Chip Griffin: Pardon the Disruption

No Winners in "People Ready" Kerfuffle, But A Few Observations

It never ceases to amaze me the way the tech blogosphere can get all up in arms over seemingly insignificant things.  The current firestorm over whether top tech bloggers like Mike Arrington, Om Malik, Fred Wilson, and Paul Kedrosky sold their souls by lending their words to a Microsoft "People Ready" campaign is just silly.

One look over at TechMeme tells you that far too many bits and bytes have been spent discussing this topic already, but since seemingly every other post in Google Reader this weekend have been on this topic, I feel compelled to get some things off my chest.

Old Media Endorses Products All The Time

Robert Scoble aptly points out that Leo Laporte does radio ads endorsing products.  Anyone who listens to AM radio regularly (or did anytime in the past several decades) no doubt has heard Paul Harvey waxing on about beds and other products.  Tune into any terrestrial radio station and you will hear a host plugging one product or another -- even news readers do this.  Folks, this is nothing new.

Would the Reaction be Different If It Wasn't Microsoft?

I can't help but wonder if this were an ad campaign engineered by Apple if the reaction wouldn't have been different.  Look at the different reactions to Microsoft's Vista campaign and Nikon's D80 blogger relations program.  Yes, there were minor differences in how the programs were communicated, but the net result is the same: bloggers get to play with expensive, high-end products at no cost for a really long time.

What's Up With John Battelle?

Let me be clear, I'm a John Battelle groupie.  I still miss the Industry Standard.  I loved The Search.  John's blog is on my "1stRead" list in Google Reader.  But what was he thinking when he threw his clients under the bus?  When you act as an agent for someone, as FM does with the blogs it reps for advertising sales, you shouldn't be publicly attacking those clients. 

At Least There's Healthy Debate This Time

One thing that strikes me as different about this blogstorm over blogger ethics is that there seems to be more of a healthy debate about the issue, with many bloggers actively wrestling with the issue.  During similar events in the past, I have been concerned by what I have seen as a rush to judgment and a "blog mob" mentality that sets in.  Here we have had some of the targets stand up to the initial mob attack, rather than folding at the first sign of controversy (notably Fred Wilson and Mike Arrington).  Unfortunately, some of the targets did throw in the towel, prematurely in my opinion.

Showing Irritation Only Emboldens Your Enemies

I don't blame Mike Arrington for getting pretty worked up in his response to this controversy.  Tabloid publications like ValleyWag can clearly get under one's skin pretty easily.  And if someone questions my integrity, you can be sure it's going to make me mad (and it has).  Unfortunately, showing that anger encourages more attacks, as Mike discovered when ValleyWag struck again.  It's important to try to remember schoolyard bullies and two-year old kids in cases like this.  If you show a reaction to their behavior, they keep at it.  If you ignore it, they get bored and move on.

For More Reading...

There's some really good thinking on this subject beyond what I referenced above.  I especially would commend to your attention two differing points of view.  Scott Karp tends to agree with me that this is much ado about nothing, but speaks to a need for bloggers to establish and stick to personal standards.  Jeff Jarvis and I couldn't be farther apart on this issue, but he puts quite a bit of thought and reasoning into his views and makes several points that I do agree with, despite his ultimate conclusion.

Technorati tags: People Ready, Microsoft, Mike Arrington, TechCrunch, Om Malik, Fred Wilson, Paul Kedrosky, Nick Denton, Valleywag, Scott Karp, Jeff Jarvis, blog mob, ethics, journalism, John Battelle, FM Published, Federated Media, advertising, Nikon D80, blogger relations, Leo Laporte, Robert Scoble, Paul Harvey, media ethics

The Blog Expectations Game

What do you expect from a blog?  Fred Wilson points out what I have been thinking myself the past few days: Marc Andreesen is doing a great job with his new blog -- but he's setting the bar very high for himself.  Nearly every day he has a relevant, provocative, and informative post.  And they aren't short, quick observations, but well-thought out missives.

Similarly, Steve Rubel used to post multiple times a day, often short quick notes with a link to other content.  In some ways, he acted as what Chris Brogan and others have called a "curator" (a role played most prominently by Robert Scoble on his link blog/shared Google Reader links).  But Steve now says he's going to try to focus on longer, more thoughtful posts more in the Marc Andreesen style.  In Steve's words: "less quantity more quality in the way of op-eds rather than shorter linky posts."

All of this raises the question of what people expect from a blog.  My philosophy is that as long as you maintain some consistency and don't change it up all the time, your audience will respect that.  Marc has done a nice job of coming out of the gate strong and that has, I'm sure, built him up a very solid audience.  Unless he feels he can keep the pace up, though, I would think he would be wise to space his posts out a little more. 

On the other hand, I can make a good case for the argument that bloggers should post what they have to say when they have something to say.  It is the philosophy I tend to follow -- if I can say something quickly and link away, I will.  If I have something longer and more thoughtful, I'll share that.  In my own way that's the consistency I offer: variety.  If it isn't your cup of tea, move on -- there's lots of voices out there.  If it is, why not subscribe by RSS or email?  (top right of this page, unless you are already a subscriber!)

