Disqus - Latest Comments for Eric Berlin

Re: “Networked thought” — truth or delusion?

Eric Berlin — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 19:20:36 -0000

I think a lot of people who grew up with books and print news and now spend much of their work day and spare time both share this feeling.

I certainly feel it -- something of a sense of loss, maybe? -- and have had many conversations with colleagues where we talk about growing up sitting over a print newspaper over breakfast and days filled with consuming books.

Personally I've been rejuvenated of late because of my purchase of the Amazon Kindle. It's a revelation to be able to sneak a few pages of a book in here or there while on the go. There are certainly some imperfect aspects to this new product, but overall I'm overjoyed as it has allowed me to bring book reading back into the course of my day-to-day life.

Re: Newsweek does UGC drive-by

Eric Berlin — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 21:39:55 -0000

Amazing to see fear and ignorance of new media find its way into a usually high quality pub like Newsweek.

But as you note, content is content, right? It can come in good, bad, and ugly increments whether it's published by "users," "experts," or some point in between.

Re: Are social news sites like Digg useful anymore?

Eric Berlin — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:25:37 -0000

Can you explain a little more what you mean, Spuds? Do you mean that people who are into social bookmarking can find use in sharing what they're into on an online platform? thanks!

Re: From the Pipeline - 4.6.08

Eric Berlin — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 04:27:49 -0000

Steven, thanks so much! I'm noticing there's something of a twitter-friendfeed-osphere if I can say? Still a very young and vibrant and exciting community, lots of fun to look at and partake in and analyze.

Re: Who Voted For These Top Blogs?

Eric Berlin — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 04:20:28 -0000

The problem with many of these lists -- particularly the "traditional media" ones covering new media -- is that they tend to go for the "cutting edge"/provocative instead of a truly comprehensive list. The result is what happens a lot of the time when old media covers new.... it just doesn't feel right. This list certainly falls under that category, I'd say.

Re: Craiglist vs. craigslist blogger, round three

Eric Berlin — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 15:30:37 -0000

I didn't have a problem with the original communication. It was a little bit lawyerly and cold of course, but isn't that the point? I suppose they *might* have caught more flies with the proverbial honey by offering to move them over to alternate URL (perhaps?), but the point was to basically scare squatters (in craigslist's view -- and I think they have a pretty good case) off their land, right?

And I get the feeling -- particularly in learning about the misleading text ads -- that Tim and co. wouldn't have been so friendly toward any suggestions from craigslist.

Re: Hey you kids — knock it off back there

Eric Berlin — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:48:53 -0000

Agreed all round. Isn't there or shouldn't there be some place for *both* "high end" showcases like DEMO (which claims to give companies huge spotlight, state-of-the-art ways to present etc.) and more "grassroots" forums like TechCrunch50?

Note I use quotes on both because I've not been to either event. But it seems to me that different kinds of venues that have different participants, different cultures, different modes of discussion, and so on can only be a good thing.

Re: Refocusing The Blog

Eric Berlin — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 15:25:41 -0000

Very interesting Jason, as we can see there are many that are trying to find the right blog balance, the right interwebs-immersion balance, the right work-web-life balance.

It really is about that blurring line between hobby and second job, passion and unhealthy obessesion, isn't it? Long ago, I gave up the need/compulsion to cover the "big stories" going on each day. If I have something meaningful to add I'll do it, but like you I've been striving to write stories that turn *me* on, which hopefully will have the same benefit for readers. If those stories happen to hit techmeme then great, but it's not the primary focus.

The ironic thing for those bloggers who have ambitions to become more popular is that it's the against-the-grain stories that when done consistently and well will gather a larger ongoing audience.

Anyway, I love your stuff Jason and look forward to whatever may come next.

Re: Use Twitter In Conjunction With Your RSS Reader

Eric Berlin — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:44:15 -0000

The question of a place to pick up on breaking news is an interesting one, Corvida. I don't think of an RSS reader as a particularly great place to do that, as there's so much volume to dig through. Sure you can set up filters and such but that's not going to set up a very efficient way to pick up a breaking story that could in effect be about almost anything.

I think of news aggregators as a pretty efficient way to pick up on breaking news, as well as places like Twitter, where people you're following are likely to be chatting about hot topics of the day.

Re: Bitchmeme: Do blogs deserve advertising?

Eric Berlin — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:38:55 -0000

Mathew - This was spot on my take across-the-board as well. If you want to take the stance that some specific sites don't deserve the traffic / ad revenue they receive, that's a very different argument, but I don't think that was what Louis was trying to say.

By the way, I *think* michael walens' comment is pretty hilarious... right?

Re: When not talking about Twitter, what do you do in life?

Eric Berlin — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 04:03:38 -0000

I like to read, and the Kindle has helped me to catch up on some book learnin' even if it's just a few pages at a time. And I like to write, both the blogging thing and a long and sometimes tortuous journey into stuff that's more "creative" (sometimes there's more quotes around that word than at other times...). I'm also a TV nerd and love nothing better than having laptop on lap and something on the tube.

