Ninth Annual Weblog Awards: The 2009 Bloggies

It's time for the 2009 Weblog Awards, the annual non-profit ceremony that celebrates the best in blogging. The Bloggies are the Web's longest-running blog awards, and the nominations, finalist selection, and votes are all up to you, the blog reader. So get your votes in and discover which blogs are this year's champions.

What You Need to Know

A "weblog" is defined as a page with dated entries.
The contest is open to any weblogs that existed for a period of time during the year 2008, so weblogs that were discontinued during 2008 are also eligible.
Only one nomination form and one finalist voting form may be submitted per person.
E-mail addresses are required to vote. You must use your own address and confirm the validation e-mail.
If you attempt to submit a second ballot, your first one will be replaced.
In the nomination phase:
- URLs are required.
- At least three (3) different weblogs total must be nominated.
- There is no limit to the number of categories a weblog may be nominated for.
- Nominees have to fit the category they are placed in.
Weblogs may win a category over multiple years a maximum of three times.

How It Works

Thursday, January 1 12:00 AM EST (GMT-5): Nominations open.
Monday, January 12 10:00 PM EST: Nominations close.
Wednesday, January 14: 200 randomly selected voters receive an invitation to choose the finalists from a list of the most-nominated weblogs in ten random categories.
Monday, January 19 10:00 PM EST: Finalist voting closes. The five (or six for Weblog of the Year) weblogs with the most votes become finalists. I will solve any ties for fifth place.
Thursday, January 22: Finalists are announced and voting reopens to all to choose the winners.
Monday, February 2 10:00 PM EST: Voting closes.
March: Winners are announced.

Where It Will Happen

The Weblog Awards ceremony will be held at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas, USA on Monday, March 16 at 12:30 PM EST (GMT-5) at the Trade Show Day Stage. Webloggers including previous Bloggie winners will present certificates and prizes to those present.

Those who aren't attending may join the excitement on IRC, in #Bloggies on irc.freenode.net. Winners will be announced live and a play-by-play of the ceremony will be given.

After the ceremony, the results will be posted on this page.

What the Winners Get

As is tradition with the Weblog Awards, the Weblog of the Year will receive 2,009 US cents (US$20.09).

South by Southwest Interactive offers Bloggie finalists a special discount to attend the ceremony in March.

What's Changed With the Categories

Most categories will remain as they've always been. But because of revision or removal, it's time to bid farewell to:

Best American Weblog
Best Art or Craft Weblog
Best GLBT Weblog

In exchange, these spiffy new categories take their place:

Best Art, Craft, or Design Weblog
Best Travel Weblog
Best Microblog

Any questions not covered here? Send an e-mail to me at nikolai@nolan.net and I'll get them answered.

Now go for it; nominate the weblogs you find most deserving of a Bloggie.

Best Web Application for Weblogs

Hall of Fame: Movable Type and Blogger have won this category three or more times and are not eligible to be nominated again.

Nominee

URL

Best Australian or New Zealand Weblog

Hall of Fame: Loobylu has won this category three or more times and is not eligible to be nominated again.

Nominee

URL

Best Asian Weblog

Weblogs from Asia, including the Middle East.

Hall of Fame: Weblog Wannabe has won this category three or more times and is not eligible to be nominated again.

Nominee

URL

Best African Weblog

Nominee

URL

Best European Weblog

Hall of Fame: PlasticBag.org and My Boyfriend Is a Twat have won this category three or more times and are not eligible to be nominated again.

Nominee

URL

Best Latin American Weblog

Nominee

URL

Best Canadian Weblog

Hall of Fame: Photojunkie has won this category three or more times and is not eligible to be nominated again.

Nominee

URL

Best Photography of a Weblog

Photoblogs and other weblogs with a focus on presenting photography.

Nominee

URL

Best Art, Craft, or Design Weblog

Nominee

URL

Best Food Weblog

Nominee

URL

Best Fashion Weblog

Nominee

URL

Best Travel Weblog

Nominee

URL

Best Weblog About Music

Nominee

URL

Best Gossip Blog

Nominee

URL

Best Entertainment Weblog

Weblogs about movies, television, and/or theater.

Nominee

URL

Best Sports Weblog

Nominee

URL

Best Weblog About Politics

Nominee

URL

Best Computer or Technology Weblog

Hall of Fame: Slashdot has won this category three or more times and is not eligible to be nominated again.

Nominee

URL

Best Topical Weblog

Weblogs with a distinct topic other than the ones in the categories above.

Hall of Fame: Bookslut has won this category three or more times and is not eligible to be nominated again.

Nominee

URL

Best Teen Weblog

Weblogs written by those 19 and under.

Nominee

URL

Most Humorous Weblog

Nominee

URL

Best Writing of a Weblog

Nominee

URL

Best Microblog

Weblogs consisting entirely of succinct posts.

Nominee

URL

Best Group Weblog

Weblogs written by an exclusive group.

Hall of Fame: Boing Boing has won this category three or more times and is not eligible to be nominated again.

Nominee

URL

Best Community Weblog

Weblogs where everyone is invited to post.

Hall of Fame: MetaFilter and PostSecret have won this category three or more times and are not eligible to be nominated again.

Nominee

URL

Best-Designed Weblog

Hall of Fame: Loobylu has won this category three or more times and is not eligible to be nominated again.

Nominee

URL

Best-Kept Secret Weblog

The best underrepresented weblogs.

Nominee

URL

Best New Weblog

Weblogs that began during the year 2008.

Nominee

URL

Lifetime Achievement

Webloggers who have been blogging since at least January 1, 2004.

This award may only be won once, so Jeffrey Zeldman, Evan Williams, Jason Kottke, Heather Powazek Champ, Tom Coates, Boing Boing, Slashdot, and Heather B. Armstrong are not eligible.

Nominee

URL

Weblog of the Year

The category for the best weblog overall.

Nominee

URL

Check if you would like a chance to be on the panel of voters who choose the finalists:

Your E-mail Address (you'll need to verify your ballot with it, but it won't be shared or used for anything besides verification and necessary notifications):