Finalists – Top 10 Social Media Blogs 2010

By Michael Stelzner
Published January 15, 2010

Wow!  We received over 150 nominations for our Top 10 Social Media Blogs for 2010 contest!

There are some real gems among these 21 finalists. Our judges Scott Monty (Ford), Ann Handley (MarketingProfs) and David Meerman Scott (author New Rules of Marketing and PR) are finishing up their reviews of these sites.


The judges

Here are the finalists:

How We’ll Pick the Winners

1.  Initial qualification:  A blog must have been nominated multiple times by multiple individuals (and be a social media blog).  If someone nominated more than one blog, only the first nomination was counted.

2.  Final winner selection:

  • Quality of posts: A qualitative analysis of the content of posts will be examined by our judges.  Educational and discussion-spurring posts are more valuable than self-promoting posts (55% of decision).
  • Frequency of posts:  Blogs that write multiple posts per week will score higher.  This is a sign of the blog’s commitment to blogging (15%).
  • Reader involvement:  Blogs that have regular comments from readers are another sign of a healthy blog.  In addition, the numbers of nominations for a specific blog play a part in this (15%).
  • Blog Ranking: The number of other blogs that link to the blog shows the value of the content (15%).  We’ll use accepted third-party blog ranking systems for this portion of the score.

Congratulations to the finalists!  We will announce the winners here soon!

What do you think about these blogs? Leave your comment below…

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About the Author, Michael Stelzner

Michael Stelzner is the executive editor of Social Media Examiner, author of the Social Media Marketing Industry Report, and author of the book, Writing White Papers. Other posts by Michael Stelzner »

 
 
  • Great list. I'm reading 4 of those on a regular basis now. I'll check the other ones as well to see if they give me different insights! I'm very curious who'll win, there's some really big players in that list!
  • I hope for @jeffbullas to win this competition but I think @mashable will #SMM
  • So I have thought about it a little bit and I think this is a great idea, especially with the nominations and judges. But a couple friendly suggestions (for next time or a different go round):
    - Use judges that are in marketing or tech but not SM bloggers to judge. All three judges should be on the list
    - Do a SM bloggers list instead of or in addition to this. To have a list with me and others and Mashble in the same breath is a pretty broad range. Individual bloggers however can be judged on their overall presentation of stories on multiple media outlets. For instance I would nominate a couple people at Mashable or RWW, but not all of them.

    Just my two cents.
  • Hey Jason,

    Interesting ideas. However these judges are all in marketing in a major way. One does social media marketing for Ford, the other is the public face for one of the largest marketing organizations and the other is the bestselling author of a major marketing book. They all new that they would be taking themselves out of the running as judges. - Mike
  • WOW, I can't believe we made it as one of the finalist. Thank you so much. This is probably the only list I'll appear on with both Chris Brogan and Mashable.
  • Bravo to all the finalists, well deserved and to me, you all are practically winners! :) It's hard to make a pick from the 10 names.. but if I must choose, Kikolani will be the one as I followed her blog for quite a long while now. She has not only been a wonderful info-giver but also a supporter, kind friend to many. A good example of how a social media blogger should be.

    Best wishes to all finalists!

    @wchingya
    Social/Blogging Tracker
  • Impressive list there, a few new blogs added to my daily newsreader!!
  • I've seen all of these blogs and they are deserving of praise. The only one I follow and visit every week is Kikolani. Her blog rocks! She's also very supportive and approachable. She's helped me a number of times and she responds quickly to questions.
  • Thanks for inclusion here. You guys rock :)
  • boblatchford
    I looked through the first 10 or so nominations and most look to be US based. Have you considered the other 192 odd countries on the planet in your search? Can't make a judgement on the quality of the blogs but will take time to look through them - Germany , France , NZ , Australia , UK , Italy , Canada all have good sites and blogs.
  • Bob - We really could care less where they are located. Heck Mashable, the biggest, is from the UK. The ones on this list were purely based on nominations not locations. - Mike
  • jeffbullas
    WOW, what an honour, especially when you see the other blogs that have been selected as finalists, a good friend of mine Pam Brossman nominated me and I would like to thank her for that.
    By the way the blog name is not spelt correctly it should be "Jeff Bullas's Blog.
    Cheers
    Jeff Bullas
  • Jeff - Thanks and fixed your name.
  • I also read gray matter minute. Her posts are clear and relevant. I enjoy them enough to be on email feed so I don;t miss any. Heading off to check out the other great blogs on the list.
  • To say "thank you" and "I'm incredibly honored" fall short of expressing how totally blown away I feel at the moment. In fact, I feel like I just walked into a White House party without an invitation. This is amazing company to be in ... at least until security figures out how I slipped in and kicks me out.
    :)
  • Thank you guys, it's an honor to be in the list with such big names!
  • Some of my favorites are on the list! I've used them all in ways that go beyond social media and blogging. Their styles and approaches have made it very easy to share with my community who loves to explore and celebrate live music. Thanks to all on the list and good luck to everyone!
  • Thanks for the love. Really shocked to be included in such a top list. The range of blogs is quite something.
  • Congrats, Jason! I was happy to nominate you based on the quality of work you do.
  • This is great list. Altitude, Shannon Paul, Jeffbula, and Convince & Convert are among the best blogs I read regularly. Others,like this one and Mashable, seem almost too well established to mention. One that I've personally watched evolve into something consistently genuine, accessible and informative is GrayMatterMinute. Full disclosure: the blog's author is a friend, but she became my friend only after I admired her work so much, I had to meet her. I rarely do that. Her drive to identify and share the best information out there is right out there with the big boys (and girls). Congratulations, Renee!
  • Totally honored that Outspoken is listed among some amazing, amazing blogs. We're very humbled. Thanks for including us! :)
  • carriekish
    Love the list! I read a lot of these blogs and look forward to checking out the rest! I'm a big fan of SocialMouths and l'm thrilled to see them here among some of the heavy hitters like Mashable. I should mention that Social Media Examiner is also one of my faves!
  • Finally got my jaw picked up off the floor. I'm humbled to receive a mention and more so with these folks and web sites. Thank you to all who nominated me.
  • SS
    Thank you for the nomination, everyone. Honored to be on the list. Exciting!
  • Pretty good SMM Blog list Mike. My Money is on Mashable, albeit, there's a few "sleepers" on this list that could unseat `em, depending on if the contestant's Champagne gift is Cristal or Moet ;-)

    Out of curiosity, I wonder how these Blogs rank on Alltop and Ted?
  • Congrats to these finalists.
    They have all contributed a lot of hard work toward helping others understand social media better.
    Scott Fox
  • Wow! What a list! Thanks Michael for yet another great resourcet! Look forward to checking out a couple of the blogs I hadn't read before. I currently read a number of these and it comes as no surprise why they're on the list! Congrats to all!
  • Wow, what a nice surprise. I'm honored to be listed here with such an impressive group. Thanks so much!
  • I think Outspoken Media and Mashable do have the best chances of winning this competition.
  • Congrats to all the folks who made it this far! And special thanks to our judges who are laboring as you read this...
  • tobybloomberg
    Honored to be among such talented people. Thanks!
  • Delighted to be in the finals. Thanks to all. Cases of booze on the way to the judges.
  • AmberNaslund
    Wow, thanks for the recognition, and for introducing me to some new blogs to check out. Honored just to be considered. Thanks a bunch!
  • I only read two of those blogs regularly, and another two rarely. The rest I never read. Then again, social media blogging is becoming as redundant as SEO blogging.
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