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Top 10 Best Black Blogs On The Web
Posted by Brian
The number of blogs in the black blogosphere has exploded and the number is only increasing, but who are the big dogs? Who really has a significant amount of traffic and a lot of visitors to their site on a regular basis? Rather than some crappy poll where people vote and sites that you have never heard of win awards, let’s look at the numbers. I used Compete.com to take a look at the traffic stats and come up with a Top Ten. These numbers were less than my Google Analytics reports, but if everyone is measured by the same standard then the results are within reason. Here We Go!
#1 MediaTakeOut.com MediaTakeOut was a bit of surprise to me, but none the less they are getting a lot of traffic. They ranked were pretty far out in the lead and have had a steady traffic increase over the past few months. The reason that this was a surprise to me is that it is sometimes said they exaggerate a bit on their posts, but since I don’t read them daily myself, not sure if that is true or not.
#2 Sohh.com SOHH has grown to be more of a media network than a blog, but are still considered a blog so they make the list. Definitely coverage of Atlanta more heavily favored than other news, but that is where they are located. Always good stories on the site, but sometimes the videos they shoot are kind of low quality, but I don’t knock it cause you have to start somewhere.
#3 Bossip.com I hear a lot of buzz about Bossip, so not surprised they are in the #3 spot. Really thought they would have been higher. Bossip has adopted the Perez Hilton style of blogging by adding about 20 posts a day. I know how hard that is, so I salute them for that. I could see them passing up SOHH.com as their traffic has continued to grow. The post of Maya Angelou titled “Ho Sit Down” made me fall out my chair and since I regularly read this site, wasn’t as offensive as the comments on the post made it seem.
#4 Concreteloop.com Concreteloop was the blog that really got the Black Blogosphere going a few years ago and is still strong today, although has lost a little of it’s umph over the last several months. Their writing style is much less controversial, more informational, than most other blogs so I think the lack of edge has let Bossip pass them up. The new site design late last year, definitely made the site easier to view. Now, all I need is Angel to respond to my e-mails and add me to the blogroll.
#5 Young Black & Fabulous YBF is probably the highest ranked blog that Natasha does all of the posts herself. All of the blogs above her are three people at least doing the posting. YBF sits comfortably in the middle of the Top Ten and made the smart move a few months ago of ditching the blogspot domain name and purchasing her own. The downside is YBF is kind of hard on Golden Brooks at times and it holds that #5 spot that I am coming to get.
#6 Nah Right Nah Right is primarily a video blog, but I like it cause it finds all of the good videos from YouTube, so I don’t have to spend thirty minutes watching babies dancing to see good clips. The best part is that the videos are typically interesting and not just him posting to be posting. Nah Right has seen a decent spike in traffic in the past few months.
#7 Sandra Rose Sandra Rose seems to have all of the “insider” tips and even if she doesn’t she writes in a way to make you think she does and at the end of the day that is all that really matters. Another blog with a very heavy Atlanta flavor, Sandra got into a Blogger Beef with Gyant of SOHH a couple of weeks ago that aired some dirty laundry that I think was probably exaggerated on both sides. Crazy to think people are “Bangin on Wordpress.”
#8 Crunktastical Crunk & Disorderly should probably be higher on the list and since she just switched to her own domain, will probably be moving up. Fresh writes by far the funniest blog on the net. SInce everyone is using the same pics and same stories anyway, she has the unique ability to use those same pics, but with an angle that makes the pics even more ridiculous. If it is not already, this should be a daily read.
#9 Mrs. Grapevine Really don’t know much about this site, but it looks like Mrs. Grapevine has eased on up posting a bit lately to deal with family stuff. Blogging can be very time consuming, so I fully understand when someone has to take a break. She better get back to posting cause I have a real strong feeling the blog in the #10 spot is going to pass her. Just my hunch.
#10 Open Entrance I could go on and on about how amazing OpenEntrance.com is. From the design, the thought provoking posts, intellectual commentary, the list goes on and on. More importantly OpenEntrance rounds out the Top 10 blogs in the black blogosphere and is making his move up the charts. I see that #8 spot in the next update. Crunk and Mrs. Grapevine better watch their back!
