2nd Philippine Blogging Summit & other news
Annalyn S. Jusay (now blogging at www.annalyn.net)
This section wishes everyone a belated Happy Easter! As everyone enjoyed their long Holy Week vacation, please allow us to share with you some important news from the blogosphere:
The 2nd Philippine Blogging Summit unfolds tomorrow, April 18, at the UP College in Law in Diliman, Quezon City. This writer hopes to be there and hobnob with the local bloggers, especially net friends like Manuel Viloria, Marc Macalua, Noemi Dado and Abe Olandres who will speak on Professional Blogging and Blog monetization, one area he seems to be passionate about. Kudos to the UP College of Law Internet and Society Program (UP LAW-ISP) for organizing this event which will once again unite Filipino bloggers and give them fresh perspectives on their favorite preoccupation or occupation, as the case may be.
The keynote message will be given by Rebecca Mackinnon of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society of Harvard Law School. Interesting topics have been lined up for the different sessions which cover political, legal, media, literary, professional and personal blogging. Aside from the local line-up of speakers, Dr. Ronald Meinardus of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation will speak on "Blogging and Podcasting as Tools for Political Education." There should also be heated discussions on such topics as avoiding plagiarism, libel, copyright infringement and other pitfalls. Other talks that will surely enlighten bloggers include the ones on how to transform blogging into a full-time profession, and how to monetize podcasts as well as use it to promote your products. To spice up the sessions, there will be raffles and a group picture taking at the end. On another note, the speakers have been "requested to refrain from service or product pitches…," we wonder why, lol. Hope to see you all there!
2. In an article on 'New Trends in Online Traffic, " the Washington Post reports that "while growth is slowing at most top Internet sites, it is skyrocketing at sites focused on social networking, blogging and local information." This is according to a recent online-traffic analysis provided by market research firm ComScore Media Metrix, which examined visitor growth rates among the 50 top Web sites over the past year.
ComScore's data showed that "top-ranked sites growing the most were: Blogger.com, a personal publishing site; MySpace.com, where young people do virtual preening and share musical tastes; Wikipedia, an open reference site jointly edited by millions of people; and Citysearch, a network of local guides focused on cities," the WP online article states.
For instance, at Blogger.com, "the number of people posting or reading material at that site jumped to 15.6 million last month from 2.5 million a year ago."
"The growth in blogging reminds us the Internet is fulfilling its original promise about participation. This medium empowers users in such a way that they can do what they want and be heard," the Washington Post quotes Gary Arlen, a research analyst.
3. Meanwhile, just a look at my Friendsters' accounts and other friends' blogs indicates that YouTube is, hands down, the hottest video-sharing tool today. It now boasts of "35 million video views every day and 35,000 new videos uploaded daily." Some of the most popular cuts include Bush was Right and The Real Life Simpsons Intro. The latest we heard is that MySpace is giving YouTube stiff competition with its own video sharing option. Ironically, it is MySpace which provides the most number of traffic to YouTube so we wonder how this new development will affect the latter.
For comments and inquiries, email annalyn.jusay(at)gmail(dot)com
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