Barely a year old, Barrio Siete has rocked the blogosphere with its candid views and timely take on current events, a factor which has contributed to its high traffic in such a short period of time. Barrio Siete was also in the forefront of web efforts to help victims of Typhoon Ondoy and the yellow ribbon for the late President Cory. Its other appeal is the composition of its members, who all have a following in their own right. Reigning over the group is the famous and controversial Reyna Elena, a CPA with an MBA from George Washington U and Temple U. Here's a transcript of our interview with her about B7. Am proud to be part of this group!

Q. What made you decide to come up with Barrio Siete?
A. Initially, anonymous blogging was acceptable. It still is, but when you begin to gain followers, become influential in some ways, readers expect validation from you. As an anonymous blogger, one blog challenged my credentials. I put them out, then asked that they show theirs. Credentials issue would explode on Pinoy blogosphere. After the dust settled, blogging anonymously became frowned upon. That’s when Barrio Siete came about.

Q. What were your criteria in the selection of members?
A. Getting along with other writers, simple but effective writing and respect to our mission and vision. Satirically speaking, social climbing (social networking) is our mission and world peace (harmony in diversity) is our vision. Our views and opinions are biased and imbalanced because we lean more on truth rather than sensationalism and exaggeration.

Q. What do you think makes B7 different from other group blogs?
A. Our writing style is unique. We are diverse, non-exclusive and non-elitist. Rosa, our Canadian reader said it aptly:
“There is a culture of diversity and tolerance in B7. Each one of the contributors and lurkers has their own perceptions and beliefs and no one tries to impose his views on others. Factor in the entertainment value. If you dig deeper, you will find that a lot of them are hard working citizens trying to achieve their dreams here at home and abroad.”

Q.Barrio Siete's traffic at the start has been considered phenomenal for a new blog. What do you think are the factors that made you achieve this?
A. B7 is a great team of established bloggers forming a community with a concept that easily connected and endeared to readers. Our readers feel the teamwork and respect amongst us. We do not cannibalize each other simply because we disagree with the author’s view or opinion.
Our style of writing debunked conventional norms in blogging that only blogs written in English are the only ones that succeeds and earns respect. Our blog is informative and fun to read, tackling real-life and socially relevant issues in a light-hearted, humorous and satirical way.

Q. Lessons you learned while maintaining Barrio Siete?
A. Leadership is very important in maintaining a collective blog because the very core of our Barrio concept is maintaining harmony in diversity (“World Peace”). We don’t want B7 to end up in “World Pieces”.