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August 15, 2007

August, I think, is fast becoming the month of “blog scandals and wars”, with the ongoing commotion in the blogosphere superseding the waves made by the Philippine Blog Awards and the issue of invocation during secular gatherings.

So, what are the issues?

(For those who’re already familiar with the sizzling hot issues in the blogosphere nowadays, please skip the boring paragraphs that will follow. I’m recounting the issues for the sake of those who are M.I.A. or missing in action and for my friends who’re not really following the blogosphere that closely.)

1) Fobcast Episode 1 and the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs

In Mike and Marco’s FOBcast Episode 1, they said they think not all the winners of the recently concluded Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs Project of Ms. Toral are really that influential. Then, they went on “ridiculing” some of the blogs in the final list (or rather the week 11 list), which offended some folks. Personally, I don’t find anything offending about it at all. Like in any situations, there is a protagonist and an antagonist. They just chose to be the antagonist here.

But there were also those who expressed disappointment in the said event:

Everything said and done, I believe that the project is a failure due to the nuances of defining ‘influential’ both from Ms Toral and the participants. If the project was called The Top Ten Most Popular Filipino Blogs of 2007, then this failure might have been avoided since what is popular is easier to define than what is influential. - Lizette, in her post, “Bastardization: When Influential Meant Popular“

I believe that the focal point of the discussion was the use of the words “emerging” and “influential” in the title of the blog project.

Admittedly, the terms “emerging” and “influential” would rarely appear in the same sentence. Influence only comes with a degree of reputation and time-tested consistency and credibility- clearly, something that an emerging greenhorn would not have. - Benj, in his post, “Emerging and Influential: Irreconcilable?“

In this light, I also shared some of my thoughts about it:

Perhaps Benj is right for saying it’s hard to reconcile “emerging” with “influential”, being that to be able to exert much influence meant authority and that authority does come only after a bit more experience. But to analyze it with regards to the community of bloggers which participated in the said project, I think it’s enough to say that the winners did exert a kind of influence over those who voted. Most bloggers did vote for those they think exerted influence on them. And I think influence will always mean a measure of popularity. So, yes, it is a popularity contest relative to the group which participated in the writing project. That’s enough reason to believe that the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs project did serve its purpose.

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Written by Prudence · Filed Under Blogging, News, Personal 

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