Nominations are being taken now for the 2007 Black Weblog Awards.
The Black Weblog Awards recognize achievement in weblogs for, by and about Black people.
This year, each category will have two winners. The voting public will submit websites for blogs via a nomination form from August 1-15. The top three most nominated blogs in each category will become finalists which the voting public will vote on via the finalist form. A panel of judges will select their favorites (ranked on a weighted system) from the entire pool of nominees. These will all take place from August 16-31.
The winners will be announced on September 5.
The categories for this year include:
1. Best Blog Community: This category is for a community or collection of blogs. Webrings and wikis are included, provided there is a central “home” website for them.
2. Best Blog Design: This category is for blogs that incorporate a unique and eye-catching visual web design.
3. Best Blog Post or Blog Post Series: This category is for a single post in a blog or a series of posts in a blog about a particular topic. Posts can be fiction or non-fiction, but post series must be linked by a common and identifiable theme with the ability to skip forward or backwards through the series (for judging purposes).
4. Best Business Blog: This category is for blogs that talk about the modern business world (advertising, stock market, business trends, etc.).
5. Best Celebrity Blog: This category is for blogs which are written by famous celebrities (people of considerable prominence, renown and fame). The blog must be written by the celebrity themselves (for judging purposes).
6. Best Culture Blog: This category is for blogs which talk about Black culture in a multifaceted and dynamic way.
7. Best Faith-Based Blog: This category is for blogs which feature unique religious and spiritual content.
8. Best Fictional Blog: This category is for blogs which have over 90% fictional content (as determined by post number). Mainly, these are blogs which are about fictional characters and must be stated as such somewhere on the blog. Think of it as a soap opera or a book, but in blog form.
9. Best Food Blog: This category is for blogs which focus on food, food reviews or food preparation methods. Blogs may also include restaurant reviews.
10. Best Gossip Blog: This category is for blogs that focus on satire and lampooning of pop culture and celebrities for entertainment purposes.
11. Best Group Blog: This category is for a single blog which is updated by a group of people (three or more people). This blog can be about any topic. Posts must indicate who the author is for each one; it cannot be one person masquerading as different people (for judging purposes).
12. Best Hip-Hop Blog: This category is for blogs that focus primarily on hip-hop culture, including fashion, business or current events.
13. Best Humor Blog: This category is for humor blogs or blogs which feature humorous content.
14. Best International Blog: This category is for blogs of any topic that are based in countries other than the United States. The country of origin for the blog must be clearly identified (for judging purposes).
15. Best LGBT Blog: This category is for blogs that relate to or are about the LGBT community. No pornography, please (for judging purposes).
16. Best Music Blog: This category is for blogs that focus on music; blogs can provide downloadable mp3s, and should cover more than one genre of music. The majority of the blog should be about music, not celebrity entertainment.
17. Best New Blog: This category is for blogs of any topic which have been started on or after January 1, 2007.
18. Best Niche Blog: This category is for blogs of topics not included in the present Black Weblog Awards categories. (Hey, we can’t catch ‘em all!)
19. Best Personal Blog: This category is for blogs which feature the opinions of the author. Blogs do not have to adhere to a specific theme.
20. Best Photo Blog: This category is for blogs which feature the blog author’s photographs.
21. Best Podcast: This category highlights podcasts—serialized audio files available to download—on any topic. Podcasts must be available for download (mp3 format); no strict Flash audio sites unless there’s an option for downloading the shows (for judging purposes).
22. Best Political/News Blog: This category is for blogs which are about politics or current newsworthy topics.
23. Best Science/Technology Blog: This category is for blogs which feature content about technology, the Internet, and the various realms of science.
24. Best Sports/Recreation Blog: This category is for blogs which talk all about sports and sports players.
25. Best Teen Blog: This category is for blogs of any topic where the author is anywhere from 13-19 years old. The age of the author must be easily identifiable (for judging purposes).
26. Best Video Blog: This category highlights blogs which feature original video content by the blog’s author on any topic. Blog content must be primarily video content (at least 90% of posts, for judging purposes).
27. Best Writing in a Blog: This category is for blogs which have exceptional writing. This category is judged not on a single post basis, but on the overall posts of the blog.
28. Black Blogger Achievement Award: This category is for bloggers that have been blogging visibly since January 1, 2003. This award can only be won once.
