March 1, 2008

Top Ten Black Blogs (Mar 2008)


Have you ever wondered where you can find excellent bloggers of African descent out in the so-called afrosphere?

That was my question when I saw a list of so-called influential bloggers with no people of color included. Often, it appears that Black folks are only blogging about entertainment or hip-hop issues. I wondered if there were other Black-owned and operated blogs out there.

Today we announce the Villager's Black Blog Rankings (BBR) for March 2008 with over 850 blogs in the mix. We began tracking the Top Ten Black Blogs in September 2007 with only 75 blogs listed. The number of blogs on the list grew to 602 by the beginning of the year. Last month the BBR listed 751 Black blogs. Post a comment below if you are a Black Blogger interested in learning what your ranking is this month!

We need your help First, we hope other blogs link to us so that more blog readers are aware of the diversity of thought in the afrosphere. Second, we remain open to ideas and suggestions from all villagers on ways that this project can be more useful to you. Finally, I really want to create a nice button that folks can place on their own website or blog pointing folks to the Villager's Black Blog Ranking perhaps with a visual of a rhino on it. Any creative folks out there with ideas?

It is worth noting that On The Black Hand Side (BBR #238) is placing a wonderful spotlight on Black Bloggers with their '20 Questions With' interviews. This is outstanding opportunity to learn more about talented brothers and sisters that you see listed in the Villager's Black Blog Rankings.

Anyhow, with no further ado, here are the Top Ten Black Blogs for March 2008:

  1. The Bossip: Bossip.com (Authority: 1,217 / Rank: 1,887) - [Entertainment] Bossip.com holds down the BBR #1 slot for the second month in a row. It is worth noting that Bossip.com is the first Black blog that we've seen break into the top 2,000 blogs in the world ranking! Bossip.com is a fast growing urban-focused new media property that draws a loyal following of young and influential trend setters who are up to date with what’s hot in society. The Bossip relies on tips for photos, ideas and such. I encourage villagers to give 'em a tip that they are the #1 Black blog in the universe.

  2. Pam Spaulding: Pam's House Blend (Authority: 1,143 / Rank: 2,136) - [Politics] This is a prolific blog averaging over 110,000 hits per month. Last month, she discovered that some things are more important than blogging. Pam took time to share tips on growing your blog. She wrote, "Are there secrets to getting eyeballs? Hmmm. I don't think so, though having religious right nutcases calling you "a leading source of radical homosexual propaganda, anti-Christian bigotry, and radical transgender advocacy" probably helps. Seriously, there is no one suggestion to gain larger readership. It's luck, timing, and blogwhoring at other sites similar to yours to entice readers to take a peek at your stuff. Having your own "voice" that stands out as different as well as authentic and true to yourself helps a lot."

  3. Angel Laws: Concrete Loop* (Authority: 1,100 / Rank: 2,291) - [Entertainment] This is a Black celebrity entertainment blog with gossip, music, celebrity interviews, pictures and such. Angel Laws, a 23-year-old college student in Jacksonville, NC, started this blog as a hobby. It is now one of the top-ranked Black blogs in the world. Angel recently walked the red carpet herself. Last month, Angel collaborated with Love B. Scott (BBR #24), one of the fastest growing blogs on our list.

  4. ESKAY: Nah Right (Authority: 790 / Rank: 3,916) - [Entertainment] This is another Black blogger that is steadily moving up in the rankings. Some say that Nah Right is the most important East Coast hip-hop blog there is. There was a focus on eye candy when he began his blog in May 2005. The growth of his blog grew exponentially when he began to focus on music and entertainment. Are there any Nah Right fans out there?

  5. Fresh Crunkjuice: Crunk & Disorderly* (Authority: 713 / Rank: 4,646) - [Entertainment] This blog was created in August 2004, however, it didn't get serious until May 2005. This is an active entertainment blog that tackles the world of African American celebrity gossip. From Kanye West to the Reverend Al Sharpton, C&D takes no prisoners. This blog has admirers in some unusual places.

