When I first heard about the new TV show on GMA called “Ka-Blog”, I almost jumped to my feet.
“Ka-Blog? Wow. Is that a new TV show about blogging?”
The thought of such a show was enough to get me excited. Finally, people are slowly starting to realize how big blogging here in the Philippines has become.
Much to my disappointment, I later found out that the show Ka-Blog  was in no way related to blogging. It was actually a magazine type show that features everything about adolescent life.
I think it would’ve been cool if the show turned out to be a show about blogging. Imagine a show where tips and tricks about blogging and earning money are given out every episode. You could get the latest news and happenings in the Pinoy blogosphere. Different bloggers are featured every week! Yeah, kinda like the same things I do here.
Not only will this kind of show be a big help to bloggers, it might also catch the interest of non-bloggers and make our community grow even more.
The Search for a Blogging TV Show
Now we all know that blogging has already been featured on the local media countless of times. Show segments bits at most but not a whole show dedicated to blogging.
Fueled by curiosity, I tried checking out if there are any shows on other countries that focus on blogging. I was actually surprised to found out that there were none. If there were any, It probably lacked the presence within the blogging community.
Though, it is interesting to note that there was a local show that features blogging as a part of their story. I’m talking about Going Public, a pseudo reality show following the life of a person who found out he was being “Blogged” and later became famous because of it. Too bad it isn’t being aired anymore.
A Hint to the TV People
With the way blogging is rapidly growing, and with more people trying it out, I still wonder why there still isn’t a TV show about blogging. I mean, I don’t think that there would be a problem about viewership (2.3 Million Bloggers and growing). Plus, I think it would be a show that would also have great support from the community.
Don’t get me wrong. Not that there really is any need for a blogging TV show. I just think it would be cool. It would’ve been the bridge between the new and traditional media that I know would greatly benefit and expand both worlds.
Host? No. Sorry. I’m camera shy.
What do you guys think? Do you think there is a need for a TV show about blogging? Why do you think there isn’t any yet? Share your thoughts! Click here!
Last October 9, 2008, I got the chance to be interviewed on Mornings@ANC along with fellow bloggers, Juned Sunido and Ferdinand Decena. The topic was focused on the recently concluded Philippine Blog Awards. We talked about the PBA, it’s history, the winners, the event itself, and it’s effect on the future of both the blogging community and the Philippines.
Thank God I managed to pull through the whole ordeal (I was so nervous before the show that I couldn’t stay put).
Here are the videos of the interview, many thanks to Cokskiblue.
In our attempt to become successful bloggers, we rely heavily on the wisdom parted to us by those probloggers who had already gone down the path that we are taking right now. However, there comes a time when some of them contradict each other – One problogger says that sponsored posting is unethical, the other says the opposite. One says that a long post could bore the readers, the other says that a long post is essential. And so on.
With all the conflict in ideas and teachings, who should we believe in? What steps should we follow in order for us to become successful?
The answer can be found in a very interesting free E-book titled “The Zen of Blogging†by Hunter Nattal. I got this E-book from Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net and after finishing it, I got this irresistible urge to share it to my readers.
This book is perfect for those aspiring bloggers who couldn’t decide on what path to take in their quest to become successful. Then again, any blogger who loves to blog could also learn a thing or two from this E-book.
Plus, it only takes 10 minutes to finish the whole book!
If you are a regular reader here in PinoyBlogero.com, then I guess you are already familiar with my WeekendRecaps every Sunday that contains lots of interesting posts and news that I have collected from the Pinoy blogosphere.
With an average of 10-15 posts per recap, it’s no surprise that people are asking me how I manage to collect such a big number of interesting posts per week.
Well, the trick to it is really simple. All you need to do is to have lots of sources as possible. What are these sources? Let me share some of mine.
Feeds – I am currently subscribed to over 100+ Pinoy blogs on my feed reader. Most of them are for “post ideas†and “weekend recap†purposes. What I do is I look for blogs that I know would come up with interesting posts from time to time and those who are updated in the latest happenings in my niche.
