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I think you can have too many people talking about a single topic, or "announcing" news, especially if they don't have new sources, or data. But one person's exit is simply one person's choice. A single data point does not indicate a trend, after all.
I admit to blogging in non-personal mode. Most of what I post is to either educate or inform - from a business perspective. I agree, what used to be the biggest draw to new bloggers - the ability to post unique, honest content and have it digested by the masses - is gone. Here's to the ones who work tirelessly to bring it back.
1) Tech blogging/media *is* saturated -- the Techmeme Leaderboard has referenced the headlines from nearly 700 sources in the past 30 days, compared to just 265 for the celebrity-focused WeSmirch Leaderboard, which is built from the same engine.
2) The top 100 sources in the Leaderboard dominate many of the discussions taking place; even though they only represent 15% of sources referenced by Techmeme in a 30-day period, they account for 72% of featured headlines on Techmeme in that period.
One thing I've documented in my Techmeme analyses is many of the sources in the leaderboard are less and less likely to be individual bloggers. This isn't Techmeme's fault, but I think it does have an impact on the quality of the discussions, as I described in my conclusion:
"Individual bloggers often bring a level of expertise that is sorely missing from the mainstream media and blog networks. Unfortunately, these bloggers are less likely to be noticed, or start the featured discussions on Techmeme or anywhere else. Many of these indie bloggers are experts in their respective fields, and can't easily be hired by media companies or blog on a regular basis. This is not Techmeme's fault, but Techmeme certainly reflects these trends, and may be contributing to the dominance of MSM publishers and blog networks."
Ian Lamont
Managing Editor
The Industry Standard
I do find tech tedious often, because most writers can't handle the subject and hide behind techno babble. However, if you get a good writer that is actually excited about tech doing a book or article there is nothing like it, particulary if he has a real in depth knowledge of the material.
I think tech appeals more to the people who used to be in the last generations "fix-it" crowd. People who are patient and want to know how things work; which is not for everyone.
Most people don't want to fix cars; they want to drive them and could care less about what happens when you push the gas pedal. So, each to his own and when I run into these people bitching and moaning about the cost of fixing things I tell them to get off their ass and figure out how to fix things themselves or quit bitching.
If someone feels like it is crowded, then maybe they aren't keeping up with the news. Sure, if you are going to blog about the same topics all the time, then yes, it is a competitive world.