Time to ditch the arrogant tech blogs
kernelmag.com
Time to ditch the arrogant tech blogs
1–10 of 58 posts
Re: Time to ditch the arrogant tech blogs
#2I've reached the conclusion that a particular subset of the big tech blogs are to our industry as the celebrity gossip rags are to the entertainment industry.
Re: Time to ditch the arrogant tech blogs
#3MG, Arringon, Lacey etc... are narcissistic parasites; they cant "do" so they write about those that can. Somewhere along the line they started to believe that they were the story and because of the mainstream popularization of startups a class of less intelligent techie / start up people that support that narrative has been created. Imagine of the sports wold did that. In the sports world they understand that the reporters are irrelevant and simply there to spectate and report on what they see; the moment their BS started to overshadow the game they would be fired but for some reason the startup world does not act that way. We have allowed these people to feel as if they matter when the truth is, they dont, they never did and they never will because if you create a product that solves a real problem for people your audience does need to read TC or pandas daily to find out about it.
Re: Time to ditch the arrogant tech blogs
#4Arrogance, I don't care about. The shameless corruption, I do. PandoDaily, in particular, is funded by VC firms that also fund tech startups. They're basically buying coverage for their investments- it's taking the system that got Arrington fired and putting it on steroids. It works out great for the investment company, it works out great for their companies, the only person it doesn't work out for is that actual reader of the blog. It's why I will never read a PandoDaily article.
As a slightly more on-topic aside- an app I made was recently featured in the NY Daily News. The results were great- I got some useful feedback from real users, rather than hypothetical users more interested in gossip.
Re: Time to ditch the arrogant tech blogs
#5What is supposed to be being ditched here?
If it's the pitching to/grooming of tech blogs, then companies themselves will decide what's effective for them. Number of referrals is surely just one measure. Credibility ("as featured on TechCrunch"), SEO (backlink from TC sounds good to me?), the fact that other journalists read TC, metablogs and so on.
If we're supposed to be ditching reading the blogs, well then folk will do that naturally over time if the quality of content falls.
More than anything, we should probably ditch the idea that one well-placed referral from a powerhouse could be the shot in the arm that might make a service "go viral".
Re: Time to ditch the arrogant tech blogs
#6I've reached the conclusion that a particular subset of the big tech blogs are to our industry as the celebrity gossip rags are to the entertainment industry.
With the obvious difference that gossip rags don't have a financial stake in the stars, starlets, models, semi-celebrities and wannabees on which they're reporting.
While it's simple dreck, it's not so insidiously corrupt like the tech blogs.
Re: Time to ditch the arrogant tech blogs
#7What is supposed to be being ditched here? If it's the pitching to/grooming of tech blogs, then companies themselves will decide what's effective for them. Number of referrals is surely just one measure. Credibility ("as featured on TechCrunch"), SEO (backlink from TC sounds good to me?), the fact that other journalists read TC, metablogs and so on. If we're supposed to be ditching reading the blogs, well then folk w…
I've always wondered on "my startup is credible because I was on TC"...
Wouldn't actual user count and other metrics be more credible than "I was able to schmooze to some editor"?
Re: Time to ditch the arrogant tech blogs
#8Let's just assume for the sake of argument that tech blogs aren't inherently wrong/evil/corrupt/worthless/etc.
I don't see why this has to be an either-or proposition...absolute number of referrals aren't the only "good thing" to come out of any promotional activity. Isn't it possible that a prominent mention gets you views/usage from people who are in a position to propel you forward?
Ask an investigative journalist: their 10,000 to 20,000 word, 1-year-opus will likely generate fewer page views than the high school basketball playoff recap. But as long as those viewers consist of politico staff members, agency policymakers, and judicial enforcement people...then absolute number of viewers is not the only vital metric.
Re: Time to ditch the arrogant tech blogs
#9What is supposed to be being ditched here? If it's the pitching to/grooming of tech blogs, then companies themselves will decide what's effective for them. Number of referrals is surely just one measure. Credibility ("as featured on TechCrunch"), SEO (backlink from TC sounds good to me?), the fact that other journalists read TC, metablogs and so on. If we're supposed to be ditching reading the blogs, well then folk w…
I've always wondered on "my startup is credible because I was on TC"... Wouldn't actual user count and other metrics be more credible than "I was able to schmooze to some editor"?
I would guess it matters if you have a product that targets other startup-type people (e.g. some PaaS products), but otherwise I agree, the emphasis placed on it does seem odd. I had never heard of it before starting to read HN, and I still rarely see it mentioned elsewhere. Articles are linked here regularly, but the only TechCrunch article I can remember seeing linked in "regular" circles on the internet (i.e. anything other than startup-specific blogs/sites) was http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/28/women-in-tech-stop-blaming-..., which provoked a bunch of responses.
Re: Time to ditch the arrogant tech blogs
#10Analyst firms and analyst publications are a related business area where some folks might be surprised at the processes and procedures that are used to construct the papers and recommendations.
The analyst data collection process can involve some very bizarre fill-in-the-spreadsheet questionnaires that are distributed to vendors by the firms, and there are sponsored technical reports and sponsored product reviews widely available, to what could be termed a product push poll. More than a little of what's printed in various publications and that's available at various web sites is little more than analyst- or vendor-provided text, too. Reworked press releases.
Informed and impartial product reviews are expensive. Which means they're comparatively scarce at the "free web site" product tier.
Corruption? No. It's a (sausage-making) business. Look for the disclosure statements where required, and generally follow the money. If you're not paying, then you're the product, after all. It's all sausage.