Why idiocy rules on TechMeme
Cause Dave Winer only links to my idiocy. He’s never linked to any of my videos, which is where the smart people and smart ideas in my life are.
Smart person on there right now is Sally Strebel, aka “bizgirl” on Twitter. But she’ll never get on TechMeme, even on a slow day like today. Smart people talking about their businesses and their lives are never interesting enough to link to, no?
So, if TechMeme is a cesspool we have only ourselves to blame.
I notice that Dave doesn’t link to my link blog. I keep my stupid idiocy off of there (and I haven’t linked to Jason Calacanis’ latest idiocy either).
My link blog has never been on TechMeme either.
What’s funny is Dave’s post made it onto TechMeme before I even linked to it.
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October 4th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
The problem with TechMeme and the leaderboard is it’s all the same. The gaming aspect of it only increases that tendency. You could pick a handful of the top 100 and miss very little from the rest.
That’s no knock on the handful or really on anyone on the board. It’s just that very few news aggregators originate much original thought. They’re way to busy tracking and commenting on other’s original thoughts.
That’s cool, it’s very helpful, and I do subscribe to that handful (including yours), but what I really want to do is peer beyond the radarscope and see that original stuff that doesn’t quite make the grade. I want to see blogs 101-200. And if the leaderboard expands, I’ll want to see what falls off the edge of that.
More on my blog:
http://smoothspan.wordpress.com/2007/10/01/the-internet-first-breeds-diversity-then-conformity-punctuated-equilibrium/
October 4th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Thing is, videos are not so easily searchable, and nor are they fast to assimilate.
In talking to a number of bloggers in the last few days, we all feel fairly disgruntled when a link goes to a video or podcast as its often just too much time to get at the content than we want to spend.
October 4th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
There is alot more going on here.
October 4th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
[...] well… fabricated. Not sure what to think about both the posts by Jason Calacanis, Scoble, and Dave Winer today. And now Mike Arrington is joining in as [...]
October 4th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Exactly alan. If a video is longer than, say 5 mins, I always hope that someone has summarized it and captured all the key points.
I used to listen to tons of podcasts on my long commutes to work. But now that my commute is only 10 mins, I simply can’t listen to half hour or longer podcasts or videos.
Now I simply want summaries. I find myself reading Rafat Ali’s suite of blogs often since he summarizes the content so well.
October 4th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
[...] glad to see Robert still has his hunger for interesting stories. Do you?If you think you have got it. I mean, really, really go it and are interested in [...]
October 4th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Good point Alan P. I do like the videos, but I am very choosy (due to a lack of time) what I watch. I download more than I ever get around to watching - 10 mins max.
October 5th, 2007 at 1:24 am
So we’ve had the democratization of information. Does this herald the “idiocratization”?
October 5th, 2007 at 5:40 am
I’ve to say this Scoble: I’ve watched, I think 3 videos of yours in all after you came to PodTech. Channel9 is a different matter because, I’m a developer and Channel9 stuff is for Devs and IT folk. This video? About a Party organizing site? With all respect to bizgirl (I *think* I know how hard it is to run a business), I don’t think that video will add any value to me.
And, where are the developers in your videos? Looks like they’re filled with more of Execs than devs?
October 5th, 2007 at 7:18 am
[...] volley with his “Techmeme is officially a cesspool,” Robert Scoble responded in “Why idiocy rules on TechMeme” and even Jeremiah Owyang is a bit disappointed by Techmeme. I’m a reader to Techmeme [...]
October 5th, 2007 at 7:33 am
[...] what I call him… hey! It’s better than what he calls himself… “idiot” [...]
October 5th, 2007 at 7:39 am
I like how the NY Times does many of their videos - they include a full written story. The videos are often well produced, and bring you along as the story unfolds, which is very different from an unedited interview or event.
It’s like anything else, the web has had a long time to evolve into a medium that uses the printed word very well. Video and other media have not had the same time to integrate into how the web works, and how people use the web.
October 5th, 2007 at 8:57 am
Yuvi: you are right. I’ve been getting a lot more executives lately. Why? Because companies give me the execs and don’t let me into talk with the developers. It’s a big problem. Some companies, like Twitter, have let me into talk with the devs, though.
October 5th, 2007 at 9:01 am
Dan: good point. But NYT has resources that I simply don’t have. And I’m putting up a video every day. How many journalists there are doing that?
Yuvi: maybe a business about party planning isn’t your thing, but I’ve done 300 videos over the past year with diverse subjects from Microsoft Research to file managers at Sun Microsystems to tons of startups that cover a wide range of things.
Not to mention a few Stanford Professors, who you WOULD learn something from.
October 5th, 2007 at 9:06 am
Robert,
What golf course did you film this interview at? I may want to check it out when I am in town.
October 5th, 2007 at 9:44 am
[...] Scoble: Idiocy Rules On Techmeme [...]
October 5th, 2007 at 11:52 am
It’s the Half Moon Bay Ritz Carlton golf course. Right by my house, so if you come by give me a call.
October 5th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Sounds like Calacanis needs to loop in Kim Jong Il to make sure all the experts agree on the next iteration.
October 5th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Robert,
Thanks, for the response, Maybe I will film one of my Mr Business Golf Show videocasts in the same spot if I get up that way. Keep up the great blogs. I enjoyed the interview with Sally and looked into that Best Party Ever…pretty cool idea.
October 5th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
300 videos served, maybe 3 minutes digested.
October 5th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
@14 “but I’ve done 300 videos…..”
Isn’t quality more important than quantity?
October 6th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
How ’bout using a wind baffle on your microphone in the future?
October 9th, 2007 at 7:03 am
While I’d love to watch videos on pioneering Stanford professors and the like, the fact is that I usually read your blog from work, where “high bandwidth applications” are blocked.
So the whole video thing doesn’t work for me, and it’s annoying to click through on an entry of your just to realize that I won’t get anything out of looking at the post since it points to a video I can’t watch.