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I Was Wrong When I Said the Bloggies Were Stupid
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Tuesday, March 14, 2006
12:35:00 PM EST
Hearing Shonen Knife, Faith Healer
Remember when I said the Bloggies were stupid
and gratuitious?
That was only because I'd never really paid attention to them before and wasn't that familiar with the previous years's results.
I took a look at the historical record, and I admit I was wrong.
I should have said that the Bloggies are fricking ridiculous.
Now, it would be stupid to get worked up over a silly awards show. After all, I don't care who wins the Academy Awards... why should I care about the Bloggies?
It's just that I find the whole conceit of "Best of" awards for the entire big ole sphere o' blogs to be completely distasteful and counter to the whole spirit of the thing (whatever that means).
Maybe I'm just being a killjoy. There are over 30 million blogs right now, so awards for the "best blogs" are two whole orders of magnitude less ridiculous than, say, People's "Sexiest Man Alive" (Which pulls from a pool of what, 3 billion men? Okay, call it 2 billion men between 15 and 64 -- close enough.)
(Isn't it amazing how People's Sexiest Man Alive is always a Hollywood movie star? The odds must be astronomical.)
Similarly, the repetitiveness of the Bloggy finalists and winners is just insane. People, this isn't the Emmys.
Take, for example, the winner of "Best Australian or New Zealand Weblog", Loobylu -- it looks nice and all, but is it really the best blog in Australia/New Zealand for 5 out of the past 6 years?
You figure that the ANZAC blog universe is a bit smaller than that of other regions, but come on now.
How about a technology category: "Best Web Application for Weblogs"? It's a real barnburner -- a see-saw rivalry between Blogger (2 years) and Movable Type (4 years).
"Best European Weblog"? The um, colorfully named My Boyfriend Is a Twat, 2 years running. Before that? Textism, 2 years running. Before that? PlasticBag.org, 2 years running.
Perhaps it would be simpler if they just voted each best Euroblog to a two-year term.
(Oh, and mustn't forget, due to a change in categories, PlasticBag.org was the "Best British or Irish Weblog" for -- wait for it -- 2 years running [2004 & 2005]. I'm not even going to mention the potential sensitivities around lumping the British and Irish together.)
Anyway, there's more repetition across years and categories -- I'd started a spreadsheet, but then I realize that I don't care enough.
Suffice it to say, if you didn't know any better, you might think that the blogosphere only consisted of a few dozen blogs, when in reality, there might be hundreds.
I suppose I'm just bugged by the conceit of the Bloggies. I would have no problem with "Blog With Best Brand Awareness." Or "Highest Trafficked Blog." No problem. "Best"? Um, no.
The Bloggies are far more indicative of the power of brands and first-mover advantage, combined with the tyranny of large numbers and the power of small groups of highly-motivated voters.
(To look at a non-blog example: When the Washington Post runs its "Best of" readers' choice poll, the big chains are almost always overrepresented as finalists and winners. For example, from 2005: Best bookstore? Barnes & Noble. Best coffeeshop? Starbucks. It's just the nature of the beast.)
So you might say, "Okay, smart guy -- come up with your own statistically and spiritually valid 'best of the blogosphere' awards." And to that, I would say, "No. Get a life."
Validation and recognition are great up to a point, but after that point, you have to say "Thanks for your input, but I don't really care what you think about my blog."
Fortunately for the rest of us, we can just ignore the hubbub and just keep doing what we're doing. I recommend it highly. Thanks -- Joe
Tag: Bloggies
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12:35:00 PM EST
Hearing Shonen Knife, Faith Healer
I Was Wrong When I Said the Bloggies Were Stupid
That was only because I'd never really paid attention to them before and wasn't that familiar with the previous years's results.
I took a look at the historical record, and I admit I was wrong.
I should have said that the Bloggies are fricking ridiculous.
Now, it would be stupid to get worked up over a silly awards show. After all, I don't care who wins the Academy Awards... why should I care about the Bloggies?
It's just that I find the whole conceit of "Best of" awards for the entire big ole sphere o' blogs to be completely distasteful and counter to the whole spirit of the thing (whatever that means).
Maybe I'm just being a killjoy. There are over 30 million blogs right now, so awards for the "best blogs" are two whole orders of magnitude less ridiculous than, say, People's "Sexiest Man Alive" (Which pulls from a pool of what, 3 billion men? Okay, call it 2 billion men between 15 and 64 -- close enough.)
