Some of the most frequently asked questions we encounter about blogs and blogging are: a) how to identify who the most influential bloggers are and b) how to identify which blogs are most relevant to a company's business. In that light, and given the theme of this issue, we thought it might be valuable to take a look at some of our favorite blogs about peer media and blogging. This marks the first of several columns reviewing blogs across a variety of categories, including blogs about blogging (this week), technology blogs, technology journalists' blogs and CEO and corporate blogs, to name a few.

Without further ado, these are some we like, in no particular order:

Clay Shirky: Clay Shirky's Writings About the Internet, Economics & Culture, Media & Community, www.shirky.com

If you're looking for sophisticated, academic thinking on peer media and its impact on society and business, then Clay Shirky's blog is for you. Shirky, a highly regarded consultant and educator, has been writing about the impact of the Internet and Internet technologies since 1993 for publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review and Wired, as well as penning regular columns for Business 2.0 and FEED magazine, among others. A true blogger's blogger, Shirky is also an adjunct professor at NYU's graduate Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) and can frequently be found on the speaking rosters of prominent forums and trade shows.

Shirky.com serves as a consolidation point for Shirky's numerous (and that's an understatement) articles about the Internet dating back as far as 1997. This blog is one of the most comprehensive sources of critical and analytical thinking about the Internet and new media, and is a must-read. To get a taste of what Shirky is about, take a look at:

• Power Laws, Weblogs and Inequality   http://shirky.com/writings/powerlaw_weblog.html
• The Music Business and the Big Flip http://shirky.com/writings/music_flip.html
• A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy http://shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html

Debbie Weil: BlogWrite for CEOs, Debbie Weil on CEO blogs, writing a thought leadership blog and the corporate blogging phenomenon, http://blogwrite.blogs.com

Debbie Weil is an executive consultant and author who advises corporations and CEOs on how to get into the blogging game. Debbie also authors two other blogs: http://www.debbieweil.com, which is currently on hiatus while she writes a book on corporate blogging for Penguin Books (The Corporate Blogging Book, scheduled for release in 2006) and http://blogwrite.blogs.com/book, a blog in support of her authoring odyssey. While Shirky asks "what," Weil explains "how" in the most practical, down-to-earth terms.

Weil has participated in numerous panels and seminars on blogging, and asks (what we feel are) the important questions about peer media, such as whether blogs are a viable tool for corporate communications given the fact that blogging, by definition (open and transparent), is the opposite of what defines most corporate culture.

Regardless of whether your company is just beginning to consider blogging or are old pros, you'll be enlightened by the numerous references to corporate blogging case studies, reviews of books and events and blogging 101 information such as blog etiquette, writing tips, branding using blogs and a debate over the merits of the use of blogs vs. html corporate newsletters.

Ed Batista: Ed Batista's thoughts on design, technology, advocacy and marketing, http://edbatista.com

Ed Batista is a consultant with a long history in nonprofit management, through which he primarily helps nonprofits use technology to be more effective. In recent years, this has included a focus on using low-cost, widely accessible tools such as blogging to achieve sustainability. Ed shares these experiences through his blog, which contains an eclectic amalgamation of content ranging from book reviews (Freakonomics Is A Rip-Off, http://www.edbatista.com/books/index.html) to an examination of the shifting paradigm of do-it-yourself culture (http://www.edbatista.com/2005/06/do_it_yourself.html#more).

Most recently, Batista was appointed as executive director of AttentionTrust, a new nonprofit whose mission is to encourage the public to take broader ownership of their online purchase histories and other "attention data."

Some recent worthwhile posts are:

• It's the Culture, Stupid http://www.edbatista.com/2005/08/its_the_culture.html, an examination of R. Todd Stephens recent post on implementations of collaborative culture mediums such as blogs
• AttentionTrust http://www.edbatista.com/2005/08/attentiontrust.html, an overview of the mission of AttentionTrust

Other blogging must-reads:

Fredrik Wackå: http://www.corporateblogging.info, Swedish consultant Fredrik Wackå's comprehensive blog about corporate blogging

Steve Rubel: http://www.micropersuasion.com, Steve Rubel of Cooper-Katz on how weblogs and citizen journalism are impacting public relations