Technorati tags: Marc Andreesen, blogging, Fred Wilson, Steve Rubel, Robert Scoble, Chris Brogan, curator, link blog

Drobo Takes Off - Yet Another Example of Buzz at Work

I had never heard any talk of a hard drive storage solution called Drobo until today.  And suddenly it seems to be everywhere.  Sal Cangeloso offers a good rundown of the story. 

I'm in the market for something like this right now since I can't help myself as far as doing podcasts goes.  Plus I'm experimenting with some video and still photography stuff at the moment, mostly to learn, but who knows where it may lead?  All of this takes a ton of disk space.  So the story appealed to me.

But it also shows yet again how quickly stories can take off in the blogosphere and how much we all can act as an echo chamber for each other from time to time.

Technorati tags: Drobo, Sal Cangeloso, buzz marketing

If You're Going to Blog Anonymously, At Least Be Smart About It

I'm not a big fan of anonymous blogging.  I don't think there's anything wrong with it and won't rule out ever doing it myself (it's foolish to say "never" anyway), I just prefer it when you're open about who you are when you're expressing opinions.  It helps the audience understand your message in context.  That said, I understand there are situations where it may be unavoidable if you are focused on wanting to share your views online.

But if you're going to blog anonymously, at least use enough common sense not to write in such a way that it is blatantly obvious who you are.  From today's Boston Globe:

As Ivy League-educated pediatrician Robert P. Lindeman sat on the stand in Suffolk Superior Court this month, defending himself in a malpractice suit involving the death of a 12-year-old patient, the opposing counsel startled him with a question.

Was Lindeman Flea?

Flea, jurors in the case didn't know, was the screen name for a blogger who had written often and at length about a trial remarkably similar to the one that was going on in the courtroom that day.

In his blog, Flea had ridiculed the plaintiff's case and the plaintiff's lawyer. He had revealed the defense strategy. He had accused members of the jury of dozing.

With the jury looking on in puzzlement, Lindeman admitted that he was, in fact, Flea.

The article itself then gets slightly hysterical about the risks of blogging ("The case is a startling illustration of how blogging, already implicated in destroying friendships and ruining job prospects, could interfere in other important arenas."), but story about "Flea" is worth reading as long as you ignore the hysteria.

Technorati tags: blogging, bloggers, anonymity, Boston Globe, malpractice, anonymous blog

No Shield Law for Bloggers

Steve Rubel reports today on efforts in the U.S. Congress to pass a shield law that would protect bloggers from disclosing sources for their posts.  The Columbia Journalism Review provides a detailed description of the proposal and its background.  Ironically, conservative Republican Mike Pence of Indiana is the driving force behind enacting a federal shield law to incorporate members of the traditional media as well as bloggers who work for "newsgathering organizations."  Few would typically consider conservatives to be the advocate for the traditional media.

Frankly, this is simply a bad idea, however.  One can debate the merits of a shield law for traditional media, but it strikes me that as valuable as blogs can be to the news process, a shield law for bloggers is a murky area at best.  If a blogger has knowledge of someone or some facts that related to a crime, for instance, why should the blogger be able to hide behind a shield law? 

Steve aptly points out that the definition of a newsgathering blogger will itself be a source of confusion.  He writes: "Some bloggers break news and then in the next post go back to talking about what they had for breakfast. The lines get even blurrier when you consider social news sites like digg and, of course, entirely new animals like Twitter."

Undoubtedly if such a law were to take effect some number of bloggers would try to use the shield to avoid complying with legitimate subpoenas.  It provides too much opportunity to tie things up in court in order to delay compliance.  And the first crazy blogger who uses the law improperly will give a bad name to the rest of us.

Writing protections for bloggers into the law is a good way to make the blogosphere more complicated and ultimately less free.  Don't fall into the trap of thinking that if something is purportedly done on behalf of bloggers that it is good for social media.

Technorati tags: Mike Pence, shield law, bloggers, Steve Rubel, Micropersuasion, Columbia Journalism Review, journalism, traditional media, social media, new media

Have We Reached the Peak of Mount Blog?

Great digging by Heather Green at BusinessWeek has uncovered the dirty little secret about the blogosphere that so many of us have surmised for some time.  It ain't nearly as big as the hype indicates, though it remains incredibly important for communicators.  Heather convinced David Sifry of Technorati to release more detailed data abbot his state of the blogosphere report.  Technorati claim to be tracking 70 million blogs.  That's not really accurate, however.  The truth is that the blog search engine has tracked 70 million different blogs at one time or another.  But just about 15 million of those have been updated in the past 90 days, suggesting that the vast majority of monitored blogs are dead.

When a blog loses its pulse, there's no need to include it in the population any longer.

Heather also writes: "The number of daily English language posts dropped to 495,000 in March from 507,000 in October."  The numbers she published also reveal that growth in active blogs over the same period of time was minimal: 15.3 million last fall and 15.5 million today.

