I Was Wrong When I Said the Bloggies Were Stupid

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