Blogging A-list
Christine, whose HappySlip won the best podcast blog at the 2007 Philippine Blog Awards, also came in second in the YouTube Video Awards in the comedy category for her Mixed Nuts clip.
PEOPLE who are new to blogging often ask me, “With so many blogs out there, how do you know which ones are good?”
I usually answer: “Visit them and decide for yourself.”
Many of us who write or just read blogs develop our own A-lists. These are Web logs that we visit regularly because the content is compelling or because the style of writing is engaging. The best blogs combine both.
PinoyTopBlogs.com (http://www.pinoytopblogs.com) tracks the country’s most popular blogs and ranks them according to the number of unique visitors they get on a monthly basis. Started in July 2005 by blogger and Web host service provider Abe Olandres, the site tracks more than 1,000 Filipino blogs.
Of course, as anyone familiar with the inane ditty “Boom-Tarat-Tarat” and the insipid TV show that popularized it knows, what’s popular isn’t always the best. A better guide to quality blogs is the Philippine Blog Awards that Olandres organized with two other bloggers, Gail de la Cruz-Villanueva and Jayvee Fernandez.
Over the weekend, the 2007 Philippine Blog Awards honored the best blogs in 10 categories, as determined by a panel of judges made up of the organizers, respected bloggers and media representatives.
The categories and their winners were:
Personal: Misteryosa (http://www.misteryosa.com), by Shari Cruz, a 19-year-old student at the University of the Philippines who has kept an online journal since year 2000.
Technology: Leon Kilat: The Cybercafe Experiments (http://max.limpag.com) by Max Limpag, a copy editor and section editor for SunStar Cebu. It’s hard to imagine a blog that’s geekier than this that’s as well written.
Travel: Ivan About Town (http://ivanhenares.blogspot.com) by Ivan Henares, who describes himself as a travel freak, frustrated historian and heritage activist. A member of the board of trustees of the Heritage Conservation Society, he advocates the preservation of Philippine architectural heritage.
Entertainment: Retzwerk (http://www.retzwerx.com) by Richmond Paul Ruiz of Las Piñas, a self-confessed Pinoy Big Brother fan, who says he posts at least once a day, and can’t remember the last day he didn’t.
Home & Living: Wifely Steps (http://toni.marikit.net) by Toni Marikit, an advertising executive who started a blog in 2003 as a way to help newlyweds adjust. Since then, she says, she has gone beyond sharing recipes and cleaning tips.
Fashion & Lifestyle: Bryanboy (http://bryanboy.typepad.com) by Bryanboy, who describes himself as materialistic, shallow and superficial—then goes on to prove it. Mainstream readers may find the content too vulgar (for example, “Douching 101 for a successful sodomy sexperience").
Socio-Political: Philippine Commentary (http://philippinecommentary.blogspot.com) by Dean Jorge Bocobo, who believes that infectious ideas, not people, drive blogging. Would be interesting to see him discuss this notion with Bryanboy.
Sports & Recreation: Who rides a Vespa? (http://myvespa.wordpress.com) by John Rana of San Juan, who blogs about his love affair with Italian motor scooters.
Photoblog: Señor Enrique (http://senorenrique.blogspot.com) by Senor Enrique.
News & Media: Inside PCIJ (http://pcij.org/blog). As the name suggests, the institutional blog of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.
Business and Entrepreneur: Reflections of a BizDrivenLife (http://www.ngkhai.net/bizdrivenlife/writings ) by Wilson Ng, a technology entrepreneur who manages Ng Khai, a system integrator based in Cebu.
Podcast: Happy Slip (http://www.happyslip.com) by Christine Gambito, a Filipino-American Internet star who also ranked 2nd in the YouTube video awards for Best Comedy. Her equipment: a Sony DCR-TRV30 MiniDV camcorder and iMovie HD on a 12-inch Mac Powerbook. Her videos are fun—and she’s pretty, too.
In terms of drumming up participation and giving recognition to quality blogs, the 2007 Philippine Blog Awards was clearly a success. My one suggestion for next year: leave out the institutional blogs, no matter how good they are. And leave out blogs that are not maintained by the same people who write them. Blogging at its core is a personal, individual commitment and statement. Blogs are new media; an institutional blog is old media in new clothes.