August, I think, is fast becoming the month of “blog scandals and wars”, with the ongoing commotion in the blogosphere superseding the waves made by the Philippine Blog Awards and the issue of invocation during secular gatherings.
So, what are the issues?
(For those who’re already familiar with the sizzling hot issues in the blogosphere nowadays, please skip the boring paragraphs that will follow. I’m recounting the issues for the sake of those who are M.I.A. or missing in action and for my friends who’re not really following the blogosphere that closely.)
1) Fobcast Episode 1 and the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs
In Mike and Marco’s FOBcast Episode 1, they said they think not all the winners of the recently concluded Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs Project of Ms. Toral are really that influential. Then, they went on “ridiculing” some of the blogs in the final list (or rather the week 11 list), which offended some folks. Personally, I don’t find anything offending about it at all. Like in any situations, there is a protagonist and an antagonist. They just chose to be the antagonist here.
But there were also those who expressed disappointment in the said event:
Everything said and done, I believe that the project is a failure due to the nuances of defining ‘influential’ both from Ms Toral and the participants. If the project was called The Top Ten Most Popular Filipino Blogs of 2007, then this failure might have been avoided since what is popular is easier to define than what is influential. - Lizette, in her post, “Bastardization: When Influential Meant Popular“
I believe that the focal point of the discussion was the use of the words “emerging” and “influential” in the title of the blog project.
Admittedly, the terms “emerging” and “influential” would rarely appear in the same sentence. Influence only comes with a degree of reputation and time-tested consistency and credibility- clearly, something that an emerging greenhorn would not have. - Benj, in his post, “Emerging and Influential: Irreconcilable?“
In this light, I also shared some of my thoughts about it:
Perhaps Benj is right for saying it’s hard to reconcile “emerging” with “influential”, being that to be able to exert much influence meant authority and that authority does come only after a bit more experience. But to analyze it with regards to the community of bloggers which participated in the said project, I think it’s enough to say that the winners did exert a kind of influence over those who voted. Most bloggers did vote for those they think exerted influence on them. And I think influence will always mean a measure of popularity. So, yes, it is a popularity contest relative to the group which participated in the writing project. That’s enough reason to believe that the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs project did serve its purpose.
I would also like to add that it seems difficult, at this young age of the Philippine blogosphere, to adequately sample the entire community to be able to properly say that the result of the said project will correspond to the real “top 10 Emerging and Influential blogs” of the whole. Possible maybe if we could engage the whole Philippine blogosphere to vote for the most influential blogs or randomly pick bloggers to participate in the voting, so as to eliminate bias. But, right now, it’s not that possible, really.
2) Carl Ocab and his blog’s ghostwriter?
While the FOBcast made quite a stir in the blogging community, the Carl Ocab Ghostwriting Issue came up and caused a rampage.
I think Carlo Ocab and his father made their first blogger event appearance in Ms. Toral’s Top 10 Emerging and Influential Blogs Dinner party last August 1. Of course, everybody’s suddenly gaga over the genius kid who gives money-earning tips that there are those who’d even take pictures with him, maybe to have proof that they, too, were able to shake hands with the kid blogger. And people couldn’t be faulted for being curious as to what stuff this kid is really made of. After several conversations, people may have already formed their own conclusions about the kid and his blog.
Ms. Noemi expressed her thoughts in her post, “Ethical Blogging“, which I think started all the furor in the blogosphere now:
…I don’t care if you are a man pretending to be woman or a prime time woman assuming a young woman’s persona. What infuriates me is when a parent uses their minor child to create a blog and misrepresent some facts…Do I continue to be a spectator of this modern day “The Emperor’s New Clothes”?
Andrew dela Serna also posted his insights on this matter:
I’ve been having my suspicions about this kid ever since he started blogging about “making money”. I mean, he’s only 13 right? How can he talk about moneymaking like it’s a piece of cake? Where are all his insights coming from?
Then suddenly, there are outbursts of heated comment exchanges and then blog post wars:
Which community? What is “acceptable”? The truth is, bloggers and other web site publishers willing to adhere to strict ethical standards constitute a minority. Surf the web. I do it everyday and guess what? The assholes far outnumber the good guys. Splogs, rip-offs, “manual aggregators” living off other bloggers’ content, parked domains and so-so blogs without substantial content put up for no other reason than to steal keywords and page ranks from legitimate sites, AND TO SERVE GOOGLE ADS, are all part of the norm.
So, which community, Noemi? Your personal circle of blogger-friends? Whose standards of “acceptability”? - Connie Veneracion in her post, “Disclosure policies, Carlocab, and Blogging Ethics“
(It’s a terribly lengthy exchange of comments. Better visit the blogs concerned if you want to read the entire exchange.)
In the midst of all these accusations, some people were clear-headed enough to do the rational thing: to talk to Carl Ocab and his dad.
