BlogHer - BlogHer Business 2008 Updates - Comments

Corinna: Sent you confirmation email

Elisa Camahort — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:28:08 -0500

Hi Corinna:

I just forwarded you the confirmation email we got when your registered,

Elisa Camahort
BlogHer
elisa@blogher.com

Reprinting my receipt

corinnamakris — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:11:43 -0500

Hello all,

I registered the first week online registration was available and I just realized this past weekend that I have lost my receipt.

Is there a way on the website to reprint it or perhaps someone could e-mail it to me?

I am so excited about seeing everyone again I could plotz! (to quote my grandmother).

I attend many professional conferences thruoghout the year that are not related in any way to my blog and I found BlogHer to be the most useful, most fun and certainly the best organized conference that I have ever attended.

I made contacts that have helped me throughtout the year both in relation to my blog and to other, non-blog matters as well. I made friends there too and this has really never happened for me at any kind of conference.

I am really looking forward to being there!

Corinna Makris

www.ACelebrationofCuves.com

Live the Life you Love and Love the Life you Live

or do they mean something different by "nformation"

washwords — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:10:41 -0500

very interesting results.

I hear what the first two posters are asking. I guess I just wonder if part of women's contribution to the internet/blogosphere is changing some of the definitions.

I for one can find a post informative, reliable even, certainly helpful, without expecting or assuming it's authoritative or declarative.

Also some types of information don't require as high a bar to be authorititative or at least do no harm if they are taken to be more "expert" than they are. A blog about the best places for sushi in New York City is a lot different than one about how "how to conduct surgery at home: a beginner's guide for teens!" :) exaggeration but you get the idea...

really interesting survey and discussion. I'd ask (next year?) what social media tools folks are using and HOW we're reading all these things/processing all this information. I for one am loving it, but know I'm just scratching the surface and want to know more without going bonkers.

-washy (would give up just about ANYTHING to blog)

washy || http://washwords.wordpress.com || washwords.dc@gmail.com

The survey makes me sad

jennydecki — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:17:05 -0500

80% Wouldn't give up chocolate to blog? Am I in the right place?

Having a voice and being able to express that voice...that whole freedom of speech thing...matters more to me than chocolate, alcohol...really more than most anything else.

Even just having a blog and knowing when you're old and forgetful you can go back and read about your life. Remember things you never would otherwise.

Would you burn your personal journals for chocolate too? What about scrapbooks? Are journals and scrapbooks so very different from a blog?

I really REALLY don't mean to sound antagonistic, I'm just coming from a place of total and complete shock.

jennydecki - Beyond Mom Blog

I wouldn't give up alcohol

jaycee — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:00:01 -0500

Wow, some people really are addicted to blogging or perhaps I just like drinking more than most. I might consider cutting back!

Jen at Semantically driven and Safari suit

This also ...

PunditMom — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:18:24 -0500

... supports my argument that women bloggers will achieve world domination by 2012!

PunditMom, Contributing Editor, Politics & News

WINE vs. BLOG

PunditMom — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:59:06 -0500

Alcohol? Sorry, wine comes before blogging! ;)

PunditMom

Contributing Editor, Politics & News

I think it depends on the kind of blog...

Skye — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:48:04 -0500

I definitely find blogs entertaining! But they don't all exist for the same purpose. A blog of tips for low-cost travel can be a source of reliable advice and information; it may not exist to foster lively discussion the way a personal/political blog might.

If I use my critical thinking skills, which I'm assuming that women do, then I can read it for a while, compare it to what else I know about the topic, and try a few of the tips. If it holds water, I've found a good source of information and advice.

If your vision is that blogs shouldn't be burdened by accuracy or sourcing, then I can see why you wouldn't take them seriously. But many bloggers strive to be accurate and provide sources, which helps me to assess their reliability.

And for many types of blogs it isn't really the central point of their existence to be "factual." Who cares what the "evidence" is for a Mexican food recipe or tips on how to manage stress when a family member is ill? But blogs on those topics can be good sources of advice and information nonetheless.

