I recently started following a blog written by Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine. I read him primarily for his thoughts and references to The Long Tail, a term he apparently coined last year… and one that I’m trying to learn as much about as possible. In this post, Chris points to: Six reasons why he prefers good blogs to most traditional journalism in the niche domains where his interests are greatest. They are:
They respect their readers enough to open their comments.
When they make mistakes, they tend to correct them.
They understand that every factual statement that can be linked to its source should be.
Because they have little default institutional authority, they go overboard backing up what they say with evidence. Unsourced assertions are frowned on. In this way, paradoxically enough, blogs are often more rigorous than traditional journalism, because they have to earn their readers’ trust, not just assume it.
They’re often written by practitioners, not just observers, and as a result they tend to get the details right.
If their information source is some random, unverified bar conversation or even just their own opinion, they’re usually big enough to admit it.
I post this because a) I agree with it wholeheartedly, and b) I think its kind of neat to see a traditional journalist giving blogs their due credit.
I would build upon his #5 above. Since I’ve started reading blogs, I’ve learned an unbelievable amount from CEOs, CXOs, technologists, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and business people all over the world… people who are experts in their own right. This isn’t to say anything bad about analysts, reporters, journalists, etc. I just think that practioners bring something valuable to the table, something I happen to value quite highly.
I started blogging several months ago, primarily because of the buzz around blogging and my desire to learn more about the technology. I had already started following some blogs and after getting feedback from others, I decided to give it a try. After a few weeks, I was hooked. People still ask me why I blog so…
I recently started following a new blog authored by Guy Kawasaki, one of the more famous venture capitalists and author of several books on starting companies. Today he’s got a great post called Hindsights, which is a speech he gives to graduating high schools and colleges. The speech reflects back on the last 32 years of his life (he’s…
Some days I’m simply flabbergasted at how many spineless, conniving thieves there are roaming the Internet. These people are a real pain and I have no doubt that most companies with any type of web presence agree with me, although some obviously profit from fighting these villains (you could even make a case for my…
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I’ve needed a new car for a while. But I’d been putting it off, mainly because I didn’t want to deal with the hassles (or at least the perceived hassles) of buying a new car. I’m not one to “talk about” buying things. In fact, I’m probably one of the most spontaneous buyers I know….
Although I’m not proud to admit it, I managed to lose my Blackberry on my first night in Las Vegas (I’m celebrating New Year’s out here in Sin City with some friends). Over the years my track record for losing cell phones hasn’t been stellar and as they get more expensive, it hurts that much…