Anyone using Blogger or Wordpress is not included in this Top Ten as most of the sites that gather statistical information can not give an accurate account because you do not own your domain. Follow the example of Crunktastical, YBF, and Rhymes With Snitch who all switched from blogspot to their own domain in the last few months.
On The Rise - I hear a lot of chatter about Necole Bitchie, Pop Culture Junkie, Urban Hoopla, and A Belle in Brooklyn. Their blogs seem to be making waves, but besides Necole Bitchie, the other three use blogger so until they get their own domain name, their are no stats available for them. It’s time to just spend the $8 at GoDaddy and buy your own domain.
Who Did I Miss? I am sure I missed some great blogs that should be included in this list. If you know of one, just drop it in the comments and I will check it out and make sure it is included in the list if it has enough traffic next month when I update the list.
Challenge: OpenEntrance will climb this list and by September will be in the #5 spot and climbing. If anybody is up for a challenge of beating me to that spot, let me know and I’m in. I’m on the move!!!
If you like it, give me a digg
Thanks but I didnt see my blog, was wondering why i got the email - lol
[…] unknown wrote an interesting post today on Top 10 Best Black Blogs On The WebHere’s a quick excerpt The number of blogs in the black blogosphere has exploded and the number is only increasing, but who are the big dogs? Who really has a significant amount of traffic and a lot of visitors to their site on a regular basis? Rather than some crappy poll where people vote and sites that you have never heard of win awards, let’s look at the numbers. I used Compete.com to take a look at the traffic stats and come up with a Top Ten. These numbers were less than my Google Analytics reports, but if ev […]
Yeah, was wondering why I got the email also! Great way to pull in traffic though. Gotta remember that.
Sad to see that there are no blogs of real substance here. No News, no politics, no racial coverage, nothing topical, family oriented.
Not hating, just saying!
Bygbaby
Where the hell is That Grape Juice at????
Nice read and good info. Look forward to seeing OpenEntrance in the top 5 soon. New layout looks great…keep up the good work!
KPope
I agree about Fresh. I love her humor. I get my laughs daily from Crunk & Disorderly and I love how she has her own lingo that we’ve all adapted.
Very Entertaining as always….
Necole has been telling me about my domain..I think it’s REALLY time to set it up now
Great post!
How does traffic relate to one having the best blog? Is it possible to have a “best” blog and not get 100,000 hits a day? I’m just curious. Just because somebody wins an election doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re the “best” candidate. And just because somebody has 1,000 friends on myspace doesn’t necessarily mean they have the “best” profile.
I also agree with bygbaby’s comment. Much love though. Gotta respect the list.
Again, I’m not hating.
I love this list…thanks for shouting out black blogs…we work hard for the money
Check out The-B-Life - http://www.the-b-life.blogspot.com for hot fashion, nightlife, restaurant, entertainment reviews, and everything in-B-tween.
Thanks for sending the list my way. Interesting, to dovetail on bygbaby, that entertainment blogs predominate. Guess that’s what we do.
I received the email also and came out of curiosity. If you want another top 10 list of black blogs, check out this post. It’s a great site also.
http://electronicvillage.blogspot.com/2008/04/top-ten-black-blogs-apr-2008.html
ditto to the comments above. what’s popular isn’t always what’s good. and gossip sits are always popular. does everyone eat at mcdonald’s? i don’t.
a more interesting twist to explore (and the reason why certain media outlets are payinng attention, actually) is the fact that these black gossip sites are more popular than their white equilivants. how about an article about that? or is that something that one of us less-popular-than-you black bloggers should write?
feedback to me.
Great article… Your new site design really loooks good…
It might be me but i get sick of people that often times become too cool for the room. Life is hard and heavy enough so to read a blog site to show the dumb stuff that is happening in the world is all good. If i want news I can go to CNN but they wont tell me how stupid we all look doing that superman dance once we all found out what the true meaning was to the song.
Life can’t be all race relations and politcs lets all take a second out of our day to laugh at whitneys knees from time to time…
B_N-Charge, I think you missed the point. Previous comments concerning entertainment blogs are probably only suggesting that the Best Black Blogs list needs more variety. While life can’t be all about race relations, oppression, politics, and struggle, it can’t be all jokes and laughter either.
