I digress.
Who the Top 10 Choose
Let's indulge for a moment, shall we? Following are the top 10 and their content management systems of choice:
- Engadget | Blogsmith
- Gizmodo | Gawker's custom system
- Techcrunch | Wordpress
- Huffington post | Movable Type
- Boing Boing | Movable Type
- Lifehacker | Gawker's custom system
- Ars Technica | Custom
- Mashable | Wordpress
- Blog di Beppe Grillo | Movable Type
- icanhascheezburger | Wordpress
Get the full list at cmswire.com.
Interesting to see Wordpress so high, as well as so many sites still hanging on with Movable Type.
The Sunk Costs Factor
While such studies are enlightening, it's important to keep in mind that many of the most popular websites have been around awhile. Frequently, such websites were early adopters of technology that has long since been replaced by more nimble and often better systems. But because they've sunk significant costs in these early systems, such websites are not likely to bail for better technology.
It's sunk cost thinking that should carry no weight for you if you're starting from scratch right now.
Personally, I'm not likely to start a new system using Movable Type (an early player in the CMS game) without a thorough reevaluation of its system and user interface. If it doesn't meet or exceed the performance and functionality of more recent players, I'm not biting.
