The best Australian blog

Charles Wright has an interesting column in The Age called Razor (no longer online). It covers technology and "computer sociology".

A recent article about Australia’s best blog caught my attention. This was a competition run by a hosting company.

Some 513 entries were culled down to 11 for a panel of judges to assess. The winner was Singing Bridges, a travel diary by Jodi Rose (which hasn’t been updated since October 2011).

The selection caused some controversy, with many people arguing that a blog about the noise made by bridges isn’t exactly riveting.

Some people suggested that Jodi was sponsored by the ABC and subsidised by the Arts Council. She has rejected these claims, although she does work for the ABC and did receive an Australia Council arts grant.

My opinion, for what it’s worth, is that Jodi’s blog wasn’t worthy of the title. I mean no disrespect to her in saying that. I think the concept of recording the sound of bridges is highly innovative, but about as interesting as train spotting.

I don’t like the dark design. There is no search facility, no RSS feed and no interactive content, ie reader comments.

Charles Wright didn’t think it was the best blog either, and he was one of the judges.

I think a beaut blog should be innovative, well written, interesting and well presented, with a touch of humor. Many of these are subjective qualities, which is why a weighting system should have been applied to the judging, a bit like diving at the Olympics.

Disclaimer: I didn’t enter the competition and I wouldn’t wish to enter with this site, which I use to record personal thoughts and events.