Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs of 2008

Janette Toral’s writing project, The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs, is now on its second year. (This time, Janette has acquired a domain name for the project, influentialblogger.net, which is quite catchy.)

The noble purpose of this writing project is to give recognition to the blogosphere’s relatively new but prominent blogs. (To help them along the road to blogosphere fame, too!) Any blogger — not necessarily Filipino — may join this worthy endeavor. To do so, please start by reading this post. In short, you will need to nominate 10 blogs to your own list of emerging, influential blogs.

Below is my list. These are blogs that, in my opinion, have exerted some well-deserved authority over their chosen subject matter / advocacy. (Listed in alphabetical order.)

• Bariles Republic

This is a highly informative blog about the author’s hometown, General Santos City. It was started only in November 2007, and yet it feels like it’s been around for much longer. That’s probably because the content is honest, down-to-earth and focused.

• Davao Delicious

This is one of my own blogs. I thought I’d include it in my list — risking accusations of tooting my own horn — because I do believe the blog has become rather influential in its chosen milieu. I get quite a number of emails through the online contact form asking me about more places to eat in Davao City. I also get requests for other restaurants to be featured in the blog.

• Filipino Voices

A heroic effort to cast the voice of the Filipino to the world, this community blog is comprised of bloggers from a vast spectrum of backgrounds. But they have one common denominator, though: they are passionate about their homeland, and so they write about society and all its attendant issues, concerns, problems, triumphs.

• Migs Mobile Network

Author of the popular blog, migs.wordpress.com, Migs finally got his own self-hosted WordPress blog for his favorite blogging topic: mobile and all its attendant technologies. Migs Mobile Network is still so fresh it’s still covered in bubble wrap… but it’s already gaining so much ground in the mobile genre.

• PRC Board Exam Results

In less than half a year since it was launched, this site has garnered a popularity borne out of necessity (as opposed to SEO activity). It is now one of the most visited resources for information on exam results emanating from the Philippine Regulation Commission.

• Techy Kid

This blog, while no different from other tech-centric blogs focus-wise, is really in a niche, audience-wise. Since it’s written by a very young and just-recently-graduated student, his blog appeals to readers of his generation.

• Teknostik dawt com

A hodge-podge of personal takes on his surroundings, his efforts at weights training, and a smattering of technology-related articles, this blog serves up in-your-face posts that are quite entertaining. I think Teknostik has a great potential to retain a loyal audience, with the blogger’s unique voice and writing style.

• Visit Sagada

This community blog aims to promote Sagada, in the Philippines’ Mountain Province. Started only in January 2008, this site is a worthy effort, akin to what we’ve been doing for Mindanao. If you plan on making a trip to one of the country’s most visited spots, Visit Sagada should be your first order of business.

• Work With Ria

This blog, started in October 2007, document’s the author’s experiences in her various work-related environments. Plural, yes. Ria is an example of the young generation today — aggressive, connected, technology-savvy. Although it has some personal entries as well, those who are just starting out in the world can actually learn from this blog’s kilobytes of wisdom.

• You Got Tech

This community blog, in such a short span of time, has turned into a reference site for the ‘tech layman’. Populated by bloggers who are themselves newbies (more or less) to high technology, You Got Tech certainly appeals to its target audience.

Possibly Related Posts:
New and emerging blogs  |  10 new blogs worth checking out  |  The Filipina is worth fighting for  |  Top 100 Mindanao blogs  |  Davao Cyber Expo 2008