The 13-year old blogger, Carl Ocab, is now popular in the Philippine blogosphere.

Antonista didn’t link back to Carl Ocab’s blog because he did’t want to contribute to the popularity of the controversial blog, without thinking that by just talking about Carl, mentioning his name and linking back to Yuga’s post about Carl are ways of making Carl more famous. It might be true that Antonista blog is catering an average of 50 unique visitors a day only, but the number is already good addition to the number of those who regularly visit Carl’s blog. But why are you afraid of linking back to Carl’s blog? Am I not linking back to your blog?

What makes Carl’s blog famous?

Since the start of the “Make Money with 13-year Old” blog, it already have drawn much attention from Pinoy Bloggers and few of A-Lister Western bloggers. The marketing of the blog through its title is quite successful.

When the blog won the “Top 10 Emerging Influential Blog for 2007“, it got more attention from some real influential Filipino bloggers. Yuga quoted them:

Noemi started out the conversation:

Responsible bloggers recognize that they are publishing words for everyone to read. Does it follow that they have certain ethical obligations to their readers, the people they write about, and society in general ? The blog’s greatest strength, particularly its uncensored and uncontrolled voice, is deemed its greatest weakness. Most bloggers are against anything that constrain their freedom. But most bloggers also know that The blogosphere runs on customs and norms – on what the community feels is acceptable…

BA Racoma says:

What’s so cool and disturbing about Web2.0 is that it’s sooooooo easy to fake your identity. That’s why I use my real nickname and last name in the blogosphere, so as not to lose my identity when I read and comment on other blogs.

Andrew adds:

We see something that’s so blatantly wrong but have no guts to acknowledge it. But I guess that can be attributed to the fact that this grand scheme of deception involves a minor, a teenager, a boy who’s basically just coming to grips with himself. When and if his cover is blown by the blogosphere and, God forbid, the media, only he will end up as the major casualty.

The Controversy

Actually, before Yuga and other influential Filipino bloggers discussed about them, tons of bloggers were already talking about Carl, his father and the blog. And most of them believed that the real blogger of that blog is not the 13-year old son, but his father.

Well. They have reasons to think that way:

1. Most of the post of the said blog are written professionally. If you’ll read the posts on that blog, you can immediately say that the writer is not a 13-year old kid, but a blogger who is more knowledgeable in blogging, e-marketing and SEO, and who is not idiot like me.
2. The marketing and SEO ideas applied into that blog are not the ideas of a normal Filipino 13-year old kid, except if the kid is really genius.
3. The way Carl talked on his recorded video as he picked the winners of one of his blog contests is not consistent with the way the posts on the blog are written.

The problems

Some of these bloggers who are wondering about the real blogger behind the said blog, are thinking that some foul acts are already happening between the father and son blogging relationship.

Is there any problem if the real blogger behind the blog of the 13-year old kid is the father? I don’t think so. Every blogger can hire ghost blogger just to come up with articles that can be posted on the blog.

It might be true that blogging as if you’re someone is a kind of deception, but it’s just normal in the blogosphere. I once blog as if I am somebody, just like what I told you in my previous post, and tons of bloggers are doing this. Some blog as if they’re their wife, their girlfriend, or their parents. Some blog as if they are expert. And some blog as if they’re great.

Is there any problem if the father force his kid to blog? I don’t think so. Even if it’s true that the father forced the 13-year old kid to blog, I am not thinking anything wrong with it.

My father once forced me to do the carpentry but I wasn’t thinking that what my father did was an abuse. My father once forced me to study music notes, play guitar and electronic organ, but I wasn’t thinking that my father is exploiting me. Sometimes, you need to force your kid to do something in order for him to learn.

What should we do?

Well, if you think that the way the blog of the 13-year old kid was managed is not acceptable, then continue complaining about it so that Carl, his father and the blog will continue to earn more popularity not only in the Philippine blogosphere but also in the Western side of the world.

But I think, the best thing that we should do is to learn lessons from the blog and from Carl himself.