Sunday
Tech : Duncan RileyTech blogging is only as boring as the feeds you read
Steve Hodson lights the fire under an interesting meme this weekend, suggesting that Tech blogging has become boring. In the post he cites examples within the echosphere that surrounds CrunchMeme.
I do agree with Steve to a point. There are many me-too blogs that report the same thing and regularly link to the same sources, creating the mainstream monster that Techmeme has become. But to be fair, there is a market in playing the me-too card, otherwise people wouldn’t be adding to the echo. However to suggest that all tech blogging is boring because a portion of it is, is a false stereotype that cannot go without response.
Tech blogging is only as boring as the feeds you read.
On Friday I posted an OPML file of 70 blogs I’d found via FriendFeed. Fresh voices that perhaps weren’t being heard much, with the exception of FriendFeed. Sure, you get some iPhone news and some mainstream stuff thrown in, but the difference in the mix for me is telling, as I now open the folder with those feeds in it in preference to other feeds in the morning.
The problem with original, interesting content is that it’s not always easy to find, and if you’re not linking to the latest Twitter/ Yahoo/ Microsoft/ Google/ Facebook story on Techmeme, you become even more invisible.
But just because interesting content is hard to find doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
I’ve also written previously about my own struggle within the quality equation here at The Inquisitr. When I started this site I wanted it to be different, hence the mix of content (tech, pop and odd) it provides. But over time you’ll have seen a lot less mainstream news reported here as well. The important stuff JR covers well during the US day, then when I get on I try to pick the things I’ve found that interest me, things I’d note that have meant after climbing as high as 29 at one stage, The Inquisitr has now completely dropped off the Techmeme Leaderboard. Let me say again that it’s far easier to recycle mainstream echo from elsewhere (even with a touch of your own spin) then it is to source different, interesting, and hopefully not boring content. I wouldn’t dare suggest either that we always get it right (we don’t), but it’s a goal I’ve enjoyed working at.
I know others are heading in a similar direction. Robert Scoble is perhaps more interesting than he’s ever been, and I know he credits a part of that to FriendFeed, although I wish he wouldn’t link to FriendFeed streams that are blocked for other people (or as is more likely the case, just me). The mere fact I read Steve’s article on WinExtra is case in point: Steve is the walking, talking example of a different, interesting voice in the blogosphere, and although I may not always agree with him, I’m better off for reading his blog, and more recently, even joining him in a podcast.
If you’re stuck reading the same old stories over and over again, mix it up, find some fresh feeds, and contribute to fixing the problem.
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Mine: http://www.google.com/reader/shared/05763917848...
Scoble's: http://www.google.com/reader/shared/14480565058...
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i read it for the voice, more than the content anyway .. i like the duncan and louis and robert and michael voices that permeate the active sites,
me-too is boring, the personal much less so ... heck on a slow news day i would rather read about the frustrated tech news sleuth in action than any thing that he/she might find
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mr. riley, too much stuff on one site, for inquisitr, in my opinion
i was in an art show a couple of weeks ago in a five star hotel in bangalore, and it was combined with a jewelry show ... result, a split audience, the jewelry lovers confused by the art, the art lovers confused by the jewelry, nobody from either genre sold anything ...
have you thought of doing this in two or three different sites? guess we could call that denton-style, as opposed to huffingtonpost-style, though that is primarily politics and not quite so confusing until you scroll down the page ...
i like your voice, and come here to read you, i have a more narrow interest area than what is available here, but i often cannot find you easily, or prominently ... so i actually follow you on friendfeed more than your bread and butter site!
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