Luckily I'm married to a wonderful woman who drags me out of the house. We go hiking, we take walks, we'll ride our bikes around town every now and again. I'm trying to get into shape, so will take little jogs with my dog.

I'm also a big fan of music and shows and am trying to bring that element back into my life after a year+ nearly consumed with work. I locked in seeing REM at the Hollywood Bowl next month and just got tix to see The Kids in the Hall live, which I expect to be nothing less than epic. Also heading to New York in June where I have lots of family and friends, so I always store up my energy for nightlife stuff for those trips.

Re: Are social news sites like Digg useful anymore?

Eric Berlin — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:11:08 -0000

Social news sites are by their very nature going to be driven by what the community thinks is important. If you find Digg to be a useful resource, that's great -- obviously man others do as well.

I'm probably biased these days as I find Twitter and Friendfeed to be pretty amazing ways to discover "what I wouldn't easily find." Alternatively, browsing through Digg and Reddit today, it felt more like sifting through the aisles of a thrift store: there are some jewels in there, but you have to have patience, as well as some luck on your side.

Re: Are social news sites like Digg useful anymore?

Eric Berlin — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:29:30 -0000

Totally see what you're saying Reilly but I think the counter-argument -- that I'm somewhat but not 100% sold on -- is that if the curated detritus is yet more detritus... is there a point to the whole operation?

That's why I completely agree that the future as I see it for the social news platform is to find niche environments and niche communities -- probably with some sort of editorial overlay.

Re: Online Media Cultist honored by The Industry Standard

Eric Berlin — Fri, 16 May 2008 21:41:39 -0000

Thank you !

You should do a competing Louis Gray List, pulling from your monthly column ;-)

Re: Online Media Cultist honored by The Industry Standard

Eric Berlin — Fri, 16 May 2008 21:42:16 -0000

Thanks so much for liking, posting, stopping by, and all of the above ! :-)

Re: I’m Boycotting Twitter Until They Get Their Act Together

Eric Berlin — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:18:48 -0000

I'm getting pretty frustrated with the outages too -- hope they get their scaling issues under control one of these days

Re: louisgray.com: FriendFeed Friday Tips #1: Five Ways To Use the Hide Function

Eric Berlin — Sat, 17 May 2008 23:13:27 -0000

Great job as always Louis.

Semi-related: I've been wondering how friendfeed decides to provide users with friend-of-a-friend updates -- anyone know how that's done ?

Re: Ars Technica snapped up by Conde Nast

Eric Berlin — Sun, 18 May 2008 04:58:54 -0000

Agree with Lucas -- that was my first thought: $36 CPM seems awfully high. Perhaps they get it for a limited amount of inventory but can't imagine it's across -the-board.

Also agree with Mathew that Ars could be a good fit for Conde -- they're putting together a pretty interesting digital portfolio.

Re: Link Sharing: 5/17/08

Eric Berlin — Sun, 18 May 2008 05:03:46 -0000

That's a great description / dynamic, succinctly stated, about Digg's and Reddit's transition. Will ponder some more on that topic.... cheers, EB

Re: Bridging the Blogging 1.0 and Blogging 2.0 divide

Eric Berlin — Tue, 20 May 2008 01:47:06 -0000

I think most web publishers understand that making money online is extremely difficult. Most do it for the enjoyment of the process, to take part in the greater online conversation, and if a couple of bucks can be made from it, all the better.

Lets remember too that ALL forms of publishing are extremely competitive. Web publishing at the least is egalitarian -- anyone can do it, which may of course lead some to have unrealistic expectations.

Re: Mark Cuban: Hulu kicking YouTube’s ass

Eric Berlin — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:35:03 -0000

Granted, there's bias there if only to defend the prediction that Google's purchase of YouTube wouldn't pay off longterm, but I still see some solid basis to the fact that YouTube has a longterm problem in monetizing UGC video... along with every other UGC video platform out there, by the way !

That said, it should be noted that Google is in the rarified position of not necessarily basing YouTube's performance directly on revenue. They snatched the most popular video site on the Internet away from anyone else with the purchase, and now have the ability to experiment with video on the web -- including video advertising -- on the greatest scale possible.

Re: College textbooks on Kindle = no brainer for brains

Eric Berlin — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:12:41 -0000

I would argue/predict that the things that poise the Kindle for mass use -- ease-of-use, relative affordability (down to $350 or so, no monthly fee, discounts on most purchases vs. print), lightning quick download speed, portability, tie-in with Amazon account, etc. -- will also add value for many college students. While the purchase price will be expensive for many -- match it against the overall cost of college texts, throw in some discount pricing... and you can make back the cost relatively quickly once the academic publishers are rounded up and books brought to digital format.

Re: The future of content may come in the form of a Cavalcade

Eric Berlin — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:10:07 -0000

Well, I think it could be a game changer in terms of how high end content producers (Hollywood, TV people, etc.) think about how to break through on the Internet. And it has potential to lead out how web distributed content will be produced and consumed. I guess we'll see !

