Boriswatch spawns imitators
admin | May 9, 2008
Boriswatch first settled itself down on a cold winter’s day in December 2003. It’s been riding a crest of Boris-based fervour ever since, and I’ve been very proud of its achievements, many of which I’ve detailed before. In the last 7 days, Boriswatch has had 70,000 hits, and that’s something of a record.
But, suddenly, there are new kids on the block. As soon as Boris won the mayorship, all sorts of sites have popped up purporting to be Watching Boris. In an effort to spread the love, here are a few that I’ve found. Of course, I need hardly point out that Boriswatch is the original… and dare I say the best?!
1. Evening Standard: Mayor. Now being linked to internally on their site as BorisWatch, this is as comprehensive as you will get on Mayor Boris’s rise. Although there’s so much stuff to look at it’s hard to pick out the truly newsworthy from the merely perfunctory…
2. Boriswatch.co.uk. Yes, I’m kicking myself. If I was any sort of webmaster I’d have bought Boriswatch.co.uk long ago and stopped the new owner attempting to take over the webwaves. “An attempt,” it says, “to enhance the accountability of the new London mayoralty.” Admirable task - shame about the name!
3. Boriswatchers. This, my friends, is as far away from friendly as you can get. Every post has a negative vibe, and the Labourhome t-shirt on the right hand side seals the deal - this is not so much watching Boris as rampantly opposing Boris. 1.2 million Londoners can’t be wrong, now, can they?
4. Bozzawatch. With all the possible combinations of “boris” and “watch” now taken, Bozzawatch dug deep - and used his nickname instead. This site seems more balanced - although the slightly dodgy “favourite sites” keeps me slightly suspicious as to the motives.
5. We’re Watching You Boris So Don’t Screw This Up. A hell of a title, but this site is plainly in its infancy. Still, I’m sure they’ll be more…
Sorry. It wasn't the Blairwatch owner who registered the domain.
Naadir Jeewa | May 10, 2008Sorry. It wasn’t the Blairwatch owner who registered the domain. It was me, and I didn’t even bother checking whether or not boriswatch.com existed, as it was kind of done on a whim.
Consider these sites as a sort of stand alone complex, if you will.
Naadir - whoops, I shouldn't have assumed. Post duly changed
admin | May 10, 2008Naadir - whoops, I shouldn’t have assumed. Post duly changed - thanks for dropping by!
So, should I register Lolboris.com? It has major potential.
raincoaster | May 11, 2008So, should I register Lolboris.com? It has major potential.
What about BojoWatch?
raincoaster | May 11, 2008What about BojoWatch?
I've got it: www.fakeborisjohnson.co.uk.
raincoaster | May 12, 2008I’ve got it: http://www.fakeborisjohnson.co.uk.
hi, and thanks for the name check. but i would
bozza watch | May 12, 2008hi, and thanks for the name check. but i would dispute that bozzawatch.blogspot.com is an imitator. our mission is to monitor boris johnson as mayor, rather than comment on boris johnson per se. also, we are curious to see what the implications are for the Tories nationally and a potential future Tory government. As for some of the “dodgy” sites we list (!) - as with our blog, our aim is to reflect a broad range of views, hence the blogs we link to reflect a range of political opinions. They only thing they have in common is that - in our subjective opinion - they are relevant and well-written. all the best.
Great list of sites - was looking for something balanced
Ben | May 13, 2008Great list of sites - was looking for something balanced and critical toward our new mayor, rather than a more partisan supporter site, and hopefully one or two of these will offer that.