Blog Marketing Academy - Latest Comments in Tech Blogging – Too Crowded? Too Hateful? No, Just Changing.

Re: Tech Blogging – Too Crowded? Too Hateful? No, Just Changing.

Justin Germino — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:41:29 -0000

Ironic that I found this post looking and searching for Tech blogs on Google for an upcoming post. It is a very crowded market, and one needs to set themselves out from the crowd, you can't survive as a content regurgitation site but must add personality, as well as establish connection with readers. Everyone can present the same raw stats on a new mobile phone, but inject some personality, humor and entertain your readers and you will get remembered. Also engaging in conversations, provoking them is a good start too. I don't want to be a "news source" for example, I want instead to be a blogger, too many tech blogs are really just 'news sources' not really blogs even though they are called as such. They don't have the engagement/interactivity with the readers that one would expect from a blog.

Re: Tech Blogging – Too Crowded? Too Hateful? No, Just Changing.

Israel Kendall — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 02:03:12 -0000

So I see this is a really really old post, but if it's good, then I'm going to drop a comment. Great read!

Re: Tech Blogging – Too Crowded? Too Hateful? No, Just Changing.

Christian — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:33:29 -0000

Crowded is good. That means there are people interested. It's the angle taken in a crowded blogging community where the sweet spot is.

Re: Tech Blogging – Too Crowded? Too Hateful? No, Just Changing.

Shirley — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:12:33 -0000

I don't think that this field is getting crowded at all. Yes, there are more tech bloggers, but there are also more tech topics.

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.

Re: Tech Blogging – Too Crowded? Too Hateful? No, Just Changing.

Gifin — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:25:50 -0000

To each his own, I can't stand fishing; which I view as one jerk waiting for another jerk on a pole. Don't get me started on golf; a bunch of losers chasing a little white ball around.

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.

Re: Tech Blogging – Too Crowded? Too Hateful? No, Just Changing.

ilamont — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:09:01 -0000

Interesting observations. The part about Techmeme's leaderboard caught my eye; I've just finished a two-part analysis of Techmeme (http://tinyurl.com/6syp3b) and have a few observations about it that you may find interesting:

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

Re: Tech Blogging – Too Crowded? Too Hateful? No, Just Changing.

nicholasyoung — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:37:27 -0000

Jason Calacanis exhibited some of the same sentiments in his latest post over at http://calacanis.com . He's made the move to leave blogging behind (at least for a while, I know we'll still be seeing articles from him on occasion) because of the extremely biased environment. In a move that surprised everyone, he's now sending out periodic e-mails to a list of almost 750 subscribers, and trying to do exactly what you're doing: have a more intimate conversation with his readers.

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.

Re: Tech Blogging – Too Crowded? Too Hateful? No, Just Changing.

Mark Dykeman — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:44:31 -0000

For one thing, there appears to be a growing number of individuals who are breaking away from the Techmeme echo chamber, as I've heard it referred to before, and trying to look elsewhere for new and interesting things. For a second thing, I think that a niche is forming for people who are thinking of ideas to use the newer Web 2.0 generation of tools in new and different ways. You have bloggers who focus on coding and apps vs. gadgets and hardware. You have people who look at the science, business, sociology, and psychology of technology - separately or together. These might not all be new segments, but I think they may be a bit more distinctly defined over time. The biggest thing that I think I see is bloggers who are moving away from industry standard things like the Technorati top 100 and Techmeme and moving in slightly different directions.

Re: Tech Blogging – Too Crowded? Too Hateful? No, Just Changing.

Louis Gray — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:29:17 -0000

It's hard to get used to being named in lists like this, but I appreciate it.

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.

Re: Tech Blogging – Too Crowded? Too Hateful? No, Just Changing.

Michael Sean Wright — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:53:53 -0000

David, thank you for your post regarding the growth and change of tech blogging. Due to recent developments in readers like http://feedly.com I find myself reading around 36-40 tech/social media blogs on a regular basis, and the list continues to grow every week as more discoveries are made. I truly enjoy the diversified voices, the posts that bring something different to the noise and re-posts. In film we call it "voice" while there are a plethora of new directors everyday, those who succeed find their unique voice. You are exactly right- you put out quality and you'll get noticed. As the field becomes more crowded, the tendency might be to post what is "popular" but those that stick to their passions will still be around when the others jump to the next hot format. Todd Rundgren once said- "Don't adjust your music to the audience, adjust your audience to the music." I enjoy your voice and I'll stay tuned for the next composition.

Re: Tech Blogging – Too Crowded? Too Hateful? No, Just Changing.

David Risley — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:53:14 -0000

How so? Do you mean the tech blogging community is dividing into different camps?

Re: Tech Blogging – Too Crowded? Too Hateful? No, Just Changing.

Mark Dykeman — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:35:01 -0000

But it is segmenting like there's no tomorrow... but maybe that's not a bad thing, either.