Blogs

The Golden Age of Tech Blogging is Over. Not a Chance!

By Mark Evans in Blogs 1 Comment Tags: , ,

Apparently, the “golden age” of tech blogging is over. Yup, that’s it. Just six years after blogging caught fire, Jeremiah Owyang has declared tech blogging has arrived at a sad juncture.

It has something to do with a few large tech blogs (TechCrunch, ReadWriteWeb and Engadget) being acquired, several burnt-out bloggers (Ben Parr, Marshall Kirkpatrick, etc.) leaving for greener pastures, shorter attention spans among consumers, and new business models that make it more difficult for tech bloggers to carve out a living.

You have to give Owyang credit for publishing a post with a catchy headline during a slow news week, but I’ll politely take issue with his thesis. While it has been amazing to see such vibrant and extensive coverage of technology over the past years, how does Owyang know it was the “golden age”?

What we’ve seen is thousands of new players offer extensive coverage of a fast-moving industry. Having written about tech since 1995, it has been great to see so much activity for a sector that I’ve been so enthusiastic about and involved in.

But just because a few large blogs get acquired, which I think spawned Owyang’s thesis, doesn’t mean tech blogging landscape is dramatically changing or it’s entering a less interesting or lucrative period.

Change is Constant

The realty about technology is change is constant. Nothing stays the same or lasts forever. Companies come and go, blogs emerge out of nowhere and then disappear. Tech analysts become big stars, and then fade in the background. It’s the nature of the beast.

Rather than buying into the idea, the “golden age” has come to an end, I think the tech blogging market is evolving after a terrific run. It’s natural to see some more large blogs be acquired because success attracts higher valuations, which rewards entrepreneurs for all their hard work.

It’s completely understandable that some high-profile bloggers are moving on given the pressure of having to generate multiple posts a day because the business models of many large blogs hinge on volume, volume and more volume.

And shouldn’t be surprising to see business models evolve but, truth be told, most bloggers don’t blog to make money, and those who do will find new ways to generate revenue.

Another Golden Age?

Finally, there will be a new breed of tech blogs that will replace the old guard and revitalize the tech blogosphere. They will approach the market with new energy, enthusiasm and ideas, which could create another “golden age” of tech blogging.

That’s the funny thing about the tech world – just when you think nothing could top what has unfolded, it just keeps on getting better.

Given the time of year, perhaps Owyang is feeling sentimental about the “good old days” of blogging but as someone who has been hammering away here since 2004, I can tell you that blogs come and go, stars are made and flame out, and tech blogging has never stayed in one place too long.

Is “Just” Blogging Going to be Enough?

By Mark Evans in Blogs 7 Comments Tags: , ,

As someone who spent nearly 15 years as an ink-stained newspaper reporter, my passion is writing, which explains why I produce lots of content for this blog, the Sysomos blog and my Globe & Mail “Start” column.

I pound out the words, find an interesting image, and hit “publish”. Done.

I’m starting to think, however, it might not be enough to simply write blog posts. In many ways, I’m starting to feel my content needs to have more variety to engage readers and deliver different types of stories.

It’s one of the reasons why I have been actively exploring the idea of video recently – a hat tip to Marcus Sheridan who contends the only way to get good at making videos is by doing them.

Truth be told, I haven’t done many videos because it’s not part of my “reporting DNA”. I’m a notetaker, not a video guy.But I think that is going to change for a few reasons: Video is sexy content. People like videos, Google likes videos, and it is a different way to tell stories. Video is also easy. I just got a iPhone 4S, dug up my Kodak Zi6, and started mucking around with iMovie.

My interest in exploring the world beyond words was captured by Trevor Young in a blog post for Edelman Australia. He talked about bloggers becoming “micro-publishers”, who deliver content in multiple ways: blogs, videos, newsletters, photos, etc.

Perhaps this represents the evolution of blogging as opposed to Young’s suggestion “it’s the end of blogging as we know it”. As blogging matures, it needs to become a richer, more compelling and engaging experience. Social media has changed how people consume content, while video has become ubiquitous and user-friendly for both consumers and creators.

The challenge for many bloggers is shifting editorial gears. Those of us happy behind the keyboard will have to adopt new tools, embrace the idea that video is as powerful a medium as words, and look to tell stories differently.

