The Top Local Blogs

The Big Island blogging community has grown, it is far richer and more interesting than when I first discovered blogging a few years ago. A number of folks have dedicated a great deal of time and effort into creating something that adds another dimension to island life. Nowhere else can you really learn what is going on in our community with the immediacy and thoroughness as the local blog community, certainly not from the local traditional media.

Earlier today Laura published a list of the islands top blogs, as reported by a tracking site StatBrain. While all the suspects are there, the numbers don't seem to track what we expect. Oddly enough DarkerView was in the top ten, maybe I am, maybe not, but it was gratifying to see. I put a lot of work into this website, nice to know somebody actually reads it. Same for the other island blogs, every post, every photograph, adds to the richness of the local blog community and the island itself.

In response to the argument, and a little prodding from me, Damon has posted a list of his favorite Big Island blogs, I was honored to find I was included! I am always surprised so many folks make a regular habit of reading my ramblings and notes about my life on the island. Is my life really that interesting?

I suspect that numbers may not show the whole story, website hits and visitor statistics are subject to a great deal of subjective interpretation. This is particularly true for blogs, where much of the traffic is through the RSS feeds that do not show in website hits. I may read everything Damon posts, but his website will show zero hits from me as I read everything in Google Reader and an RSS subscription. Same for Darkerview, I get about 150 hits a day, a few less on the weekends. But I know that there are at least 25 folks who read DarkerView through Google alone, one of dozens of RSS services available. I have no idea how many people actually read my site each day and can only guess that it is somewhere well above 200.

Maybe a reader poll would be a good way to pick a reasonable list of the "Top Big Island Websites" but even that is subject to argument. Maybe it is enough to know that together we create something greater that each blog standing alone. This is where a blog aggregator like FBI blogs serves a very valuable purpose, you can see all of the participating blogs in one glance, get the whole experience.

I will post my list of favorite blogs. Of course this risks offending the other great Big Island blogs. There are quite a few very good blogs, ask me again next week and this list will probably change. I have chosen those that publish regularly, giving me something new most days. Thus my current favorites in no particular order...

A Pacific View - A fellow summit dweller, who's photographs are all too often ones where I have to say... "Rats, I wish I had taken that!

Damon Tucker - Eclectic posting on local events and island life, with a dash of the personal thrown in. Often with an irreverent eye to local goings on in county government. Damon hasn't been arrested yet, despite attempts.

Hawaii247 - A great source of local news, with a quality to match or exceed the local newspapers.

The Kona Blog - The best place to learn what is happening on the west side, with an eye to county government, road works and more. When you get banned by Hawai'i County Public Works you know you are doing something right.

The Right Blue - I have not been diving that long, a few years, there is always something more I can learn, the Right Blue is a great place to do it. Stop by for the photos if nothing else.