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Hit men, click whores, and paid apologists: Welcome to the Silicon Cesspool

realdanlyons.com

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Re: Hit men, click whores, and paid apologists: Welcome to the Silicon Cesspool

#141

Post by tucson »

VonGuard wrote: post #132
glyph wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that's the whole point of the article: the whole value of the CrunchFund (and its ilk) is that Arrington (and his ilk) will be a douche on your behalf. If it were just the money, it wouldn't be worth it for the companies they invest in: the amounts are too small. It's an alternative compensation scheme for a PR flack who masquerades as a journalist. There's no ethical way to run the fund, because it would be wort…

Yah, obviously that's the value he's adding. I think it's a zero sum game, however. Shilling isn't going to help a crappy product out in the long term, only the short term. And it brings up all manner of ethical grey areas: is blogging journalism? Do influencers lose influence when they lose objectivity? What the fuck is an influencer, anyway? If a journalist is ever an influencer, he or she is doing it wrong... Buh,…

It's not a zero sum game: money is invested. Money goes from A to B. Media coverage helps convince investors, and customers, or users. One of the most efficient media is advertising disguised as journalism. Hence the legislation on "infomercials" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infomercial#Criticism_and_legal...).

Re: Hit men, click whores, and paid apologists: Welcome to the Silicon Cesspool

#142

Post by mvzink »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #129
beedogs wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In other words, stop visiting TechCrunch. I'm way ahead of you.

The mere suggestion that this story is true makes me want to just quit IT, go back to college, and go into a more honest industry. Is this seriously what we're all working at? A complex power play to get yourself rich at the expense of any morals or integrity? How much is /your/ soul worth? We have real problems in the world, but instead we have a bunch of boys with computers trying to rule the world through their co…

No, the world isn't seriously this disgusting. What you are looking at isn't even Silicon Valley. It's a bunch of fucking bloggers jerking around. Yeah, there are a lot of people who (for some reason) give a fuck. Some of these bloggers even have significant influence as a result. But please remember all the people with their nose on the grindstone doing real work in the Valley and elsewhere. They are the majority, and they are the tech scene. Lyon's Silicon Cesspool isn't the tech scene, it's the blogosphere, which has always been a piece of shit. Disregard it, and remember, "Friends don't let friends read TechCrunch."

Re: Hit men, click whores, and paid apologists: Welcome to the Silicon Cesspool

#143

Post by danssig »

jwwest wrote: post #39
rkalla wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately I think it is worse than just justifying your purchase; for a lot of people it is defining their identity. You say "iPhone's are stupid!" and all they hear is "I think YOU are stupid!". A lot of people define themselves by distilling the version of themselves they want to portray to the world as a collective of company logos and brands. I don't think it is healthy, but it sure makes sense why people do…

This is exactly what Apple set out to do, equate the brand with the self - much like fashion. Harley Davidson is another example where this occurs.

Come on, you think Google doesn't do this? If anything anywhere on the net is critical of something Google does there will an army of fanboys there within seconds in Google's defense.

Re: Hit men, click whores, and paid apologists: Welcome to the Silicon Cesspool

#144

Post by tucson »

benologist wrote: post #4

Although this was a beautiful piece I can't help but feel Dan Lyons just gave Uncrunched, ParisLemon, TechCrunch and PandoDaily another million pageviews between them for the many rebuttals we're about to see.

This is a "whistleblower" article. I think it is very important. And I hope there are or will be laws to prevent what the article describes.

Re: Hit men, click whores, and paid apologists: Welcome to the Silicon Cesspool

#145

Post by tucson »

feralchimp wrote: post #98
beaker wrote: post #96

The interesting thing to me here is how the story is no longer about Path and whether their actions were right or wrong. In the course of attempting to defend their portfolio company, Arrington and Co. have created a new debate about the role of journalism in the tech world, pitting the VC-backed insiders and their well-oiled hype machine vs the hordes of unconnected outsiders seeking to break down the gates. This dy…

As Lyons notes, the debate around pay-to-play or other more subtle conflicts of interest in tech journalism has been around for a while, and is probably here to stay. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that anyone publicly sided with Path after their app behavior was exposed. There just is no spin spinny enough for that job. That it was Arrington and MG giving it the old college try just adds some extra…

I don't agree that this debate necessarily will stay. Legislation can change that. Infomercials on tv have been reigned in because consumers associations came to defend consumers. Ads desguised as journalism (which is what this is all about here, I believe) are very efficient ways to sell. Check out Dan Kennedy's work, or any direct marketer's tricks.

