12
Apr

The Adolescence of the Blogosphere

Posted by Steven Hodson in Saturday, April 12th 2008      

Thw world of blogging There is something going on in the tech blogosphere and while in the age of journalism some might consider bloggers as nothing more than snotty nosed little upstarts who think they know it all. In the age of the internet however where time is compressed into nanoseconds blogging at the age of 10 is much like the young man or woman who is trying to figure out who they want to be in life.

The fact is we are well past the snotty nosed kid point regardless of what establishments like the Gray Lady or the WSJ might like to think. As it is we have blogging networks that can equal anything put out by the mainstream media both in readership and income. Whether it be the TechCrunch’s, Mashable’s, ReadWriteWeb’s or GigaOM’s if it happens in technology they are going to be the makers or breakers. They post a headline and the Techmeme train starts collecting passengers to ride on the big boy’s coattails. They are the successes all wrapped up in well phrased headlines.

Chances of anyone of the so-called B-List; or lower, bloggers being able to match their success and fortunes are next to nil. Whereas in the beginning a single person with enough drive and Red Bull in their system could chart their course to success. Now people like that just get hired by the one’s who came before them. This is how the blogging A-List maintains their lead by co-opting anyone who looks like they could do something new and better.

This is why you have people like MG Siegler (aka ParisLemon) being snatched up by VentureBeat or Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins getting snagged by Mashable or even Jason Kaneshiro (webomatica) working at the Blog Herald. This is why I expect any day that some smart network is going to make Louis Gray an offer that will be right up his alley; or one that will do whatever they can do to entice Frederic from The Last Podcast to come work for them.

There is a growing talent in the B-List group of tech bloggers that are just beginning now to make waves that worry the current tech blogosphere leaders. These are very talented writers who have decided for whatever reason to make blogging a full time career or at the very least a strong part of a secondary income stream.

But I’ve begun to notice something about the B-List bloggers over the last little while and for the longest time I couldn’t really put my finger on what it was; but I knew I was beginning to feel an undercurrent of change within the B-List. Sure we still had the big headline and break the story first mentality that made the A-List blog networks the big names they are and very wealthy in the process. For them it was all about getting that story out there first and get those page views which meant better advertising dollars.

Once you step outside that rarified world of jet setting conferences around the world or lavish startup parties where only those with the power to really influence the early adopters get the front row tickets you begin to get an inkling that there is something else going on. Bloggers outside of the rarified world of the top tier are beginning to re-evaluate what this whole blogging and social media thing is all about and how they want to have their part in it perceived.

When you have some-one like the venerable Robert Scoble taking a step back to re-evaluate what is going on you have to start seeing the signs that there is a shift happening. When you have that shift being expressed by Jason Kaneshiro from webomatica in such a way that he finds himself examining what he wants his role in the blogosphere to be seen as the signs should be getting larger. For Jason it is no longer the Techmeme train he wants to be catching as it goes by. No … for him it is now becoming more about the technology that means something to him - something that he can sink his teeth into and make it something of real value for his readers.

As well we have excellent bloggers like Alexander van Elsas who writes provocative pieces that make you realize that blogging isn’t about just the headlines and the hottest new startup or the coolest new gadget. No - Alexander makes us; both readers and bloggers, stop and realize that blogging is also about bringing in depth information about the subjects we are writing about to the table. He shows us that we can go beyond the headlines and instead we can be credible sources of solid background information and news.

The blogosphere is changing - it is growing up and while there will always be those like TechCrunch or Mashable that will be the first with the story and making the majority of the money there is a another part of the tech blogosphere as well that is just now starting to come into its own. These bloggers that are a part of this new era of blogging may not make all the money and neither will most of them become big names but they will be the ones that readers know they will be able to go to for the full story.

During this shakeout as the new blogosphere resets itself with new boundaries and new players, some will stick with always trying to get a front row seat on the Techmeme train because they believe this is their road to success. Others though will decide that success for them has a different meaning and it will be these bloggers who will show the true meaning behind citizen journalism.

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