Review #1-Celebrity Gossip Websites

For many people, reading celebrity gossip is like watching a car crash. U know u shouldn't gawk, but dammit u just can't NOT look.Choosing a celebrity website to click around religiously is a lot like shopping for a new car or a school for your kids. There are many factors u should consider:

1.How credible is the site creator?

Generally people won't flock to copyblogs-blogs that,well, look like this one.Not terribly spiffy, no so-called "exclusives", no real goss u haven't read on 5 other sites since coming online and sites that are obviously run for free. Also if u a young(or older) little thing who LOVES emailing gossip to your buds in between study procrastination sessions, then credibility is going to be a factor. After all, u don’t want to look stupid, do u? Trust me, it is not a fun way to go.

2.Do you want to post comments or just read?

User-friendly gossip sites will generally allow u to either post anonymously, post immediately, post then confirm your opinion via email (thus activating and posting it)or post and wait for manual moderation from the site owner. If u are a read-only junkie, u won't need to take this stuff into account, but if u just can't help yourself, bear these factors in mind.

3.Do you want to make friends or foes?

If u are a miserable sod who only seeks out such glitzy sites to b*tch at complete strangers to make yourself feel better,then u will probably only be welcomed on certain pages. If u consider yourself a nice, perky, friendly soul who wants to find people who like who u like, your scope is a lot wider and many more sites will be potentially at your disposal.

4.How much time do you want to devote?

The abovementioned copyblogs are less likely to be updated several times a day like the bigger, more well-known sites, so if u have a life, u should be ok to visit these. However, if u spend most of the day sitting around waiting for something to happen, then the glitzy sites being run like a full-time “business” will suffice. However,there is a third option-many blogs, regardless of “prestige”, offer blogs feeds such as RSS which will notify u when the site has either been updated or a particular celeb u lust for/look up to(or both)has been written about.

So, in summary, here are my top 5 celebrity gossip sites and their pros and cons:

1.Celebrity Baby Blog
www.celebrity-babies.com

Pros:
Updated very frequently
Credible sources used, celebrity stamp of approval(and sometimes exclusives), site also caters to needs of parents and children of all ages and lifestyles
Caters to celebrities from all over the world, not just the human headlines

Cons:
Heavily moderated(also a pro though)-not for grumpy people
Not for people who hate children

2.TMZ
www.tmz.com

Pros:
Can be credible
Sometimes has exclusive info from media outlets or celebs themselves
Papparazzi connections which means loads of candid celeb happy snaps(or not-so-happy-snaps)

Cons:Can be mentally destructive-particularly if u type anything unintelligent or type anything period
U have to confirm your opinion via email activation so there's a 25 second cooling-off period

3.Perez Hilton
www.perezhilton.com

Pros:
Celebrity connections-Perez is a regular groupie and has somehow managed to get a dose of mini-fame himself through appearing in the pages of weekly gossip rags

Cons:
Is more than happy to ban people he doesn't like or who don't agree with him
Tends to have "favourites" and thus biased opinions

4.Flynet/X17online

www.flynetonline.com
www.x17online.com

Pros:
These are papparazzi-fueled sites so they have videos of celebs trying to mind their own business
Lots of happy/not-so-happy snaps also

Cons:
Their photos are often copyrighted/watermarked so they can sue u if u put them on another site without paying/begging them first
The comments on these sites make tmz look like a church bulletin.A b*tchy person's free-for-all paradise

5.E!online
www.eonline.com

Pros:
E!'s website consists mainly of a huge, rabid forum in which, from what I can see, pretty much anything goes
Signing up is relatively quick and simple
It's a very busy site so it's great for bored people/no-lifers
It is connected to tv show/shows so there is even more scope for cattiness

Cons:
U have to post 200 times before u can START a topic-I only joined last week and I have,like, 5 comments, so it's gonna be a while before I make a splash of my own
Because it's not moderated........well, caveat emptor

*There are many other sites out there obviously, but hey, I don't have all day.These are simply the most popular/talked-about