Every once in a while a reader e-mails me and asks what my favorite blogs are.  Other times readers have asked me how I found some of the blogs that I have mentioned on this site.

So I’d like to take a minute and stop complaining to provide you with some helpful information…

Do you realize how many blogs exist?  According to Wikopedia, there are about 112 million.  That’s more than I can ever comprehend?  So the question becomes – how do you find the ones that might interest you?

I’m sure every blogger has an opinion on this, but to answer the e-mail questions, I will tell you the sources I use.

First, try Blog Catalog.  It is referred to as “the blogger social network.”  It is a very user friendly site which allows bloggers to register their blogs and then visitors can search blogs based on key words or phrases.  Many of the blogs I follow, I have found through Blog Catalog.

Second, try Digg.  They’ve made a name for themselves helping users locate “the biggest online destinations to the most obscure blog.”  I submit all of my posts to Digg and also regularly monitor the headlines in their eight different categories.

Third, here’s a suggestion.  Once you come across a blog you like, spend some time reading the old posts.  There are many blogs I come across where I like the current post I’m reading, but the old posts don’t appeal to me.  The blogs I have mentioned on this site, that I read every single day, are the ones that I really enjoy.  Point being – there is only so much time in a day – I’d love to read more of the blog out there, but none of us can do that.

Fourth, get involved.  In my eyes, the sign of a good blog is reader comments.  There is a difference between writing an article and writing a blog entry.  A good blog entry shares the author’s opinion and as a reader, you feel compelled to want to respond and share your opinion.  There are always a lot of comments on The Constant Complainer and I use that same philosophy to measure other blogs I visit.

Fifth, if you run a blog, consider sharing links.  It helps both of you.  I don’t have a long blogroll on this site, but I’m looking to expand that.  The links I do have most certainly have helped direct traffic here and vice versa.  However, what I have found is that I tend to get more visitors here as a result of comments I have made on other blogs (where I provided my link in the comment).

Sixth is to promote your own blog.  Try Famous Blogs, for example.  They have a “Blog of the Day Award” and I always go and check out the daily winner.  The Constant Complainer won this award on November, 17, 2008.

Now to get to the last question – what am I currently reading?  It’s hard to mention every single blog I like or follow.  But below are a few that I have been following regularly most recently.

• 1. The Star Celeb – Hollywood based celebrity web blog. I love celebrity gossip and the sarcasm of the site’s owner. I’m not above bashing some of Hollywood’s A-Listers.
• 2. My Single Mom Life – Florida based story of a mother raising two sons. I came across this blog and found it very down to earth, informative and interesting.
• 3. Let’s Bitch – I wish they would update it more often, but it’s a riot when they do have new content.
• 4. Signal to Noise – I don’t always understand what he is talking about, but I still like to hear what’s going on.
• 5. Savage Dawgs – I am originally from Pittsburgh and am a Steelers fan. Even though I probably shouldn’t, because I live in Cleveland, I hope the Browns do OK. So mostly I complain about the team’s stupid decisions and other NFL issues on this site.
• 6. Cleveland Politics – I have seen some writing samples on this almost-fully-operational site. I am not a huge political blogger, but for those of you that are – you’ll love it.

Please feel free to comment below with some of your favorite blogs, if you’d like to share them with our readers.  Thanks…

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