The Blogging Influence

I think one interesting idea that briefly appeared in the Wiki article on J-blogosphere, but then disappeared, is to track the way pop culture blogs such as Jewlicious, Jewschool, and JDaters Anonymous interact among themselves, but also influence the "real" lives of their audiences. It was mentioned for example, that Jewlicious and Jewschool are rival sites. Then there was the T-shirt controversy on Jewlicious that raised the blog issue of what type of self-expression is appropriate for Jewish blogs. No less important are the events Jewlicious organizes outside the blogosphere, such as Jewlicious @ The Beach. There are also various singles events, and the controversy of whether pop cultural blogs raise the youth's awareness and understanding of Jewish culture and values, or dilute it. (Several blogs dealt with those issues, and I'll find the links if other contributors think it's a good idea). The idea behind tracking this type of influence is to show how the blogosphere connects people not just for the purposes of communicating on the Internet, but in real life as well. It's quite possible that other types of Jewish blogs/bloggers organize events dealing with issues of awareness and Judaism, and reach out to audiences through their blogs. I know Robert Avrech of "Seraphic Secret" organizes an annual memorial lecture in honor of his son, and has reached out to many bloggers living in his area. And of course the all-important issue of Jewish Geography, and Jewish bloggers meeting in real life after getting acquainted through their blogs is worth noting! Jameel should tell us more about that! ; ) Another issue worth research is that of Jewish photoblogs and artistic blogs. So far, I know only of Sarah's Views, Jewish Nation, and Not Quite Perfect, the official artist of Haveil Havalim, but it would be interesting to find and bring in more people. OK, I guess that's about it for now. Let me know what you guys think!