BLOG SCORECARD
Rankling Catblogs, Momblogs, and Gadget Blogs
December is gift-giving time, so we’re highlighting blogs that will help with your shopping: gadgets! Shiny toys are always popular choices around the holidays, and our selection of blogs will be sure to give you ideas for that special someone on your list. We’re also zooming in on that most purrrfect segment of the blogosphere, catblogs, where you can find feline friends in all shapes and sizes. Last but not least, we honor those dedicated souls who aren’t simply mothers, but blog about it, with our featured momblogs.
Blog Ranking Methodology
Blog Scorecard uses the technology infrastructure developed for the Truth Laid Bear blog-tracking and -ranking portal. Category rankings are determined using several objective metrics, including the number of links that each blog receives from other blogs — which indicates the relative popularity of a blog — and the number of posts a blog contains on a given category’s topic. This shows the relevance of the blog to that particular topic. Rankings are finalized using good old-fashioned human experience. The human element provides a last sanity check on the category rankings, and ensures that the technical gimmicks and tricks that some bloggers inevitably use to raise their profiles do not distort the rankings.
Spotlight: Gadget Blogs
There’s no commandment against coveting thy neighbor’s gadgets, but in today’s blogosphere, there probably ought to be.
The granddaddy of all gadget blogs is Gizmodo, one of the anchor blogs of the Gawker Media network. With Gizmodo, you get your gadget fix served with a side of snark: pithy headlines are the rule; the more pith the better. (See, for example, “Wi-Fi Detector Shirt, Self-Detects Geeks” (gizmodo.com/gadgets/fashion/wi+fi-detector-shirt-self+detects-geeks-307516.php).
Engadget is yang to Gizmodo’s yin — or perhaps, just more yin. The lore of gadget blogs tells of a time in the dim past when Engadget’s original editor Peter Rojas (see “Gadget Gold,” page 28) was Gizmodo’s editor, before being recruited by competing blog network Weblogs, Inc. to found Engadget. Now, Engadget forms its own miniature empire within the Weblogs stable, with subblogs devoted to topics such as cell phones (Engadget Mobile: www.engadgetmobile.com) and HDTV (Engadget HD: www.engadgethd.com).
But above even these two stands Boing Boing, which is a gadget blog with a focus that goes beyond the typical shiny consumer toys, declaring its mission as being “A directory of wonderful things.” Boing Boing ranges a bit further afield than what you’ll find in your local Best Buy. The site covers burning issues such as the opening of a new restaurant in China (“Chinese restaurant MFC is a mashup of McDonald’s and KFC”; www.boingboing.net/2007/10/05/chinese-restaurant-m-1.html). A wonderful thing, indeed.
But shiny toys are most definitely not just for geeky boys. PopGadget (www.popgadget.net) focuses on “personal tech + innovative lifestyle for women”, while Techie Diva (www.techiediva.com) bills itself as a “technology blog with an undeniable feminine twist.” And as if to confirm that gadgets are no longer the sole province of socially maladjusted males, Geeks Are Sexy (www.geeksaresexy.net) provides a comforting dose of self-affirmation. (Recite while standing in front of your mirror: “I’m a geek, I love gadgets, and I’m sexy, darn it!” Repeat until convinced. We’ll wait.)
Even “traditional” media has gotten into the gadget-blogging act. Venerable online fixture CNET has ventured into the gadget-blogging realm with Crave (crave.cnet.com), a “blog about gorgeous gadgets and other crushworthy stuff,” and Wired magazine offers up its Gadget Lab (blog.wired.com/gadgets). Yes, Wired and CNET qualify as traditional media when viewed from the blogosphere. It’s a brave new world.
Rounding out our list of go-to gadget blogs are Shiny Shiny, which deserves a spot on the list if for no other reason than having an entire section devoted to Hello Kitty (www.shinyshiny.tv/hello_kitty), and Ubergizmo, which brings the gadget news straight from Silicon Valley where its founders proudly declare “we blog from our kitchen.”
