No Age, Gender Barriers in Blogging

[Janette Toral]

I just posted the full Philippines Top 100 Blogs for 2008 online today. While preparing for the Cebu part of the roadshow, I also wrote this column piece reflecting on observations from the said list.

What I was not able to emphasize in that column piece are:

1. Age is not a factor - a good number of bloggers that made it in the list are in their 20s. At least three blogs are also maintained by bloggers below 20 years old.

2. Liberal blogosphere - I consider gay bloggers to be an interesting niche segment that can't be ignored. Their presence in the top 100 list will continuously increase as more of them blog online and be active as well in community events. Just a trivia, three of the top 10 emerging influential blogs for 2008 are owned by gay bloggers.

The above further reinforces how the Philippines blogosphere is changing. Some of those I mentioned in the blogging ahead segment of my book - Blogging from Home.

1. Much of the content now focuses on how the information being posted on the blog shall serve the interest of the reader.

2. Focused on "new" or "unique" as strong value or what the reader may not know.

3. Blogging is serious business.
At least for most of the blogs that made it to the list, there is a sense of structure in the content presentation. Posts are not just being made out of the whim. Most are well thought of and planned. A good number uses pictures and videos to accompany a blog post.