Born This Way • Hacker News Board

Re: Born This Way

#41

Post by sabat » Mon, Feb 21, 2011, 2:37 AM UTC

tomwalsham wrote: post #11

It's been my not-so-private view for some time now Arrington has consciously turned into a professional troll. While TC had great value a few years back as a news source, the purchase by AOL was IMO the culmination of a steady decline. I'm not sure if the instigation of flamebait headlines and Gawker level journalism were a natural progression for an expanding media outlet which bases its own self worth on impression…

Professional troll indeed -- I've had that same thought for quite a while now. Probably it started around the time he posted this about a group of SV 20somethings who went to some Greek island together to party for a week and recorded a drunken lip-sync video. It just happened to be the same time as the beginning of full financial meltdown, but the two events had nothing to do with each other -- except in Arrington's weird mind. (I've always assumed that he was jealous that he wasn't invited. Seriously, dude, you wouldn't have fit in; the guys in the video don't have giant beer guts.)

http://techcrunch.com/2008/10/10/team-cyprus-move-to-undo-th...

Re: Born This Way

#42

Post by bmelton » Mon, Feb 21, 2011, 2:37 AM UTC

zaidf wrote: post #3

Once upon a time, TechCrunch was about start-ups and gosh they were killing it. I miss those days! Anyone else? That said, I'm assuming their change in direction over the years has been a business decision. I will always respect that even if it means less TC for me.

http://thestartupfoundry.com. What's old is new again. Paul Hontz had those exact same feelings, and has brought forth a blog that is closer to what TC used to be than any other I've seen.

Re: Born This Way

#43

Post by Zakuzaa » Mon, Feb 21, 2011, 2:40 AM UTC

Their feedburner subscribers count has reduced to half of what it was few months ago. (4000k to 2000k).

Re: Born This Way

#44

Post by adsr » Mon, Feb 21, 2011, 2:40 AM UTC

chailatte wrote: post #6

Long time ago. Probably 2008. I am pretty sure most people are submitting techcrunch articles just for karma points. That and they come standard with aggressive linkbaiting headlines.

Linkbait indeed. It seems like a pretty common tactic on some blogs. I find it mildly disturbing since the same blogs often look down on trolling, when in reality, an argument could be made that they are actually part of the problem.

Re: Born This Way

#45

Post by g0atbutt » Mon, Feb 21, 2011, 2:40 AM UTC

jarin wrote: post #35

Helianthus16 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I'm really impressed with g0atbutt's results so far.

And the fact that he hasn't yet changed his username.

And I never will! Thanks for the support.

Re: Born This Way

#46

Post by sgrove » Mon, Feb 21, 2011, 2:42 AM UTC

bmelton wrote: post #42

zaidf wrote: post #3

Once upon a time, TechCrunch was about start-ups and gosh they were killing it. I miss those days! Anyone else? That said, I'm assuming their change in direction over the years has been a business decision. I will always respect that even if it means less TC for me.

http://thestartupfoundry.com . What's old is new again. Paul Hontz had those exact same feelings, and has brought forth a blog that is closer to what TC used to be than any other I've seen.

Hard to get their attention though. 3 emails, some tweets, and they've yet to reply.

Suppose everyone's busy, and persistence pays off.

Re: Born This Way

#47

Post by g0atbutt » Mon, Feb 21, 2011, 2:53 AM UTC

sgrove wrote: post #46

bmelton wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://thestartupfoundry.com . What's old is new again. Paul Hontz had those exact same feelings, and has brought forth a blog that is closer to what TC used to be than any other I've seen.

Hard to get their attention though. 3 emails, some tweets, and they've yet to reply. Suppose everyone's busy, and persistence pays off.

Email me again (Paul@codesketch.com). It's nothing personal, we just get A LOT of email. We are looking at ways to improve response time. Sorry about that.

Re: Born This Way

#48

Post by talbina » Mon, Feb 21, 2011, 3:07 AM UTC

noonespecial wrote: post #2

Heh. They can't all be winners can they? Based on this article, I'd say they jumped it, hired it, and now its writing articles for them.

What's your real name?

Re: Born This Way

#49

Post by soulclap » Mon, Feb 21, 2011, 3:13 AM UTC

OoTheNigerian: what's your real name?

That aside: Wow. I thought this would link to an article that might have a flaw or two or was not 'acceptable' from some cutting edge geek snob POV. (Sorry for expecting something along these lines on HN, I am new around here!)

But this is really the absolutely worst article I have ever seen on a tech-related site - including sites that never even had any 'rep' for a start, as opposed to TechCrunch - plus the author is definitely being mad creepy in the comments.

Re: Born This Way

#50

Post by lwat » Mon, Feb 21, 2011, 3:15 AM UTC

rumpelstiltskin wrote: post #40

Relevant comment from the article - This seems to be a textbook "AOL Way" article that Paul Miller was talking about. Beatles? Popular. iPad? Popular (Bonus points for featuring FOUR of them). Lady Gaga? Popular. Turnaround time? Few minutes. Actual substance? None whatsoever. Steve Gilmor's unrelenting jackassery is getting out of hand. Now that TC is under new management, can someone rein this guy in?

What is YOUR real name!?