For some of us, it may not be an easy transition because we’re so used to creating content in a particular way. For others, having new ways to tell stories will be a positive thing. It will be a refreshing editorial challenge, it will force us to learn new tools, change how to “report”, and provide audiences with new insight and perspective.

Personally, I’m excited about becoming a multi-dimensional storyteller because change is good. While I will continue to be a hard-core  blogging advocate, blogs that stand out from the crowd will have different editorial angles. This is not to suggest people who stick to words will be left behind but I do think offering posts and other kinds of content is an attractive option for bloggers and blog readers.

What do you think? Is text enough for bloggers?

Why Zite Has Rocked My Content World

By Mark Evans in Apple/iPod, Blogs, Social Media 1 Comment Tags: , ,

First a confession: I was late to the tablet game. With several laptops at home and a job that requires a lot of mobile working, there just wasn’t much of a use case for a tablet. Time passed, a friend of mine at Carbon Computing got me a great deal on an iPad, and now I’m part of the tablet world.

While I haven’t spent much time pimping my iPad, one of the first apps add was Zite because there had been so much buzz about it, particularly after the Vancouver-based startup was acquired by CNN for a reported $25-million.

This may sound dramatic but Zite has dramatically changed how I consume content. As someone who sucks in a lot of content every day for market intelligence and information, and ideas for columns and blog posts, any way that improves efficiency and productivity is a wonderful thing.

With Zite, I can create categories that are interesting or relevant to my interests and needs. Then, Zite generates stories in a magazine format that can be quickly scanned and read. It’s also easy to save an article or blog post to read for later, or share it via social media or email.

Zite also lets you “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” a story to adjust your preferences, although it would be great if you could add a particular Web site or blog into the editorial mix.

Zite has been a productivity-booster because I can cover the content landscape in 10 minutes for ideas and information. At the same time, it has cut down on the amount of time on Twitter, which I use as a quasi-RSS reader.

More important, it has dramatically changed how much content I can consume and read and, in the process, saved me a lot of time, which is one of the most important considerations.

Why Blogging Never Loses its Mojo

By Mark Evans in Blogs 2 Comments Tags: , ,

In the scheme of things, blogging is a labour of love. It takes a lot of time and effort to consistently generate posts that provide value.

So it was interesting to read Mitch Joel’s blog post about what blogging has offered him over the past eight years, which seems like an eternity in the scheme of things. It got me thinking about this blog, which I started on a whim in 2004 (originally using Blogware).

At first, the goal was to simply understand the buzz about blogging. But it quickly became more compelling and time-consuming. And while the focus on the blog has evolved from VoIP to Web 2.0 to social media and start-ups, it has never lost its appeal.

So what does blogging offer that keeps me going after more than 3,700 posts? Here’s a few ideas:

1. A love of writing. I’ve always enjoyed writing, and spent 15 years as a newspaper reporter, which meant writing articles on a regular basis. After leaving journalism for good in 2006, blogging has kept my hand in the game and provided the opportunity to write about things that interest me.

2. Content marketing: As a believer in the idea that content is king, I see content as a powerful marketing tool. A blog offers a platform to show existing and potential clients what you’re interested in and your insight. It gives people a good sense of how you think, which hopefully sets the stage for them to reach out for more information or a conversation.

3. The ability to participate in interesting conversations: The fascinating thing about the tech world is that change is constant. One day, the BlackBerry is the king of the world, the next it’s struggling to stay viable. HP is in the tablet game, then it’s out. Having a blog provides a great way to be engaged and involved as opposed to sitting on the sidelines.

4. Blogs are more rewarding intellectually than Twitter or Facebook. I’ve always contended that blogs are dinner, while Facebook and Twitter are dessert. Blogs are substantial and filling, while dessert is something you taste rather than get nutritional from.

5. Blogs are a body of work that can repurposed into a variety of things. The content can be used for a book, newsletters, magazine articles and presentations. Blogs generate a lot of editorial goodness.

It is difficult to sustain a blog, which explains why so many are abandoned. But they generate so many benefits that it has never dawned on me to walk about from MET. In many respects, a blog is part of your personal and professional journey, and it feels like there’s a long way left to go.

 

The Rise and Fall of TechCrunch?

By Mark Evans in Blogs, Social Media 2 Comments

TechCrunch As We Know It May Be Over.