I wouldn't trust a stranger on a blog to give me parenting advice any more or less than a stranger on the street. But I might take the information they provided, think on it, possibly try it out, and if it was helpful, come back for more.

Unless they tell me to hang the baby upside down by his ankles to stop him from crying, 'cause that's just not right. ;)

Proof: Women have a sense of humor.

Liz Rizzo — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:21:26 -0500

That's what I thought when I read this:

* Women are so passionate about blogging that large
percentages of women said they would give something up to keep the
blogs they read and/or write:

- 55% would give up alcohol

- 50% would give up their PDAs

- 42% would give up their i-Pod

- 43% would give up reading the newspaper or magazines

BUT, some things are sacred … only 20% would give up chocolate! (Page 17)

Seems to me that seeing "chocolate" on the list made quite a few women chuckle (including me!), and they answered accordingly. :D

As for "More than half of women surveyed consider blogs a reliable source of advice and information." I absolutely do. Certainly I take a blog I'm reading for the first time with a grain of salt, but there are absolutely bloggers I read regularly and have for years, and I consider an exceptional source of advice and information.

And I value a personal voice over a corporate voice.

I was actually surprised that that statistic isn't higher.

Liz Rizzo

I blog at Everyday Goddess.

But even for parenting advice, would you trust a stranger?

Vered — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:04:59 -0500

I don't know, Skye. I view blogging and reading blogs as pure entertainment. When I need advice, I call a friend. When I need facts, I watch the news. When I want to have a lively discussion with new and interesting people, I venture into the blogsphere.

Re: quitting blogging, there's research that claims blogging has peaked in 2007 and numbers are going to fall regardless of gender (I could dig up the link but this is a comment on a blog so I don't feel pressured to provide evidence).

Vered DeLeeuw
www.momgrind.com

Thanks for the survey, BlogHer!

Skye — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:44:07 -0500

Vered, I think it might depend on what type of blog you're talking about. Some blogs are very focused on facts and reporting, whereas many others are more about opinions and dialogue as you describe. And for some types of advice, like parenting, I don't necessarily need it to be fact-based - I'm more looking for stories of what worked and didn't work for other individuals. For other topics I might have different criteria.

I''ll be interested to check out the presentation. I'm glad to see that women don't seem to be quitting blogging in such large numbers. I don't know that I would label it "hype" since online harassment is a real problem, especially for women of color, but there has been a lot of attention on the topic lately and I'm glad women are hanging in there!

Survey?

cooper — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:39:57 -0500

I don't see a link to the original study anywhere.

I too am surprised that women answered that they considered blogging a reliable source of advice and information. In some ways this is troublesome. I'd like to see exactly what blogs these individuals are reading because that would make a large difference whether or not anything they read is reliable on it's own merit. Blogs are majorly opinion, unless they are just regurgitating major news from other sources. The beauty of blogs is that we get to see the opinions of others.Blogs may be helpful in making one look at things differently but as a reliable source of information?

Unless you are reading a blogger with a sure authority on a subject , authority obtained outside of blogging, what you are reading should not be assumed to be correct. I would hope women would understand this.

cooper

I can relate to most of these results

Vered — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:26:20 -0500

Except for "More than half of women surveyed consider blogs a reliable source of advice and information".

Really? Well, they shouldn't. Blogging is more about exchanging thoughts and opinions than about facts. I wouldn't want it any other way: when you feel free to say it the way you see it, when you are not saddled by the need to report facts, it makes for a lively, fun discussion.

But people need to realize that they should exercise caution when following advice given on a blog.

Vered DeLeeuw
www.momgrind.com

Yes there will be

Denise — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 07:08:07 -0500

And nope, you haven't missed them. :-)

Stay tuned!

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

BlogHer '08 San Fran buttons

YoungMommy — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:08:40 -0500

Will there be some cool buttons for San Fran, too... Did I miss them?

Christine (aka YoungMommy)