Obviously, that's still a huge number of blogs and nothing that can be ignored.  But a good lesson for all here is that hyping numbers can end up making you look silly.  In this case, the reality of 15 million is still impressive; saying 71 million just doesn't hold up against the facts.

I would love to see even more detailed data that indicates of the 15 million active, how many update more than once a week?  Once a month?  With less than a half million English posts every day, the number that post regularly must be incredibly small.  Ultimately, those with a regular publishing schedule and audience will be the ones that are most likely to be influential.

One final note.  The number of English blog posts daily stands at about the same as (or perhaps even a little less than) what we see at CustomScoop as far as the number of online stories from traditional media outlets each day.  Put in that context, the blogosphere seems a lot less daunting to monitor.

Technorati tags: David Sifry, Technorati, Heather Green, Business Week, blog posting, blogosphere

Come Learn About Social Media

On May 15, Doug Haslam of Topaz Partners and I will present a Social Media Skills Workshop for the PRSA Yankee Chapter.  The event will be held at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, NH from 1-5 PM.  Cost is $35 for PRSA Yankee Chapter members and $45 for non-members.

This will be an information packed afternoon with time for hands-on learning. Below is the official description, or you can download the event flyer with tentative agenda and registration form in PDF format.  If you're interested in learning more about blogs, podcasts, and other forms of social media, I encourage you to register now. 

SOCIAL MEDIA SKILLS WORKSHOP
presented by Yankee Chapter/PRSA and sponsored by Southern NH University

Spend a half-day (1-5pm) learning all about social media, including blogs and podcasts.  By the end of this seminar, you will have learned how to:

• Pitch your company or client successfully!
• Build relationships through commenting on blogs and podcasts!
• Communicate your message unfiltered through your own blog or podcast!
• Assess your social media coverage using free or paid services! 

In addition, part of the workshop will include hands-on training where you will actually help create a simple blog and podcast.

Technorati tags: PRSA Yankee, PRSA, social media, professional development, public relations

Live Blogging Kicked Up a Notch with Video

Speaking of Shel Holtz, he has a great post about the next step in the live blogging revolution: live video.  This has been a topic of conversation in tech blogs this week because of the Web 2.0 expo.  I'll let Shel explain:

Over at PodTech Robert Scoble and Jeremiah Owyang took UStream for a spin at the recent Web 2.0 conference, using the live streaming capability to broadcast panel discussions and other activities. (Jeremiah wrote about it here.)

I can't recall where I saw it but there's a great if ridiculous photo of Scoble sitting next to Chris Pirillo while Chris is typing and Scoble is wearing a head-cam.  And did I mention they were on a panel at that time?  Only at a tech conference...

Though I managed to be enmeshed in the recent live blogging controversy, I suspect that I'll be able to remain on the sidelines of this discussion as I'm not sure I'm likely to become a videographer.  (Shel #1, Shel Israel, has an interesting post on the subject, especially since he was at ground zero of the debate.) 

I guess I'll just have to stick to annoying panelists and fellow attendees with keyboard clatter.

UPDATE: Jeremiah reminds me in the comments that I saw the photo on his blog.  It was from David Parmet.

Technorati tags: Shel Holtz, Shel Israel, live blogging, UStream, Robert Scoble, PodTech, live video, video streaming

Church of the Absurd

I was stunned this morning when I read Shel Holtz's post about Ben McConnell of the Church of the Customer blog arguing that PR pros should "stop pitching bloggers you don't know." 

Ben and sidekick Jackie Huba are smart people.  They're also very influential in the online marketing realm and have an increased profile of late as they tour to promote their Citizen Marketers book (which they've managed to get me to cite in two posts already today!).  To see one of them make such an absurd argument is startling to say the least.

Not all of what Ben says is bad advice.  He does argue that you shouldn't add bloggers to your latest blast email touting your announcement.  That's absolutely correct.  But as Shel points out in his post and as I do in my 7 Deadly Sins of Pitching Bloggers white paper, there are good ways to reach out to bloggers you don't already know.

Sticking your head in the sand and dealing only with friends in the blogosphere makes no sense. In this case, the Church of the Customer seems to be worshiping a false prophet.

Technorati tags: Ben McConnell, blogger outreach, Shel Holtz, blog pitching

Online Engagement

Jim Horton has written a thoughtful paper on "engagement" in the blogosphere.  No, not the precursor to marital bliss, this is an analysis of what the term means for blogosphere bliss for PR practitioners and marketers.  He includes descriptions of the ranges of people involved in writing and reading blogs (Engaged, Information Seekers, Aware, and Uninvolved).  In some respects, his descriptions are similar to what Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell discuss in Citizen Marketers.

He includes tips on how companies should get involved in the blogosphere along with suggestions for specific techniques to join the conversation.  Worth a read for anyone interested in thinking about this issue.

Technorati tags: Jim Horton, engagement, Citizen Marketers, blogs, online marketing, public relations