Manuel Viloria, in his post, “Carl Ocab’s Ghostwriter“:
I got in touch with Carl and Alan and asked them who wrote those posts at CarlOcab.com, and they separately replied that the posts were written by Carl. No ghostwriting involved.
When I was 13, I hardly wrote. And while I’m still struggling with the thought that a teenager writes that well (and even better than a number of much older folks, myself included), I’m left with the fact that there is no evidence that suggests Carl did not write those posts.
Abe Olandres also made his own investigation on the matter and met the father and son bloggers for dinner, after which he said:
I believe the father and the son has a good relationship. I couldn’t remember talking with my dad about serious stuff around Carl’s age. I don’t think Carl is being forced to go into internet marketing/problogging by his father (well, he has access to his dad’s credit card, that’s for sure). The kid had other previous interests in sports, music and even girls. That being said, I don’t believe there was any issue of exploitation, whatsoever.
Though these endeavors may not be adequate to quell the issue, still I greatly admire those who took this step to making things somewhat clearer.
My take on this is (as part of the comment I left in Abe’s blog) we cannot really completely remove the possibility that people will speculate about the real identity of the blog’s writer (who doesn’t gossip, anyway?). Still, there are just some that could go overboard. At least now, there’s a balance of perspectives available. Actually, I’m kind of “expecting” that Carl would be posting his defense, though I shouldn’t really expect him to. But, at least now, he’s been given the chance to speak for himself. If he chose to remain quiet, then it is his right. Let’s not begrudge him for that.
Personally, I’ve already voiced out my doubts about the authorship of the blog. But that’s it. I don’t want to delve into the issues of the ethics related to it, though I cannot really prevent others from speculating some more nor do I have the right to prevent them from doing so. We could just leave the kid alone and stop reading the blog if it’s offending. Or we could continue on reading the blog if the information we derive from it is useful for us, and not focus anymore about what is deemed a doubtful authorship.
3) The Misrepresentation Issue
More tension was generated in the blogosphere when Jayvee, in his blog, claimed a blogger “misrepresented” the Philippine blogosphere, leaving this cryptic message:
If bloggers are invited to speak in front of a crowd of industry experts (yay!!!), bear in mind that you bring forward with you the hundreds of personalities of the local blogosphere.
Make sure you do not misrepresent us.
To be fair, he was, at first, hesitant to name the person.
Later on, he admitted that he was indeed referring to Ms. Janette Toral who has given a talk on Blog Marketing and Worldwide trends in Blogging. He also offered some suggestions for Ms. Toral’s and other bloggers’ future use, if they should be invited to talks like those in IMMAP.
The two posts, perhaps, may have hit some nerves. Gibbs Cadiz makes his opinion known and may have rattled a lot of people:
Where is it written, exactly, that if we do get to speak about local blogging before a crowd, we automatically become its representative, spokesperson, living embodiment, image model? Why should this be so? What canon of blogging am I violating if, say, I get invited to share my experience about blogging for theater and the arts, which is this site’s niche, and I fail to mention that, oh, there are other bloggers and “blog-initiated activities” out there? In what way, for that matter, was Ms. Toral wrong in using examples close to her heart, borne out of her efforts and hard work and that she had expertise on, when talking about this activity?
Some more thoughts about all the ongoing furor…
As one ordinary blogger in the Philippine Blogosphere, it’s a bit difficult digesting all of it, though it’s interesting to see how dynamic the blogosphere is getting.
I believe we shouldn’t worry about the existing cliques. These narrowly exclusive groups of people are expected to be formed anyway, especially in a an evolving community. After all, aren’t we all guilty of some form of cliquishness? As long as one group or one Blogging God (shout out to Jon! I hope you don’t mind I used the term) wannabe doesn’t try to have the monopoly of the blogging world, we’ll keep the blogosphere the way we want it for as long as we can.
After all, these different rants, raves, and blabs tell us one thing: we still have that freedom to say what we want in the blogosphere. Be it a compliment, an argument against what has been said, a ploy to trash the guy’s comments or attack his blog or a defense for someone who’s being bullied, nobody can tell you to just simply shut up and not say anything. You are entitled to your own space, your own voice, be it small or hardly heard, in the WWW.
These controversies tell us that the freedom in the blogosphere is both a blessing and a curse. We cannot have one without the other. Such is the duality of this sphere and we should just accept it.
Other interesting reads about this topic:
Tags: philippine blogosphere, blog scandals, blog wars
The pedicab driver would have been elated if he knew Tarantino. Well, if he knew him then he’s lucky. 
:
MANILA, Philippines - Quentin Tarantino was forced to hop into a pedicab to escape gridlock on flooded Manila streets Wednesday as he made his way to the presidential palace to receive a film award.