  6. Oliver Willis: Oliver Willis (Authority: 625 / Rank: 5,701) - [Politics] Oliver is a fan of the Washington Redskins. His blog alternates between posts on the NFL and presidential politics. Oliver has been taking flak about his views since he began his blog in April 2005. One thing I'll say about the brother ... he posts more times per day than anyone else on the list!

  7. Natasha Eubanks: Young, Black & Fabulous (Authority: 524 / Rank: 11,410) - [Entertainment] Natasha is a 25-year old law student in Washington DC. Her blog is one of the hottest Black celebrity gossip sites on the net. Natasha began blogging in June 2005 when there were few Black celebrity gossip blogs. Natasha says that her blog '...focuses on gossip, enteratinment journalism, fashion, fabulousness, and foolywang'. Can someone tell me what foolywang means?

  8. La Shawn Barber: La Shawn Barber's Corner (Authority: 507 / Rank: 8,181) - [Social Commentary] Formerly a political blogger, La Shawn writes about faith, culture, digital technology and, occasionally, how these three things intersect. She is a freelance writer and entrepreneur who consults with interested bloggers. Her blog began in Nov 2003. I 'met' Sis. Barber during NPR Blogger Roundtables that we did in Nov 2007 and Jan 2008.

  9. Jack Turner and Jill Tubman: Jack and Jill Politics* (Authority: 430 / Rank: 10,323) - [Politics] - We welcome this blog to the BBR Top 10 for the first time! J&JP offers a Black bourgeois perspective on American politics. The 2008 election cycle provides remarkable content choices for Jack (real name: Baratunde Thurston), Jill and other guest bloggers. This blog showed up as BBR #31 in Sep 2007 rankings and rose consistently for the past six months. I strongly encourage all villagers to take a moment and check out this insightful blog!

  10. Gina McCauley: What About Our Daughters* (Authority: 382 / Rank: ) - [Social Commentary] This blog was created by a sister who believes that now is the time for organized action to combat the destructive portrayals of Black women in popular culture. 2007 was a remarkable year for this blogger. Sis. McCauley was named one of the 25 most influential African Americans by Essence Magazine.


HONORABLE MENTION (11-25): Afro Bella*, The Field Negro*, Young, Black, and Fabulous (blogspot version), How To Split An Atom, Entre mes Lignes, Rod 2.0:Beta, Real Talk NY Provides The Latest Hip Hop News*, Keith Boynkin*, Ill Doctrine, Sandra Rose, A Hot Mess!, Darla Mack News & Reviews, Clutch Magazine*, Love B. Scott* and Republic of T


The only qualification is that the blogger needs to be of African descent. The blogger does not have to be a member of The AfroSpear or the Afrosphere Bloggers Association, although we invite all Black bloggers to join either (or both) of those organizations.

Those blogs with an asterisk after their name are 2007 Black Weblog Award winners. This is the final month that we will be recognizing the 2007 winners. Next month we will use the asterisk to let you know which of these leading bloggers are members of The AfroSpear.

Black Blog Rankings lean heavily on the Technorati Authority and Rank score for each blog. The Technorati authority and rank numbers are shown in parenthesis. The authority figure includes a number of factors including the number of blogs that are linked to this blogger over the past six months. The rank number indicates how many blogs are between the person listed and the #1 ranked blog in the world.

We do think that these Black blogs are important spheres of influence. Let them know that you appreciate the work they have put in over the past few months and years to get on this list. My vision is that many of the brothers and sisters on this month's BBR will join us later this year at the Blogging While Brown conference in Atlanta, GA on July 25-27, 2008.

Finally, I encourage you to provide some link-love to this post so that others can learn about the Villager's Black Blog Rankings! Next step is yours ... what say u?

54 comments:

Yobachi said...

First of all, thanks for probably being the first person ever to spell my blogs name correctly (BlackPerspective.net) Even though its in huge letters sprawled across the top of my page, people want to title it Black Perspective, and everthing else. I especially hate when NPR does that over the radio, because their are other websites with Black Perspective in the title, so saying that doesn't necessarily send one to my blog.

Is the Black Agenda Report on the list, it didn't show when I did a search.

