Problems in Paradise II
June 9, 2008 in "Rant" by Kyle Brady [Shortened URL]Tags: Echo Chamber, The Internet, Told You So, Web Startups
I originally wrote about the blog echo chamber a few months ago: how I was frustrated with the “press”, I couldn’t get any attention for anything, and it was all the same crap over and over again. Today I came across a post from RW/W’s Josh Catone about similar concerns, especially regarding taking information as “fact” when it’s quite less than that.
And so I thought I’d re-evaluate my original opinions.
TechCrunch Sucks
I’ve long since given up on anything TechCrunch or Michael Arrington related. Along with many other people, I’ve discovered that unless Mike thinks you (or your product/service) is “cool”, he’s invested in your company (but won’t disclose it), or you’re already on the “post worthy radar”, he won’t write about you. Oh, and since he’s so intelligent, he likes to review things without ever using them.
I’ve even gone so far as asking Mixx.com to include a new feature: filters. That way I can filter out anything that links to any Arrington-related sites, resulting in no accidental ad revenue from me. I don’t seem to be alone in this.
Who I Listed As Good
If you check my original post, you’ll see I listed Valleywag, Uncov, and Scoble as the few interesting ones. Well…
- Valleywag is still Valleywag… arrogant, irreverent, and awesome as ever
- Uncov is now defunct
- Scoble is now a corporate shill who drones on about the most boring topics over and over
So that kills 2/3’s of my list.
Look! A 1920’s Blogosphere!
Sometimes, It Gets Better
However, I think some people have realized this (maybe along with my help?) and started to change a little. One of my favorites, RW/W was slipping into echo chamber mode, but they’ve since pulled out very gracefully. How? Longer and more in-depth articles, that are original and thought provoking, on important issues, the future of the Internet, and sometimes just a musing on “what if…”. Combine this with less PR SPAM about Twitter, Facebook, and FriendFeed, and I think they’ve really hit their stride.
I won’t mention any more names, but there are some blogs that refuse to do anything other than the usual repetitive crap, and a small few who’ve started to change. But none of them have been as drastic, or as awesome, as RW/W.
All your base are belong to them.
Sometimes, It Gets Worse
That being said, I feel like large swaths of the Internet are now collapsing into 24/7 promotional crap. No matter what I submit to Digg, I never get more than a few votes… you know why? Because I refuse to SPAM all those “friends” who’ve added me. No matter what I sumbit to Mixx, I seem to be always voted down by the same few people (which means alot when a “popular story” has usually 20 votes up).
Twitter and FriendFeed only add to this problem, creating larger circles for people to flap their jaws about crap everyone’s already heard about and decided they either don’t care or have had enough.
This is what I do to echo-chamber RSS feeds.
Conclusion
I realized yesterday that the modern Internet is just a different version of Usenet, when it comes to data delivery. Most of the people who read blogs and follow things do so with RSS and a feed reader, resulting in just a different GUI for raw data delivery… isn’t that like a cloaked Usenet? I think so.
In a year or so, I think the ‘net will have divided itself between echo chambers and original thoughts, much more clearly than now. And I think that some of the currently popular blogs will disappear… hopefully the “Crunch Empire” dies as the bubble bursts (I can wish, can’t I?).
An early 1990’s Google Reader?
But it’s only going to get worse before it gets better. I’m not a big fan of newspapers, but when you compare their style and delivery to some blogs, the paper comes our far superior: less biased, more original (or at least it’s an interesting take on a repetitive story), and the same story never resurfaces. Ever.
Chew on that.
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