Comments on: I Temporarily Failed the Blogosphere, and Old Media Failed Me

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 23:33:31 +0000

Be glad the article didn’t focus on blogs. That would have been terrible.

The way to sell blogging is as the “anti-geek” thing to do. No technical skill necessary, and yet you publish on the Interwebs.

“Blogging is cool, not geeky,” is a message that may work. You might be able to sell that.

“Being a geek is cool” will continue to fail.

MySpace is the success that it is because they don’t mention technology, or even blogging, even though it’s a rudimentary form of blogging.

It’s really just social media, which means it’s really just *socializing.* Even among today’s kids, who are the most media and technology savvy kids ever, *popularity* is what matters.

Being a geek will never win popular appeal, because most people are NOT SMART, and most people are smart enough to not engage in activities that explicitly establish without a doubt that they are NOT SMART.

Look at the bell curve. You can’t fight that. Don’t even try.

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 17:53:15 +0000

Were you surprised they included references to bloglouisville.com and blogherald.com? As for failure – I don’t see it. Seems like the writer (or her editor) wanted to give people a glimpse of geeks through non-geek lenses. “Blog… isn’t that a geek word?” “Yes.” “Leave it out.”

By: Dennis Bullock

Dennis Bullock — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 03:45:52 +0000

That is what I was saying. I just dont think that the word connets with people. Sure they have have been on one and didnt know it but do they really understand what it is and how it can be used. I just dont think so.

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 21:08:23 +0000

Dennis,
I sometimes teach a CIS 300 class at UofL, and last semester I had 33 students. I asked how many knew what a blog was and 9 raised their hands. That’s pretty bad.

By: Chris P.

Chris P. — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 20:07:06 +0000

I would argue that most people know of blogs through news coverage (CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, national nightly news, etc.).

The reporter was very clear on the topic of blogs, so we didn’t discuss that in detail – it was treated as a “given variable.”

By: Dennis Bullock

Dennis Bullock — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 17:19:50 +0000

They didnt quite get it did they. Regarding them not mentioning blogs though. I think that 99% of folks dont even know what a blog is. In your discussion did you review what they are or did they drop that from the piece?