And I want to recommend a blog Hicktown Press. It's a Socio-religious blog. She's conservative, yet pro-black. She was with us on the Jena 6 and other such issues.

Marleaux said...

I love this list. I’m glad someone is showcasing and promoting black blogs. I always enjoy Black Hand Side’s questions for bloggers. I’m thinking about doing the same with Black fashion and shopping blogs.

BTW: Foolywang: (adj.) Something or someone who looks utterly ridiculous.

Unknown said...

Yobachi - Surprisingly, I didn't have Black Agenda Blog on the list. They are now BBR #293.

re: Hicktown Press. Is it Black owned & operated? I think that was the issue when I looked at it before. It didn't appear to be Black-owned/operated...

Unknown said...

Marleaux - I appreciate your comments. I encourage you to do the interviews. I had planned to do interviews of the folks in the Top 25. I even pulled together the questions. But, before I got going with the project I came across the 20 Questions series that Vanessa is doing and determined that she was doing it more justice than i ever would ... so I simply promote her efforts now. In your case, you're talking about interviewing blogges in your niche of fashion and shopping. As such, I encourage you to go for it!

And thanx for the foolywang tip...

Martin Lindsey said...

Villager, what are my latest standings on the list?

I hope I haven't tanked to the bottom with my infrequent posting over the last few months. Check out some of the latest when you get a minute.

Yobachi said...

Yes, Lynn of Hicktown press is Black.

KMyles said...

Brother Wayne, just want to let you know you're still showing my tech authority at 4... it's been in the 20's for a couple months now.

Unknown said...

Martin - Your blog is BBR #432. The one you abandoned (blogspot version) is dropping. It is currently BBR #602...

Kevin - Yes, you're right. I updated your ranking. You are now BBR #357. I get automatic updates on the top 200 blogs. The other 650+ blogs are updated on a much more ad hoc manner. Do other NAACP branches have blogs?

Unknown said...

Yobachi - HicktownPress is BBR #203...

Unknown said...

Hey Villager!
You are doing such an awesome job. Your tenacity to continue this truly inspires and amazes me!
I really wish I knew how to create that button/badge, but unfortunately I don't.
However I do have a question/suggestion is there a way to make the BBR list linkable so that we can click a link and visit other blogs?

Anonymous said...

I love Clutch Magazine! They really need to be in the top ten soon. And didn't they win a weblog award too?

I love all the sites listed! Thanks so much for this list.

Mz.Bria2U said...

Hi Wayne...may have stats for U Better Recognize, & i'm not sure if my other blog is on the map yet...Bria's Own Words

thanks

Unknown said...

Regina - Of course, the top 25 blogs in the BBR are linkable in each of these posts. As for the other 840+ blogs on the list ... that is one of the errors that I made when I first got started ... I didn't keep the URL of the blog as I was adding to the list. It is something that I'll need to figure out how to fix in the coming weeks...

Jada - Clutch Magazine did manage to make it into the honorable mention category for the first time this month. They did win the 2007 Black weblog award. I will add the asterisk. Thanks for lookin' out...

Bria - Your main blog is BBR #142 and your newer blog, Bria's Own Words, is now BBR #603...

iriegal said...

I have never listed my blogs here simply because only one do I really consider a Blackblog and that one is
http://donotcolorme.blogspot.com/

The other one, http://iriejamaica.blogspot.com/ I don't know since it is geared more towards Jamaican discussion, would it be considered a "black blog?"

not sure but these are two I guess I would submit. Not sure of their ranking (if any with technorati, I don't follow it like I should.)

Unknown said...

IrieGal - We track blogs that are owned and operated by people of African descent. Do you feel that description is appropriate for you? The content of your blog is immaterial for purposes of the Black Blog Rankings.

Your Fe Me Page Dis Iyah blog is BBR #394. Your other blog is BBR #494...

Invisible Woman said...

I've had serious issues with Technorati lately. I've had numerous adds, but my authority number remains frozen. At one point I had 10 adds in one week (added to new blogrolls), and my authority didn't budge.

I've written them 3 times and they haven't even bothered to respond. When I go to my new platform I don't think I'll be using them anymore.

