When the American magazine Time chose "you" as person of the year for 2006, it was a sly acknowledgment of a new era of exuberant individualism in which people offer themselves up as a kind of "brand." And what better environment could there be for such a pursuit than the blogosphere? Since blogs became the rage around the globe in 2005, the Taiwanese too have quickly become avid bloggers. In the past three years, China Times Online's Chinese-Language Blog Contest has attracted considerable attention. The 2007 contest attracted 7,681 submissions from Taiwan and such countries as Finland, Japan, and Korea, and nearly three times as many participants as in 2006. The growing blog numbers don't tell the whole story though: the types of blog submission have changed over the past few years, from the anecdotal "diary" type entries that predominated in 2005, to the civic-minded public service blogs of 2006, to the business- and skill-oriented "how-to" blogs of 2007.
Thanks to advances in technology, when it comes to recording the various drips and drops of life, most people have abandoned private, handwritten journals in favor of online blogs with text and pictures intended for the entire world to see. Against the backdrop of proliferating Taiwanese blogs, the winners of the third annual International Chinese-Language Blog Awards were announced at the end of December, 2007.
Due to the overwhelming number of participants, the competitive categories in the most recent contest were changed from the previous year. There were eight categories in all: journals, lifestyle, humorous writing, analytical/editorial, marketing, public service, community group, and educational. One winner and one to five honorable mentions were selected in each category. There were also commendations and cash prizes from NT$10,000 to NT$30,000 for the recipients of the Best Overall Blog, Best Student Blog, and Judges' Choice awards, all three of which were picked from the total entries regardless of subject matter.
When the American magazine Time chose "you" as person of the year for 2006, it was a sly acknowledgment of a new era of exuberant individualism in which people offer themselves up as a kind of "brand." And what better environment could there be for such a pursuit than the blogosphere? Since blogs became the rage around the globe in 2005, the Taiwanese too have quickly become avid bloggers. In the past three years, China Times Online's Chinese-Language Blog Contest has attracted considerable attention. The 2007 contest attracted 7,681 submissions from Taiwan and such countries as Finland, Japan, and Korea, and nearly three times as many participants as in 2006. The growing blog numbers don't tell the whole story though: the types of blog submission have changed over the past few years, from the anecdotal "diary" type entries that predominated in 2005, to the civic-minded public service blogs of 2006, to the business- and skill-oriented "how-to" blogs of 2007.
Thanks to advances in technology, when it comes to recording the various drips and drops of life, most people have abandoned private, handwritten journals in favor of online blogs with text and pictures intended for the entire world to see. Against the backdrop of proliferating Taiwanese blogs, the winners of the third annual International Chinese-Language Blog Awards were announced at the end of December, 2007.
Due to the overwhelming number of participants, the competitive categories in the most recent contest were changed from the previous year. There were eight categories in all: journals, lifestyle, humorous writing, analytical/editorial, marketing, public service, community group, and educational. One winner and one to five honorable mentions were selected in each category. There were also commendations and cash prizes from NT$10,000 to NT$30,000 for the recipients of the Best Overall Blog, Best Student Blog, and Judges' Choice awards, all three of which were picked from the total entries regardless of subject matter.
Blogging for sales"The quality of submissions improved tremendously in 2007," said China Times Online editor-in-chief Kuo Chi-chen, noting that the first year people were happy just to submit a blog without worrying about whether their work was of a sufficient quality to actually win. Most of the earliest blogs were written in a breezy, informal style about everyday life, with over 90% describing familiar topics such as food or travel.
But in the competition's second year, blogs like the winner of the educational blog category, "A-chien's Biology Notebook," which taught readers the proper way to perform a dissection, revealed increased sophistication and expertise. In the most recent competition, a major portion of the entries outlined marketing strategies and proffered entrepreneurial wisdom, like the two winners of the marketing blogs, "Delicious Milk Pineapple," which championed this regional product of Minhsiung Township in Chiayi County, and "Why Not Books," the website of an independent bookstore. Judging by the quality of the submissions in the new marketing blog category, one can guess how private businesses will continue to use to the Internet to expand both profits and customer networks.
Globalization was a distinguishing feature of the 2007 Chinese-Language Blog Awards. This time the blogs came from overseas Chinese living in such places as Finland, Japan, and Singapore, with all contributing outstanding work.
A Taiwanese woman living in Finland earned the prize for best autobiographical blog, "Life in the North," with its rich descriptions and insightful observations. The award for best lifestyle blog was awarded to a writer in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, whose blog "Food for Thought" guided readers on a tour of restaurants in Chinese neighborhoods in Malaysia. A Hong Kong English teacher studying in Britain created the blog that won award for best educational blog, called "Learning English from Letter F." These international winners attest to the attention the competition has generated around the world.
In recent times, non-profit NGOs have shown ever-greater skill in using blogs as means of disseminating information, promoting events, and providing links to related resources. "Nearly all of the competitors in the public service blog category could have justifiably taken the prize," comments judge panel chairman Chen Shun-hsiao.
For example, first-place finisher "Access for All" provides a multitude of services for the handicapped community, including an event calendar, resource database, and links to websites for handicapped people both in Taiwan and around the world. The blog also features space for readers to commend places with good handicap facilities or to call attention to places that are lacking in this respect, so that the organization can then make onsite inquiries and appeal for improvement. The organization even uses its blog to organize domestic and overseas trips for groups of handicapped people. The blog's rich content and efficient search function garnered high marks from the panel of judges.
Blogging for sales"The quality of submissions improved tremendously in 2007," said China Times Online editor-in-chief Kuo Chi-chen, noting that the first year people were happy just to submit a blog without worrying about whether their work was of a sufficient quality to actually win. Most of the earliest blogs were written in a breezy, informal style about everyday life, with over 90% describing familiar topics such as food or travel.
