Irish Blog Awards attracts international voters

20-02-2007

by Maxim Kelly

Irish bloggers are attracting an international audience for their musings on everything from politics to pastries.

According to organisers of the upcoming Irish Blog Awards, almost 5,000 people from 67 different countries voted for their favourite Irish blogs across 21 separate categories.

"I am absolutely stunned by the amount of people from Ireland and all over the world voting for their Irish friends," said blogger and event coordinator Damien Mulley. "We all know the urban legends of going into the deepest parts of the Amazon jungle and bumping into an Irish person, but the stats from our site now confirms the worldwide reach of Irish people."

Readers from as far apart as Iceland, Ghana, China and Malaysia have cast their votes for their favourite Irish web journals as the event gets ready for its second year running at the Alexander Hotel in Dublin on 3 March.

Mulley said this year's shortlist includes an eclectic mix of irreverent writings on Irish life as well as deeply emotional insights into personal issues experienced by a cross-section of writers. There are essays on dealing with loss, with cancer and with fertility issues, as well as writings on sport, music, technology and contemporary commentary about Irish politicians.

Last year's overall winner, Twenty Major, is once again in the running for the top prize, but the caustic rantings of the "four-armed midget" who claims to "own" Tallaght are up against stiff competition from Blogorrah, Nialler9, Arse End of Ireland, Beaut.ie, and ArseBlog.

There are eight extra categories in this year's awards compared with the inaugural competition held in 2006. New areas covered include sport and recreation, and podcasting. There is a growing number of niche Irish bloggers, such as the Icecream Ireland Blog which deals with the joys of eating "sweet things". The 2007 Blog Awards also include a new category for best online video content, and two of the five shortlisted nominations for best video deal with matters political.

"Given that an election is just weeks away, both videos and blogs are reflecting the deeper interest everyone online is having in politics and this is also shown by the massive increase in both politicians blogging and bloggers talking about politics," said Mulley.

The event's organisers believe there are currently as many as 4,000 people blogging in Ireland compared to an estimated 1,500 last year.

For readers who have not yet delved into the blogosphere, organisers of the Blog Awards have come up with a handy definition of the medium: 'Blogs [web logs] often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news. Some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs.'