I think all the sites offer some value; it’s hard to be everything to everyone; that’s why I think OpenEntrance.com is doing so well; you get the recklessness and the political insight. I think we all strive to be well rounded people. I like to enjoy McDonalds and sushi at other times. I go to poetry slams for the spoken word as well as the jokes that come from Lyfe Jennings wannabe’s, so a blance is what we all should strive for.
Peace
Thanks for sending the list my way, even more impressive, visitng the sites of all who left comments
I’m proud to be in the company of such awesome bloggers
I agree with everyone else… You seem to have only listed Gossip blogs, when blacks are more then that… It’s not about how much traffic one gets…
RawDawg…you prolly #11…and I’m #12…LMAO!
Thanks for the e-mail about this list. I’m honored Urban-Hoopla is in the same league with the aforementioned urban blogs. I definitely need to make the move from blogger to my own domain.
I ain’t tripping, if the list is based on numbers it’s based on numbers and entertainment blogs have the best numbers. dont get mad at the poster get mad at the people reading them and why they’re not reading the more serious blogs. He has to base the list on something right? If he just uses his opinion that’s not based on anything.I would be interested to see a top 10 of non gossip blogs so OE I ask that next time you rate both. A gossip and a non-gossip list it would be interesting. Good work none the less. Way to rope us in with the emails too
[…] OpenEntrance - Check out this list of the top Black blogs. […]
[…] Top 10 Best Black Blogs On The Web | http://www.OpenEntrance.com […]
WHAT ABOUT BLACKVOICES.COM?
The Top 10 as far as numbers are usually entertainment blogs, so this doesn’t really suprise me. Still, I love seeing lists like these, especially since different sites use different tools to measure the numbers. I generally look at the Electronic Village one, which goes off of Technorati ranking.
This is a good-looking site, and I like what I’ve seen so far, since checking the e-mail you sent. Let me know if you’d like to do a link exchange or something of that nature. I’m redesigning my own little slice of the internet today
Leon
What is this, The Minstrel Show list. You’d think we’d be tired of the Steppin’ Fetchit routine by now.
[…] […]
[…] Top 10 Best Black Blogs On The WebSandra Rose seems to have all of the “insider” tips and even if she doesn’t she writes in a way to make you think she does and at the end of the day that is all that really matters. Another blog with a very heavy Atlanta flavor, …Untitled - http://www.openentrance.com […]
Interesting list. Bossip is hilarious. Surprised it didn’t take the number 1 slot. Would like to see more of a mix though.
This is my first time visiting your blog.
Your methodology is unusual in that you ignore a large number of blogs that are using blogger or wordpress. However, it is all good. I invite you to visit my blog on the 1st of each month. I publish the Top Ten Black Blogs … inclusive of those on blogspot.com and wordpress platforms.
peace, Villager
Nice to see so many people that I know checking in here. As far as I’ve been able to tell, the only purpose any subjectively ranked list ever serves is to drive controversy and debate.
Well done.
MINDWARZ Knowledge Portal at mindwarz.com is the best
[…] a follow up to my previous post, Top 10 Best Blogs On The Web, there was some very good discussion among the people who commented that all of the blogs on the […]
Wow…funny. Of the bunch only new of Open Entrance.
Yeah, I got an email too which means someone got a list of black bloggers and sent this out. I knew it was to pull traffic because the post wasn’t even up (or had been taken down at the time). However, it’s Saturday morning here in Seoul and I’d rather surf around the net than hike up the hill this morning. Therefore, I could double back. I’ve missed out on a good discussion!
The sorts of blogs listed aren’t the kind I even read. I just don’t care about so-and-so celebrity and who or what they’re doing. No hate to anyone who does care about the gossip.
I know that when I did hit in Electronic Villages top list of blogs it was because I’d recently gotten tons of links from a women’s network of bloggers. Basically, it was a fluke. It was great to be listed even for a couple of cycles.
I think, however, that traffic isn’t the only indicator of a top blog. What gets me is one of the posts on my blog getting the most traffic is such a non-issue to me. I thought it was quirky but not THAT different. It actually bothers me that it draws as many clicks as it does. It says much more about the limited lens that a lot of blacks still view the world with than we want to admit.
I have to say Rich in the STL’s comment got me laughing though. “The Minstrel Show” - too funny.
Ok I see im not the only one who went for the pump fake
[…] Entrance recently did a Top Black Bloggers List, based solely on […]