But in the competition's second year, blogs like the winner of the educational blog category, "A-chien's Biology Notebook," which taught readers the proper way to perform a dissection, revealed increased sophistication and expertise. In the most recent competition, a major portion of the entries outlined marketing strategies and proffered entrepreneurial wisdom, like the two winners of the marketing blogs, "Delicious Milk Pineapple," which championed this regional product of Minhsiung Township in Chiayi County, and "Why Not Books," the website of an independent bookstore. Judging by the quality of the submissions in the new marketing blog category, one can guess how private businesses will continue to use to the Internet to expand both profits and customer networks.
Globalization was a distinguishing feature of the 2007 Chinese-Language Blog Awards. This time the blogs came from overseas Chinese living in such places as Finland, Japan, and Singapore, with all contributing outstanding work.
A Taiwanese woman living in Finland earned the prize for best autobiographical blog, "Life in the North," with its rich descriptions and insightful observations. The award for best lifestyle blog was awarded to a writer in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, whose blog "Food for Thought" guided readers on a tour of restaurants in Chinese neighborhoods in Malaysia. A Hong Kong English teacher studying in Britain created the blog that won award for best educational blog, called "Learning English from Letter F." These international winners attest to the attention the competition has generated around the world.
In recent times, non-profit NGOs have shown ever-greater skill in using blogs as means of disseminating information, promoting events, and providing links to related resources. "Nearly all of the competitors in the public service blog category could have justifiably taken the prize," comments judge panel chairman Chen Shun-hsiao.
For example, first-place finisher "Access for All" provides a multitude of services for the handicapped community, including an event calendar, resource database, and links to websites for handicapped people both in Taiwan and around the world. The blog also features space for readers to commend places with good handicap facilities or to call attention to places that are lacking in this respect, so that the organization can then make onsite inquiries and appeal for improvement. The organization even uses its blog to organize domestic and overseas trips for groups of handicapped people. The blog's rich content and efficient search function garnered high marks from the panel of judges.
Express yourselfThe competition's grand prize always serves as a barometer of the evolving role of the blog in society. For instance, the grand prize winner in 2006, "Nick Link's Cancer Chronicles," written by the late Nick Lin, a former senior executive at PricewaterhouseCoopers, underscored blogging's primary function early on as a means of recording day-to-day events as a way to connect with others. The winner of the grand prize in 2006 was a 27-year-old rice farmer from Hualien named Hsieh Ming-chien. Hsieh's blog "The Adventures of Captain Rice" contained no fancy images, nor did it attempt to expound on any profound subject matter. Nonetheless, its folksy, off-the-wall humor rallied it from near elimination in the early rounds to unexpected victory.
"There just so much integrity in his approach to writing a blog-no frills, just heartfelt enthusiasm and willingness to share," one of the judges commented. Humor was the essence of Hsieh's blog, and that, along with the blog's utility in boosting rice sales, were the keys that vaulted it to the championship spot.
A graduate of a technical school, Hsieh freely admits he is no scholar. In 2006 he faced growing concerns about the lackluster sales of his family farm's annual output of 5,000 kilograms of rice, not to mention that his father had already entered his golden years. A peer suggested that a personal blog might be just the marketing tool needed to turn things around.
Express yourselfThe competition's grand prize always serves as a barometer of the evolving role of the blog in society. For instance, the grand prize winner in 2006, "Nick Link's Cancer Chronicles," written by the late Nick Lin, a former senior executive at PricewaterhouseCoopers, underscored blogging's primary function early on as a means of recording day-to-day events as a way to connect with others. The winner of the grand prize in 2006 was a 27-year-old rice farmer from Hualien named Hsieh Ming-chien. Hsieh's blog "The Adventures of Captain Rice" contained no fancy images, nor did it attempt to expound on any profound subject matter. Nonetheless, its folksy, off-the-wall humor rallied it from near elimination in the early rounds to unexpected victory.
"There just so much integrity in his approach to writing a blog-no frills, just heartfelt enthusiasm and willingness to share," one of the judges commented. Humor was the essence of Hsieh's blog, and that, along with the blog's utility in boosting rice sales, were the keys that vaulted it to the championship spot.
A graduate of a technical school, Hsieh freely admits he is no scholar. In 2006 he faced growing concerns about the lackluster sales of his family farm's annual output of 5,000 kilograms of rice, not to mention that his father had already entered his golden years. A peer suggested that a personal blog might be just the marketing tool needed to turn things around.
Hsieh's blog uses simple hand drawings, wacky videos, and an unadorned, candid writing style to narrate the vicissitudes of farm life. He hardly envisioned that his blog would achieve such startling success: it now has received more than 450,000 visits, while online orders for his brand of rice, Chien-Chien Quality Rice, now number between 100 and 200 daily. Hsieh's success does more than explode the stereotype of the blogger as the quintessential urbanite intellectual; it fully illuminates the subtext of this year's competition: how blogs can be a medium of self-expression and fulfillment for all.Hsieh's blog uses simple hand drawings, wacky videos, and an unadorned, candid writing style to narrate the vicissitudes of farm life. He hardly envisioned that his blog would achieve such startling success: it now has received more than 450,000 visits, while online orders for his brand of rice, Chien-Chien Quality Rice, now number between 100 and 200 daily. Hsieh's success does more than explode the stereotype of the blogger as the quintessential urbanite intellectual; it fully illuminates the subtext of this year's competition: how blogs can be a medium of self-expression and fulfillment for all.@List.jpg?w=522&h=410&mode=crop&format=webp&quality=80)
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