Blog Awards

The 2004 JIB Awards are being hosted by Dave over at Israellycool.

Within the so called "Jewish Blogosphere" they are staring to generate a little heat and a little excitement. I think that it is fair to say that most people like some positive feedback, a little validation of who they are and certainly a nomination does that.

I am no exception, I was pleased to see that I had been nominated within a few categories, it feels good. But it seems to me that amidst the campaigning and chaos with these awards and other blog awards outside of the JIBs that there is an element that is a little less savory.

And that is a feeling that I get from some blogs that something is just not right. For lack of a better term it feels yucky. See, having a four-year-old at home is useful ;).

But seriously, I think what bothers me is that I like to see awards based upon merit and not popularity and to a certain extent it feels like some people are trying to conduct a popularity contest. It is not a referendum about who is the coolest person, but a question of blog integrity.

Perhaps it sounds snooty, but I try hard not to give in to the dark side and do things that are solely designed to boost traffic. I blog because this is a very necessary outlet. Do I want more traffic, more readers? Yes, absolutely. I'd like to be able to do this full time, I'd love to be so popular that I could make that happen.

And there are things that I could do to increase the amount of traffic, ways to promote this blog and push the readership up. I don't do that, not because I am superior or a desire to be more righteous, but because I blog on feelings.

My posts are related to what feels good to me, what makes me happy/sad/angry. I blog based upon my interests and so I don't want to do anything to compromise that, at least not now. So for the time being my blog is what is and any growth should be natural.

I don't want to go back and read this again, but I suspect that this sounds incredibly contradictory and that would be ok with me. I am a contradiction, it is part of being human.