I am currently exploring the Wild Coast a bit while on my way to #Indaba2015 in Durban and have had very periodic internet access. On checking Twitter yesterday afternoon I saw a tweet announcing that The Firefly Photo Files has taken the runner-up spot in the Photography category of the African Blogger Awards. Say what? It took a double take and a quick check at the other tweets announcing the different winners and runners-up before it dawned on me. I actually took second place in the African Blogger Awards! It hit like a ton of bricks. Well, actually like a totally unexpected message on Twitter but you get the idea. The one thing that struck me though (except for that proverbial ton of bricks) is the fact that the category was my second choice, Photography. I actually entered the blog in the Travel category and it gave me an option to choose a second category as well. So there it is. Always keep your options open because sometimes it pays off to have a little backup in place.
I don’t normally enter blog competitions because often the winners are chosen on popularity by seeing who can get the most votes. These awards used Webfluential‘s social media tracking to measure blog traffic as well as social media engagement so I gave it a shot. Apparently a shot was all I needed.
The African Blogger Awards aims to acknowledge the top African talent in the world of Bloggers, YouTubers, Facebookers, Tweeters, and Instagrammers. These awards provide an opportunity to the most successful online influencers in Africa to be recognised for their hard work in growing and keeping their communities active and engaged. Reading this makes me really proud of the achievement and recognition that this blog has received. Now all I can hope for is similar recognition from my peers and those making use of bloggers in their campaigns or just to create content. To my regular followers, thanks you for sticking around and enjoying what I have to share. I may not be a professional photographer or writer (well, hopefully at some stage in the future I will make some money from doing it) but I do it because I have an absolute passion for travel and really enjoy sharing what I see, discover and experience with you. This one, is for you.
CONGRATULATIONS!!! You deserve this, Jonker. Hope you can build on your photography dreams from here onward. I'll be punting for you from the sidelines.
Congratulations
Congrats Jonker! You've worked hard to make your blog endorse South Africa.
WELL DESERVED Jonker!! Congratulations!!