SPECIALTY GADGET BLOGS
Gadget blogs have grown so popular that now, specialty blogs are popping up that focus on particular subcategories within the general gadget realm.
GoodCleanTech (www.goodcleantech.com) is a technology blog focused on environmentally friendly, “clean” technologies. Topics range from a $200, low-power-consumption PC available at Wal-Mart to ecologically friendly drywall.
In another niche entirely is medGadget (medgadget.com), which describes itself as an “Internet journal of emerging medical technologies.” Translation: it’s about cool medical gadgets, and you’ll find info on topics such as virus-killing lasers, electronic tweezers, and even the latest about the Robotic Articulating Endoscopic Linear Cutter. No, I have no idea what that is, either.
CATBLOGS
1 | Cat Blogosphere www.blog.catblogosphere.com
2 | Watermark www.sbpoet.com
3 | Skeezix’s Scratching Post skeezixthecat.com/scratchingpost
4 | Purrchance to Dream daphnex.blogspot.com
5 | Daisy the Curly Cat daisythecurlycat.blogspot.com
6 | The Scratching Post ktcatspost.blogspot.com
First, let’s get something out of the way: we will highlight dogbloggers in a future issue. The last thing we need is a pack of dog-loving bloggers cancelling their B&P subscriptions in disgust, due to perceived feline favoritism.
To grasp the depth and breadth of the catblogging community, the place to start is easy: the Cat Blogosphere. This site is the go-to spot for all things kitty in the blogosphere, featuring an aggregator that includes posts from many other catblogs. You can then continue on to Purrchance to Dream, home to not one but four blogging cats (Spooker, Chloe, Jazper, and Daphne).
Not enough? Drop by Watermark, Daisy the Curly Cat, and Skeezix’s Scratching Post, and your feline hosts will make you most welcome.
MOMBLOGS
1 | MotherBumper motherbumper.blogspot.com
2 | Her Bad Mother badladies.blogspot.com
3 | An Ordinary Mom anordinarymom.wordpress.com
4 | MotherGooseMouse www.mothergoosemouse.com
5 | Mommy off the Record mommyofftherecord.blogspot.com
Motherhood: what could be more noble? And it may not surprise you to find that many bloggers are moms — and vice versa.
This month we’re highlighting some of the shining stars in the momblogosphere. Start your journey at MotherBumper — the blog of “one tired mommy and one tireless baby” — where a Toronto mother describes the joys and trials of raising the aforementioned “Bumper.” If you’re feeling slightly naughty, grab some motherly self-validation from Her Bad Mother, where “bad is the new good.” Or drop by An Ordinary Mom for tales of “an ordinary mom doing ordinary things but hopefully making an extraordinary difference in the lives of her children.”
Our last two recommended maternal bloggers clearly have something in common. MotherGooseMouse declares “we could all use a drink now and then,” while Mommy Off the Record leads with a cartoon of two stylish mommies sipping cocktails:
Mommy #1: “Here’s hoping my kids won’t need therapy.”
Mommy #2: “I’ll drink to that!”
As will we all!
GADGETS
1 | Boing Boing boingboing.net
2 | Engadget www.engadget.com
3 | Gizmodo www.gizmodo.com
4 | Shiny Shiny shinyshiny.tv
5 | Ubergizmo www.ubergizmo.com
6 | PopGadget www.popgadget.net
7 | Wired Gadget Lab blog.wired.com/gadgets
8 | Crave crave.cnet.com
9 | Geeks are Sexy www.geeksaresexy.net
10 | Techie Diva techiediva.com
ROB NEPPELL is a blog industry consultant, providing proprietary blog monitoring and new media strategies to businesses. He is the president of Kithbridge, Inc. (kithbridge.com) and the creator of the Truth Laid Bear (truthlaidbear.com) blog-tracking and -ranking portal. He can be reached at robn@bloggerandpodcaster.com.