We were truly flattered to receive a nomination for the Shine On “award” from Every Day Adventure in Asia, a wonderful blog. The nomination tells us that someone (other than our parents) is reading this blog and getting something out of it.
After searching for the origin of the Shine On Award, however, I realized it is better described as a chain letter. There are no judges, no final decision on a winner; there is no institution at all. Instead bloggers simply use a post to nominate other blogs. Each time a blog is ‘nominated’ they are instructed to nominate 15 other blogs. That way the “award” gets passed around. I don’t know who invented the idea, but like any chain letter it has spread like wildfire.
The blogosphere is a strange place, a mixture of real news sources, opinion, personal lives, and much more. There are legitimate awards with a variety of criterion, and with judges or voting system such as the Best of Blogs, or WebBlogs (just to name a few). The cynic in me therefore feels that people who put the shine on image on their blog are falling for a trick.
For many, though, the aim of blogging is just to share experience, and enrich the lives of others. Blogging has become a new form of community based on shared interests. For us it is an opportunity to reflect on our experiences abroad and share them. In this sense then, an “award” like Shine On is a way for some bloggers to acknowledge those they appreciate. And it’s a way for blog readers to expand their horizons by seeing other blogs of interest. So, thank you Every Day Adventure In Asia. We will share the love by mentioning a few blogs of interest to us here below.
The image that has become a fixture of this populist “award”, though I do not know where it comes from.
The Unspun Blog: A local who likes to analyze the strange Indonesian media in English
Stumble Abroad: A family surviving Jakarta.
Letters on the wind: A young guy’s personal experience in Java.
Escape Artists: They have since left Indonesia, but her blog had some interesting anecdotes about this country.
CIFOR blog: Of course, I have to mention this fantastic blog, though it’s true that it’s part of Bruno’s work, it includes many contributors who deserve congratulations on the best forestry blog around.
Katherine and Bruno's Adventures 
Yeah it is a bit of misnomer to call it an ‘award’ however, like you have, I find it is a nice opportunity to say “I actually DO read and enjoy your blog!” and help others discover a few new ones too! So thank you for passing on the virtual ‘warm fuzzies’ / ‘love’. :-)