September 28, 2004
Recapping the 2003 Weblog Awards
Have you forgotten the 2003 Weblog Awards allready?
Based on over 63,000 votes cast during the ten days polls were open (12/5/2003 -12/14/2003), here are the 22 winners of the 2003 Weblog Awards. Read on for the list of winners.
Best New Blog (Established in 2003)
Best Female Authored Blog (tie)
Opinion Journal (Best Of The Web by James Taranto)
Best Ecosystem Higher Beings & Mortal Humans Blog
Best Ecosystem Playful Primates Blog
Best Ecosystem Large Mammals Blog
Best Ecosystem Marauding Marsupials Blog
Best Ecosystem Adorable Rodents Blog
Best Ecosystem Flappy Birds Blog
Best Ecosystem Slithering Reptiles Blog
Best Ecosystem Crawly Amphibians Blog
Best Ecosystem Flippery Fish Blog
Best Ecosystem Slimy Molluscs (and below) Blog
Ecosystem categories were based on The Truth Laid Bear Blogoshpere Ecosystem that ranks blogs based on the number of other blogs linking to them. The rating levels use a evolutionary metaphor. I think most people liked the idea of competing against sites from the same TTLB Ecosystem level, but I think for this year we are going to need some better "awards show" names for those categories. I'm open to suggestions...
Welcome To The 2004 Weblog Awards
Last year Wizbang hosted the extremely successful 2003 Weblog Awards. This year the 2004 version of the awards will be here on their own domain. You can bookmark The 2004 Weblog Awards now.
The 2004 Weblog Awards will continue the tradition begun here last year:
1) Open and public nominations
2) Categories that allow blogs of similar readership levels to compete
3) Real time vote totals
4) Quick turnaround of the results
5) Fun
Nominations will open Wednesday November 3, 2004. Many more details to follow.
Why were the 2003 Weblog Awards a success? I think they were successful because unlike nearly every other end of year award the 2003 Weblog Awards were as open and honest (except for a day of ballot stuffing - which was quickly fixed) as I could possibly make them. Nominations were public, and I did the best I could to get as many sites on the ballots in 20 different categories. Overall close to 400 blogs were in the running for awards. I even ran a Most Egregious Omission contest to prove that I wasn't trying to claim a mantle of infallibility.
Of course everything did not go perfectly... There was controversy about the inclusion of a Best Female Authored Blog (without a corresponding Male category); there were probably a few categories that should have been added; and there were a few categories that should have been removed. That said, most people took it for what it was - FUN, and did not get bent out of shape.
