Frequently Asked Questions on the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs 2009 Writing Project

Hi everyone. I thought of making this post as I have talked to a lot of people answering questions after the winners announcement.

Since the start of the writing project, I have corresponded with some of you through e-mail, have given information and clarification. With more than 200 writing project participants, I am sure there are more questions unanswered and I hope this post will give an opportunity for such an exchange.

Question #1: What was the intent of the writing project?

Answer:

To help promote new blogs/bloggers and put the spotlight on them. I hope the writing project, as it introduces new blogs, will give blog newbies the chance to shine and grow.

At the end of it, we celebrate and give recognition to those that were favored by writing project participants.

Question #2: Last August 8, you mentioned that the top 10 this year got the highest votes. How many exactly?

Answer:

1. Writing to Exhale (130)
2. Patay Gutom (120)
3. The Struggling Blogger (114)
4. Zorlone (112)
5. Father Blogger dot Com (99)
6. Kelvinonian Ideas 2.0 (91)
7. Tales from the Mom Side (88)
8. Adaphobic (76)
9. Lakwatsero (73)
10. Let's Go Sago! (69)

Question #3: Last August 8, you shared some sites that "if there were more than top 10" also deserves recognition. Which sites are these and how many votes they got?

Answer: If there were top 20, this would be the 11th to 20th:

11. Lifelots (68 votes)
12. Dear Bloggery (67 votes)
13. Good Times Manila (64 votes)
14. Video Chops (63 votes)
15. The Law of the Force (60 votes)
16. Millionaire Acts (53 votes)
17. Through the Focal Glass (50 votes)
18. It's All a Matter of Perspective (48 votes)
I Love / Hate America (48 votes)
19. Flair Candy (46 votes)
20. Numbrd (37 votes)

Question #4: What do you consider as legitimate blogs that can be used to submit an entry to this writing project?

Answer: For as long as the identity of the blog owner can be identified, it is considered as a valid blog and can be used to submit an entry for the writing project.

Question #5: Can a blogger nominate his or her own blog?

Answer: Yes.

Question #6: Are there restrictions on campaigning?

Answer: None.

Question #7: Are the writing project entries visible to everyone?

Answer: Yes. All submissions are made in the comments section of join the writing project page that anyone can view, check, and make their own tally.

Question #8: Is a voting page something that you can consider for next year?

Answer: Not at this time as this is a writing project rather than a popularity vote contest. It encourages bloggers to take a a stand by writing a post that states the blogs they find to be influential.

Question #9: Will you consider additional criteria next year other than a blog post submission to tally the top 10? This can include Alexa, PageRank, number of posts, number of comments, RSS subscriptions, etc.

Answer: Including additional criteria, in my observation, would require creation of categories. Also, a lot of the parameters can also be directly manipulated if a person knows how to do such. Unlike in a blog post where a person does it on their own desire, or responding to appeals, to come up with a post and cite their top 10.

Question #10: I noticed that you do not directly respond to attacks or criticisms. Why?

Answer: Monitoring the entries week after week gave me a big picture view on the politics happening while the writing project is ongoing. If the person giving the criticism or attack is a writing project participant that I have been constantly in touch with and suddenly lashes out, I observe and see if his issues are bigger than the writing project and me, and if the attacks are personal. If yes, will not respond if I have nothing personal against the person and if their anger is beyond my writing project scope. (still an e-mail and chat person)

In the end, these instances shows the best and worst in us. On the positive side, it will allow us to get to know each other better.

Feel free to post questions about the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs 2009 in the comment section and will reply as I update this post. If your question does not appear right away, it is likely that the disqus commenting system has hold it for approval.

Thank you everyone!