In the last couple of years, the role and popularity of blogs has significantly increased. Blogs have a strong effect on where and how we deliver information to our audience  and have became even a profession form some people. According to Technorati, the number of blogs doubles every 5 .5 months. Today we see blogs on almost every topic in every field-in politics, economics, music, art or just personal blogs about his or her life. Blogs are posted by the professionals or just ordinary people sharing their thoughts about what is going on around them. The accuracy of the information distributed is extremely important in publishing in traditional media like newspapers where a writer wants to be accurate and avoid potential lawsuits and black spot on the reputation of the newspaper. Blogs don’t have editors. For many people, this is one of the best things about blogs. How credible these blogs are or become depends on the journalistic standards of the bloggers. Usually bloggers seek to write the truth, otherwise nobody will read them; and if they make a mistake, they are able to correct it immediately. This is an advantage that bloggers have over more traditional mainstream media outlets.

Celebrity blogs are very interesting in terms of how they affect today’s media. Celebrity blogs are usually about celebrity news, celebrity photographs, and other topics in entertainment that might catch attention of the specific audience. For blogs it was very easy to become successful in this particular field as this extreme interest of people in life celebrities and entertainment has already been created by celebrity and entertainment magazines, such as People Magazine, Star Magazine as well as by many entertainment TV shows like Access Hollywood and E! Channel. Some of the most popular celebrity blogs like the one by Perez Hilton, are innovative and revolutionary in their approach and show the impact new media is having on more traditional media markets.  The entertainment TV shows are noticing that their audience is now turning to those celebrity blogs to read fresh celebrity gossip and to see the latest photos of their favorite stars. Just a couple of years those entertainment shows were very fast in delivering the latest gossip about celebrities, even before the celebrity magazines lie People and Star could get the same. There’s been a change in the marketplace and some older media outlets see the shift as opportunities as blogs are spreading the gossips even faster than those shows.

Paris Hilton with Perez Hilton on red carpet

On his site www.perezhilton.com, Hilton writes critiques about celebrities’ lifestyles. Unlike celebrity magazines, Hilton is able to post the most recent celebrity photos, usually taken from websites that link to paparazzi photos, within hours after they were shot. Hilton also has complete freedom in what he says about the photographs. He obtained such a power with his blog that he is available to even destroy celebs’ lives.Some celebrities like Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson really had to worry as his influence on the fans was overwhelming theirs and the fans finally started hating their once favorite stars.Peter Hirshberg from Technorati said that”this kind of blogging is extremely hot at this moment and the public’s affinity for celebrity gossip is driving the blogosphere”. When something newsworthy happens, such as a celebrity wedding or breakup, blog entries increase as well as traffic to these sites. Bloggers live for these events. It will be interesting to see if circulation numbers for these magazines decrease as these blogs become more popular. These entertainment television shows and magazines may have to make some adjustments if they want to keep their audiences. People may choose to read these blogs for free rather than a magazine at the supermarket.

It is obvious that celebrity blogs have found a large and loyal audience on the Internet. I think these blogs are the most popular today than any other type of blogs. It is amazing how quickly these blogs have become popular and are influencing older, traditional media outlets and markets. This is very important because it allows the opportunity for the new voices to be heard and challenges the established media outlets to compete and raise their levels of coverage. The best blogs will continue to thrive as they gain a larger audience. It will be interesting to see how Perez Hilton and other celebrity bloggers grow in their roles as celebrity bloggers and finely become celebrities themselves. What will happen to them if they get a very promising offer from an Access or a People magazine? Would they abandon their blogs? Their followers may think they are selling out. If they do leave, they become a part of mainstream media, something that they have challenged and apparently won over. Whatever happens, as long there are so many celebrities and people who want to read about them, celebrity blogs will definitely exist.