Blog Aggregators – Blog aggregators like PinoyBlogosphere.com and PinoyBlog.com are a great source of articles posted by Pinoy bloggers. The only problem is that you have to sort them all out manually, it is a pretty tedious task considering that blog aggregators average about 50-100 articles per day. What I do is I scan the headers of the articles to save me time.
Google Alerts – Google Alerts is a nifty feature from Google that alerts the user if there are newly indexed posts under a specific keyword. For example, Google Alerts notifies me of a new article under the term “Pinoy Blogging†every time a new post is made and indexed on the Google Search Engine. It’s really helpful because I usually discover posts that are not on my subscribed feeds and blog aggregators. All you have to do is to specify a group of keywords that are related to your niche and let Google do all the finding for you. (You could read my review of Google Alerts, here)
Twitter – Some bloggers make use of Twitter to twit about their new posts or interesting articles that they have discovered. Following these people is really helpful especially if you let Twitter send twits directly to your mobile phone (Yes, you can do that).
Mailing Lists – If you are a member of PinoyBlogosphere.com, you might also want to subscribe to their mailing list. I usually get lots of interesting material from these mailing lists because of discussions between members regarding lots of different topics. Just be prepared to receive lots of messages on your mail inbox, people get a little chatty at times.
Forums – On other niches, forums are one of the best possible news sources that every blogger should hunt down. Unfortunately for me, there are only a small number of forums about Pinoy blogging or the Pinoy blogging community. Nevertheless, I still check them out every once in a while. Here is a list of forums about Pinoy blogs and the Pinoy blogging community: Yugatech Forums, PinoyBlogosphere.org, Wordpress.ph Forums, and Wordpress Pinoys.
A few days ago, the TV show “Korina Today” made a feature segment entitled “Beware of the Blog” wherein, the host and a number of guests talked about their views about the different issues relating to blogs primarily brought about by the Brian Gorell controversy.
The discussion raised a number of intriguing views about blogging. From notions like a blog can only be a reliable source of information if the blogger behind it is “respectable”, to the definition of illegitimate blogger as bloggers who hides behind anonymity, and a couple more which can be read on Noemi’s blog.
The purpose of this post is not to react to the points talked about on the show, for I believe that Noemi, Juned and Renzie had already said what I wanted to say. I am actually more concerned on why the people behind Korina Today titled their episode “Beware of the Blog”.
Why Should People Be Afraid?
The initial reaction that I had when I first heard the title was, “Huh? Why the heck should people be wary of blogs?” As a person who has been blogging for four years, and a blogger who covers and talks about the Pinoy blogging community, I have come to know a lot of things about the blogs and how it works. Nowhere along the path did I encounter anything that is enough of a reason for people to be afraid of it.
Is it because of the Brian Gorell Controversy? Are they telling people that, since Gorell has a blog, he could write about anyone who has crossed him and ruin their reputations? Or could the Malu Fernandez-OFW mobbing be the reason, where Malu was attacked verbally by people with blogs because of her not-so-well-placed “acerbic witâ€? Or is it about the Desperate Housewives’ racial slur issue, where blogs has proven to be a forced not to be reckoned with?
Beware of the Bloggers?
It is true that blogs has shown its great power in the past causing a lot of commotion and harming a number of people. But I don’t think that it is “the blog†that people should be afraid of but the blogger behind it.
Telling people to be afraid of blogs is like telling people to stay away from knives. Blogs are only a medium, just like TV and Newspapers. It is how it is used that determines if it could be dangerous or not. So based from this, it is the bloggers who are potentially dangerous. However’ I’m not saying that the title should be “Beware of the Bloggers“, either, for not all bloggers are misguided enough to be feared.
Beware of People Who Don’t Understand Blogging
I don’t think that it is fair for bloggers and blogging to be subjected to such a prejudice similar to the one conveyed by whomever thought up of the title “Beware of the Blog”. It’s been like this for a very long time. Blogs are usually described as unstable, informal, and even dangerous. If bloggers are not portrayed as hungry money makers, they are portrayed as people who does nothing but whine and bitch about everything.
Before anyone tries to talk about (or against) blogging, I suggest that they try it out, or at least try to understand it more, before speaking. Blogs are not something that can be easily conceived. For behind everything that can be seen on the surface, there are other things that are at work.