The Urban Scientist said...

Related to IW's issue, I've wondered the same thing. I've received numberous reactions and havebeen recently added to AfroSphere, so I know the site listed on several other Blogs now, but it isn't relfected in the rating. Wasn't sure why. Still not. Is that just how the caluclation is done?

LaKeshia said...

Villager,

I appreciate this list and every since I heard about it, I have been anticipating it every month.

I am ranked #430 and last month I was in the 400s, too! I took on a challenge and vowed to raise my rankings I have been linking to other bloggers, showcasing bloggers, etc.

Question: How accurate is this list? On the list, you have my blog Technorati ranking as 14, but I check Technorati often and today it is saying 39.

Just a thought...

LaKeshia said...

Didn't mean ranking, but Technorati authority is listed on your list as 14, but it is actually reading 39.

Unknown said...

LaKeisha - Congrats on the continued growth of your Kreative Talk blog! You are now BBR #216.

I'm able to track the top 200 blogs on a regular basis. However, the full list has grown much faster than I ever imagined. As such, I only can check the other 650+ blogs on request (as you did with your comment or as I come across them in my normal blog surfing...

Unknown said...

Invisible Women - There are two reasons that I can think of for your Technorati Authority to stay the same even as 10 other blogs have added your blog as a link on their blog. First, it may not be the first time that the other blog added you. Technorati Authority represents the #blogs that linked to you over the past 180 days. If those other ten blogs linked to you already in the past 180 days ... the Authority would *not* rise.

Second, if the other blog is new ... the Authority number would rise ... but, if another blog's link is now 181 days old ... it would drop off. Therefore, the overall Authority number would stay the same.

My blog's ranking dropped over the past few days. It turns out that 180 days ago I was actively blogging on Jena Six and the upcoming rally down in that town. I had quite a few blogs linking to me at that time. I anticipate losing Authority level as those Jena Six links begin to age. In my case, I'm vulnerable through March 20 (about 180 days from the 9/20/08 march on Jena).

Hope that this explanation makes sense...

Unknown said...

Urban Scientist - I just checked and your blog is upgraded to BBR #580. Out of curiousity, have you claimed your blog on Technorati?

Lisa Johnson said...

Again, thanks for putting out this list. It's a pretty amazing resource. I just wrote a post announcing the list and linking to you. Feel free to add a link to my blog here if you wish. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

You do great work here. Keep it up.

Unknown said...

Anali - I look forward to seeing the growth of your new photo blog! In the meantime, your main blog has moved up to BBR #130...

Unknown said...

Jose - Asante sana!

Invisible Woman said...

Hi Villager--I completely undersatnd how Technorati works; these links were new, and shouldn't have been affected by the past six months.

Those 10 were just in one week; I've had other new adds from last month that have not moved my authority either.

The Urban Scientist said...

Thanks for the update Villager..You are working hard...and to answer your question, yes I've claimed it. I check by authority number and total blog responses often. Just wasn't certain why I get "points" for being listed on some blog rolls, but not for others.

Francis Holland said...

Great work here, and thanks for linking to my post on afrosphere nomenclature.

Unknown said...

Invisible Woman - Understood. I don't have any other ideas to offer. If you find another way to measure success of blogs, other than Technorati, I am open to looking into it...

Urban Scientist - I wish you luck on the continued growth of your blog...

Francis - No problem. Your post had good information in it. As an aside, have you claimed your blogs on Technorati? I cannot find your main blog whenever I go look for it...

Invisible Woman said...

Thanks Villager; I appreciate and love so much the work that you do here :-)

Anonymous said...

What a great thing to do! I'm glad I found this site. It's nice to find a place that showcases Black blogs.

concreteloop said...

Hey Guys,

Angel from Concrete Loop here. I really appreciate you showing support for my blog. If you need an updated photo of me, please check out the about me section on the site. The gold dress fiasco was so last year.

Keep up the great work.

All-Mi-T [Thought Crime] Rawdawgbuffalo said...

hey man,add me to the list

Unknown said...

Angel Laws - We are very grateful to have you as a visitor to our blog. I updated the photo as per your suggestion. Hopefully, I found the one you wanted me to find.