Re: Hit men, click whores, and paid apologists: Welcome to the Silicon Cesspool

#146

Post by rayhano »

VonGuard wrote: post #118

Oh... My... God.... Lyons is a fucking god. As a journalist in the valley, I can just say that the first paragraph he's written here hits the nail right on the fucking head. ---"It’s tough being a journalist, especially if you’re covering technology and living in Silicon Valley, because it seems as if everyone around you is getting fabulously rich while you’re stuck in a job that will never, ever make you wealthy. Wh…

Can this post be kept in a special place at the top of Hacker News forever. Just so that people understand that the world isn't fair and to concentrate on their cool hacking.

Re: Hit men, click whores, and paid apologists: Welcome to the Silicon Cesspool

#147

Post by tucson »

mbesto wrote: post #135
beedogs wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In other words, stop visiting TechCrunch. I'm way ahead of you.

There is nearly 1 or 2 stories a day on the front page of HN from TC. Please people. Stop. Upvoting. This. Crap.

I think the core of the problem is not TechCrunch or person X or Y. The core problem is advertising disguised as journalism. The solution is legislation against this. Famous direct marketer Dan Kennedy said that the most efficient marketing is always illegal, and for example infomercials on TV are now legally restricted because they were too "dangerous" for consumers.

Re: Hit men, click whores, and paid apologists: Welcome to the Silicon Cesspool

#148

Post by JackdawX »

ChrisNorstrom wrote: post #136

How about a few of us here get together, throw up a wordpress install, and start a self-serve tech/startup site. I've got RobotSays.com. Basically anyone can be an author, they create a guest post, upload their content and their picture, and submit the post for approval and we the editors fix up anything out of place and approve only the best content for the front page. A lot of design blogs allow guest post submissi…

Well, you just invented slashdot. It's fallen by the wayside now, because places like this, with (largely) unmoderated user generated content, can distribute news faster.

Re: Hit men, click whores, and paid apologists: Welcome to the Silicon Cesspool

#149

Post by tucson »

snowwrestler wrote: post #78

Dan Lyons is afflicted with the combination of being a very talented writer, but a terrible journalist. He's late to a lot of stories--I mean, he's JUST NOW writing about Arrington's conflicts?? And, he's frequently 180 degrees wrong about the stories he does cover--see his coverage of SCO for the most infamous example. I remember my reaction when it was revealed that Dan was behind the Fake Steve Jobs blog. It was a…

If what Dan Lyons wrote here is correct then this article is the most useful and interesting I have ready in years about Silicon Valley. It is describing / implying a widespread problem of "payola" (pay for play) in the tech media.

Re: Hit men, click whores, and paid apologists: Welcome to the Silicon Cesspool

#150

Post by asg »

Steko wrote: post #68
oldstrangers wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fanboys on either side of the aisle love to pat themselves on the back and reaffirm--almost daily--that yes, they did buy the best product imaginable. It's the same reason Gruber makes half a million a year writing snarky one liners. Some sort of subconscious need to find superiority in consumer purchases and brand loyalty. It's kind of disturbing.

The "fanboy dismissal" is here, as usal, a cop out. It's the same copout that 2/3 of the commentariat falls back on whenever the subject comes up of why Apple is so successful. Must be those fanboys, that pixie dust, that RDF... "Some sort of subconscious need to find superiority in consumer purchases and brand loyalty. It's kind of disturbing." Or maybe it's just a good blog? Despite happily not owning a Mac for alm…

I don't think this can be construed as 'fanboy dismissal', though the term 'fanboy' itself is controversial.

Post purchase dissonance reduction is a well known cognitive bias[1]. And what can be better for dissonance reduction than someone telling you that you have good taste, and anyone who buys the competition is a philistine?

I should point out that this does not impute anything to the quality of the products themselves. I just posit that blogs such as Gruber's play a active part in the ecosystem due to our cognitive biases. They are not merely a passive observer.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-purchase_rationalization

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