Manchester's annual blog awards has seen the city buck the blogosphere stereotype by honouring a winner's list dominated by women.
Now inits fourth year, the awards ceremony is a well-established fixture in the city's digital calendar and at a ceremony last night rewarded blogs across six categories.
But as organiser Kate Feld (author of the influential Manchizzle blog) notes, this year's entries saw women picking up the top prize in just about every category.
"My sense is that women were not participating this actively a few years ago when it was dominated by men but now, particularly if you look at the personal blogs, there's women writing about their own lives, their babies, culture and music – it's not just the stereotype of the geeky guy sitting behind his computer writing about RSS."
And Kate is ambitious for the future of awards going into next year and looking to harness social media to ensure its success.
"In matters digital, Manchester is really ahead of the curve compared to other cities in the UK. There's a tremendous energy and willingness to try new things which has helped in terms of blogging.
"Now that Twitter has allowed us to interact more, we can throw it open and discuss it, also I hope that the Manchester Blog Awards blog will become the hub for that."
The winners at the 2009 Manchester Blog Awards were:
Best City and Neighbourhood Blog: Lost in Manchester
One of the judges said: "Sometimes it's easy to forget to look at what's right under your nose. I love its unashamed raw passion for Manchester." Runner-up was The Manchester Zedders.
Best Personal Blog: My Shitty Twenties
One of the judges said: "Moving, thoughtful, funny and wise. Sometimes heartbreaking, always uplifting." Runner-up was Cynical Ben.
Best New Blog: Words and Fixtures
One of the judges said: "It was the only blog out of the twenty-four shortlisted that made me laugh out loud." Runner-up was Songs From Under the Floorboards.
Best Writing on a Blog: My Shitty Twenties
One of the judges said: "It's almost impossible not to get drawn into the story that this blog tells." Dual runners-up were I Thought I Told You To Wait in the Car and Dave Hartley's Weblog.
Best Arts and Culture Blog: Run Paint Run Run
One of the judges said: "Opinionated, heartfelt and pleasantly rough-around-the-edges, a blog with an infectious enthusiasm for art." Runner-up was The Manchester Hermit
Blog of the Year: Lost in Manchester. (This was awarded to the blog with the highest aggregate score in the competition)
One of the judges said: "Quirky, original and focused, with an eye for detail. Putting the extra into extraordinary."