If I have your eyes ... can you share two things with me?

1. What advice would you give to bloggers that want to grow the hits and viewers on their blog?

2. Can you provide a blurb on your blog that directs your 80,000 per day readers to check out this post so that they can learn about other talented and creative Black bloggers?

peace, Villager

Unknown said...

All-Mi-T - You are on the Black Blog Rankings. In fact, you are one of the rising stars. Your blog, Raw Dawg Buffalo, is BBR #48...

Anonymous said...

Villager!

I love the concept... any chance I might make your list?

(Please note my change of address)

Unknown said...

Gunfighter - I have both of your blogs on the list now. In fact, your new blog is the 900th blog added to the BBR...

Anonymous said...

I have to say that I actually find it quite depressing that all but two of the blogs (Pams "excellent" House Blend and What About Our Daughters) all the blogs listed are gossip, celebrity and entertainment blogs which just about sums up what is important - no wonder we are in the clutches of mass consumerism and meaningless chit chat. It's the online version of Black Hello whatever that is in the US!

All-Mi-T [Thought Crime] Rawdawgbuffalo said...

Im with sokari, i write politics, culture and history, maybe u need to do a feature on blogs like mine, or a list for top political blogs by African Americans

Unknown said...

Sokari - I disagree with your analysis. Half of the Top Ten Black Blogs are non-entertainment based.

2. Pam's House Blend
6. Oliver Willis
8. La Shawn Barber's Corner
9. Jack and Jill Politics
10. What About Our Daughters

In fact, the new and growing Black blogs are not entertainment blogs. No question that Bossip, Concrete Loop and others are dominating the top slot ... but, most of the entertainment blogs have been around for 4-5 years. They have built up a strong foundation of viewers and they have much link-love.

Many of the non-entertainment blogs are relatively new. My blog is only 14 months old. We are still learning the blogging game so to speak.

Anyhow, I tend to look at the glass as being half-full in this case. Your blog is BBR #32 (out of 909). That is remarkable and worthy of celebration. Don't let the gossip blogs steal your joy...

Unknown said...

Torrance - (smile). I ain't volunteering to do no mo' lists! This BBR has grown much larger than I first imagined. At some point I do need to begin to categorize the blogs on my list. Let me ask you (or others) ... besides ENTERTAINMENT and POLITICS ... what are the other categories you would want to see listed to describe the genre of blogs out there in cyberspace?

CapCity said...

How do we make the list?

Unknown said...

CapCity - The easiest way is to leave share your village voice here in the comments section as you've done. Your blog, CapCity's A~Musigs is BBR #240 at the present time...

Anonymous said...

Necole Bitchie #82 Woooow, i'm on the radar :)

Unknown said...

Necole - I hope that you are sharing some link-love for my blog on yours (smile) ... especially when you learn that you continue to move up the charts. You are currently BBR #71!

Anonymous said...

Hey, why's my blog (THINK 2WICE) not on the list?

http://technorati.com/blogs/think2wice.org

Unknown said...

Dustin - We simply didn't know about your blog until today. Your blog is now ranked BBR #38 (out of 1027).

You have a long blogroll. Please consider adding the Electronic Village to your blogroll if you have inclination to do so!

Lola Gets said...

Id love to get on the list! And, if you do...Ill defenitely link you!
:)

L

Unknown said...

Lola - I'll hold you to it! Your blog is on the move. It is now BBR #309. I think it will continue to grow as folks get a chance to experience your flow. I think that your Lola-a-thon idea is great...

Celena said...

I would love to know what my ranking is:
Strictly Fabulous Style, www.strictlyfab.blogspot.com

Thanks,
Celena

Unknown said...

Celina - Stictly Fabulous Style! is BBR #191 (out of 1068). We hope you will share this information with your blog readers...

peace, Villager

Celena said...

Thanks so much! I will post the info on this coming Monday.

Unknown said...

Celina - There appears to be an entire blog-niche for fashion that our Black Blog Rankings currently overlook. There may be others, like yourself, that we're missing. If so, just let me know...