It’s a dramatic headline to describe the ongoing machinations about the world’s most popular technology blog in the wake of Michael Arrington’s decision to start a new start-up focused VC fund called CrunchFund…and the decision by AOL, which owns TechCrunch, to let him because TechCrunch is a “different property and they have different standards”.

While Arrington is no stranger to investing in start-ups, the recent creation of a $20-million fund is fascinating given TechCrunch covers the start-up scene so extensively and plays an influential role in their success. For TechCrunch and Arrington to blatantly play both sides of the fence – investing and editorial coverage – sets off the alarm bells.

In a blog post that accompanied the headline above, TechCrunch blogger MG Siegler made a passionate argument about how people and the New York Times (which published a strident story about Arrington and TechCrunch) don’t understand how TechCrunch works, and how its coverage of start-ups would never be influenced by Arrington or his personal investments.

This is completely normal argument by reporters/bloggers who thrive on editorial independence and objectivity. But the difference in this case is TechCrunch (which is now part of the AOL empire) is not your “normal” news operation given the role played Arrington, who has become not only the major source of start-up coverage but an investor, advisor, conference organizer, influencer and now a VC.

While Siegler can jump up and down about objectivity and independence, he’s battling a key issue: perception and reality. The perception is TechCrunch could be biased by CrunchFund’s investment activity. As a result, it changes how start-ups, readers and investors look at TechCrunch, Arrington and CrunchFund. From the outside looking in, it’s no longer an influential tech blog but a multi-pronged kingmaker with editorial and investment ambitions.

The biggest issue is Arrington wants to eat his cake and have it too. He wants to invest in start-ups and write about them, albeit for free after AOL caved into pressure about Arrington still being on the TechCrunch payrole after the launch of CrunchFund.

The trouble is he can’t it both ways any more. When Arrington sold TechCrunch to AOL, it meant a huge change in direction for TechCrunch. And now that Arrington wants to become a VC, there is even more changes.

As hard as it might be for Arrington to walk away from TechCrunch, it’s become a necessity if Arrington, TechCrunch and its army of bloggers want to head in a new, exciting direction.

Time for Arrington to Leave TechCrunch Behind

By Mark Evans in Blogs, Startups No Comments Tags: , , ,

ArringtonThe tech world is all aflutter today because Michael Arrington has created new a $20-million venture capital fund to invest in start-ups.

Given Arrington and the growing army of TechCrunch bloggers cover start-ups, there is clearly ethical and journalistic issues given TechCrunch could easily write about companies within CrunchFund’s investment portfolio.

A few things: One, the objections over Arrington’s involvement with start-ups as a blogger and an investor are nothing new. Arrington has been happily fishing in both ponds for years, and been pretty clear about his activity. Why would anyone would be surprised by the formalization of something he’s been openly engaged in?

Arrington is a different and unique beast because blogging is a new world with different rules of engagement than journalism, and, let’s face it, the vast majority of journalists don’t make enough money to invest in start-ups even if they wanted to. At best, journalists jump into the start-ups for the remote chance to make some money – and I’m talking from personal experience.

What I admire about Arrington is he seems unrepentant and unaffected by the kerfuffle he has instigated. Call it arrogance, hubris or being king of the world (or, at least, Silicon Valley) but Arrington is completely comfortable in his own skin.

“I don’t claim to be a journalist,” Arrington told the New York Times. “I hold myself to higher standards of transparency and disclosure.”

This holier-than-thou attitude rankles journalists and hard-core bloggers who play by the old style “rules” but AOL seems fine with Arrington’s new venture, although I suspect it will bend over backwards to keep him in the AOL fold as long as possible.

That said, I think it’s time for Arrington to leave TechCrunch. It’s the classic case of not being able to eat your cake and have it too. TechCrunch has been a spectacular success, and Arrington has achieved fame, glory and riches from selling the business to AOL for $20-million.

But if Arrington really wants to take his career into a different direction, he needs to leave TechCrunch behind. It will be difficult because it’s his baby that he built from scratch but TechCrunch is all grown up now, it has a new mega-size owner, and Arrington would be better off completely focused on new projects instead of still hanging on.

The reality is the Arrington brand is as big as TechCrunch so he doesn’t need TechCrunch, even though they are still stuck at the hip. If Arrington wants to be a venture capitalist, it means making difficult decisions, including parting ways with TechCrunch.

More: Kara Swisher has some interesting insight (surprise, surprise!) about Arrington and CrunchFund.

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