What is a Blog Carnival?
A blog carnival is a: – well-defined – well-archived – regular – rotating – linkfest. Can you think of a shorter or better definition? What does this all mean? Linkfest: A linkfest is a blog post containing a bunch of links to posts from other blogs. A blog carnival is a series of such linkfests. Unlike in a usual linkfest, the links are not chosen by the owner of the blog, but are submitted as entries by the authors of those blog posts (or their friends). Rotating: Each edition of the carnival appears on a different blog. Regular: Editions of the carnival appear with predictable regularity. If it is slated to appear every Wednesday, it actually does always appear on every Wednesday (or every two weeks, or every three months, or whatever is the official frequency). Well-archived: The carnival has a homepage with links to all editions of the carnival. The archives are updated promptly after an issue appears. Well-defined: The homepage states the theme, topic and goal of the carnival, th
A blog carnival is a tool which is used by bloggers to promote themselves and their work. In a classic blog carnival, one site is designated as the host or organizer, and participants send in permanent links, known as permalinks, to posts which meet the theme of the carnival. The organizers collects all the links together in a single post, allowing readers a jumping-off point to reach a wide variety of blogs. Readers often enjoy blog carnivals because they provide a chance to read diverse materials by bloggers which might otherwise be hard to find, while bloggers greatly appreciate the free publicity. The Carnival of the Vanities, which started in 2002, is generally accepted as the first blog carnival. Once the concept caught on, numerous other blog carnivals started to arise, ranging from Grand Rounds, a blog carnival which focuses on medical blogging, to blog carnivals which focus on blog entries about cats, cars, knitting, and a variety of other themes. Typically, a blog carnival oc