(Isn't it amazing how People's Sexiest Man Alive is always a Hollywood movie star? The odds must be astronomical.)
Similarly, the repetitiveness of the Bloggy finalists and winners is just insane. People, this isn't the Emmys.
Take, for example, the winner of "Best Australian or New Zealand Weblog", Loobylu -- it looks nice and all, but is it really the best blog in Australia/New Zealand for 5 out of the past 6 years?
You figure that the ANZAC blog universe is a bit smaller than that of other regions, but come on now.
How about a technology category: "Best Web Application for Weblogs"? It's a real barnburner -- a see-saw rivalry between Blogger (2 years) and Movable Type (4 years).
"Best European Weblog"? The um, colorfully named My Boyfriend Is a Twat, 2 years running. Before that? Textism, 2 years running. Before that? PlasticBag.org, 2 years running.
Perhaps it would be simpler if they just voted each best Euroblog to a two-year term.
(Oh, and mustn't forget, due to a change in categories, PlasticBag.org was the "Best British or Irish Weblog" for -- wait for it -- 2 years running [2004 & 2005]. I'm not even going to mention the potential sensitivities around lumping the British and Irish together.)
Anyway, there's more repetition across years and categories -- I'd started a spreadsheet, but then I realize that I don't care enough.
Suffice it to say, if you didn't know any better, you might think that the blogosphere only consisted of a few dozen blogs, when in reality, there might be hundreds.
I suppose I'm just bugged by the conceit of the Bloggies. I would have no problem with "Blog With Best Brand Awareness." Or "Highest Trafficked Blog." No problem. "Best"? Um, no.
The Bloggies are far more indicative of the power of brands and first-mover advantage, combined with the tyranny of large numbers and the power of small groups of highly-motivated voters.
(To look at a non-blog example: When the Washington Post runs its "Best of" readers' choice poll, the big chains are almost always overrepresented as finalists and winners. For example, from 2005: Best bookstore? Barnes & Noble. Best coffeeshop? Starbucks. It's just the nature of the beast.)
So you might say, "Okay, smart guy -- come up with your own statistically and spiritually valid 'best of the blogosphere' awards." And to that, I would say, "No. Get a life."
Validation and recognition are great up to a point, but after that point, you have to say "Thanks for your input, but I don't really care what you think about my blog."
Fortunately for the rest of us, we can just ignore the hubbub and just keep doing what we're doing. I recommend it highly. Thanks -- Joe
Tag: Bloggies
Written by journalseditor Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | digg this
This entry has 8 comments: (Add your own)
-
Hmmm ... I seem to remember I wrote about this same thing when the AOL journal awards were making the wrongs ... everyone ignored me ... fearing they wouldn't be nominated and win. Huh.
Lori -
Joe,
You make excellent points here. To try to be the definitive authority when it comes to selecting the best of all blogs is distasteful, and quite impossible given the sheer number of blogs that would have to be examined to reach such decisions. And it's true that the same usual suspects often win year after year. I guess it's no consolation that those who do have managed to keep their audience by providing entertaining and well-written content SINCE their previous win.
But it's important to note that one of the advantages of awards is to garner additional exposure for those who wish to participate.
As producer of the Vivi Awards last year, I received plenty of emails and comments from people who were delighted to have discovered new journals to read in the nominees list. Some found new blogs even in the nominating process. That's far MORE important than who WON, and we made every effort to stress that point during the process.
As for the remark about the Vivis themselves being so distasteful, there was nothing mandatory about participating. And you'll have to forgive me if I find it a little "junior high" that anyone would still be so up in arms about an event that ended months ago!
Patrick -
With AOL being so huge, I look at it differently than you do. AOL not producing one single winner is like the Sexiest Man Alive being some guy in a small North Dakota town that no one has ever heard of every year.
Almost every single Bloggie out there should be in our greedy little hands, and I'd have you on the job of making that happen if I ran AOL. -
Well, don't get me wrong -- I think if folks want to recognize each other, whether through awards or prizes or whatever, that's fine -- it's just that the model kind of blows up once you try to take it global, or after you start taking it too seriously.
Just my opinion. Thanks -- Joe
4/16/07 5:02 AM
http://journals.aol.co.uk/aco