Re: The future of content may come in the form of a Cavalcade

Eric Berlin — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:13:52 -0000

Very interesting thoughts Reilly. In a very real sense the Internet is revolutionizing both content and advertising, creating unlimited means for distribution and consumption while at the same time creating means for measurement (which to be sure are still in very very early forms).

No wonder why Hollywood is scrambling to figure out what to do about it !

Re: The future of content may come in the form of a Cavalcade

Eric Berlin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:54:07 -0000

Hmm... So the argument you're making if I'm reading you right is that accountability leads to less fun/creative ads? I actually believe the opposite -- if you're hitting the right people at the right place at the right time, I think there's lots of room to be fun and creative. People groan at Punch the Monkey or seeing a boring insurance ad for the millionth time, but seeing a beautiful banner for an album that you're interested in while on a fave music site... that's actually a valuable experience, "ad content" that's you (in this example) actually seek out.

Re: Twitter and FriendFeed: where the future may tread

Eric Berlin — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:12:06 -0000

I think that's a good way of thinking of the two Reilly, they're different kinds of "lifestream services." The great thing about both is that you have the ability to customize them to use in ways that work best for you.

Re: Blogging 2.0: The end of the beginning?

Eric Berlin — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:38:45 -0000

Very interesting thoughts, and I'm much agreed. Traditional media companies that get hip to this way of thinking are going to find ways to survive in this brave new climate. There's a major generational shift going on, and you see journalists like Mathew Ingram reaping the benefits.

Re: Rubel vs. PC Mag — bizarre

Eric Berlin — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:22:53 -0000

I agree that it's strange. Perhaps it was done in reaction to Rubel's "open letter" apology (which seemed sincere enough).

Re: Should Twitter be afraid of Facebook?

Eric Berlin — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 23:17:13 -0000

I don't think that Twitter should be afraid of Facebook because, as you allude to, the use of this sort of "presence-based" application shows that there is a market for it. Competition flooding into this space in various ways only proves this out.

Just like social news and social networking sites, presence-based apps will sort themselves out based upon tools and functionality, but also by community. Those who end up sticking with Twitter won't be the same kind of people who use Facebook's app, for instance.

Re: Interviews: phone, email — which is best?

Eric Berlin — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 21:44:40 -0000

Mr. Calacanis is a master at drawing attention to himself -- even a non-interview ends up as above the fold Techmeme-fodder!

I agree that while phone interviews can be far more intimate and can yield more interesting answers, e-mail (or IM) is by far the more efficient means of communication in the 24-hour publishing environment of the web.

Re: Where are the cliffs of insanity?

Eric Berlin — Wed, 02 May 2007 18:00:42 -0000

My fave thing is the Sea of Memes

Re: Covering Pasadena from 9,000 miles away

Eric Berlin — Fri, 11 May 2007 20:48:13 -0000

Fascinating Mathew! I think about Tom Freidman's The World Is Flat a lot these days, and this story brings up a huge ding in that department.

And on an even weirder personal level: I live in Pasadena and learned about this story from a reporter/blogger based out of Toronto ;-)

Re: Could Facebook eat Yahoo’s lunch?

Eric Berlin — Fri, 25 May 2007 14:17:47 -0000

I'm very curious to see how companies who utilize The Platform will leverage their access to Facebook to actually get in the face of Facebook users to get them using their services.

In other words, just because you're on MySpace, it doesn't mean that you're checking out featured comedians on the MySpace Comedy page. The social networking experience tends to run through the profile (you login to your profile, and then click on your friends' profiles, cute guys/girls that you want to check out, etc.).

So I'm wondering if access to The Platform means that you get in-house advertising on Facebook? In other words -- how will these companies make the leap into Facebook profiles?

Re: Desktop Tower Defense totally rulez

Eric Berlin — Tue, 29 May 2007 20:19:15 -0000

I'm not a big gamer, but this addictive little devil sucked me down the rabbit hole for a good too many hours over the last few weeks!

Re: Andrew Keen Q & A: still hates the Internet

Eric Berlin — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 22:55:24 -0000

My flame definitely burns bright when it comes to this topic!

Mathew - thanks so much for including my questions. My immediate thought while reading Keen's response was "old thinking." It's fine if you desire filters.

I love HBO for instance because they produce high quality programs (is it Sunday and time for Sopranos yet?), but I'm not opposed to watching videos on youtube. I read ABC's The Note every morning, but I'm not opposed to taking in viewpoints from a wide variety of bloggers and journalists across the web.

The great thing about the web and blogosphere is that I get to decide, I set the filters.

Re: Is Zillow building a ghost town?

Eric Berlin — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 00:51:01 -0000

Well, I think the "ghost town effect" is a potential risk for any web community. The key is how you scale it up, and it may well be that Zillow is making a mistake in opening up 6,500 communities at once *or* not seeding enough content/community in an invite-only phase. Time as they say will tell.

It's totally correct to say that just because you have great content, doesn't mean that people will automatically want to sign up for a profile, upload pics, and blog about it.

So, down to more important business: when is my MathewIngramWorld profile going to be ready? I'm on the invite list, right? ;-)

Re: Fred shows some VC love for Twitter

Eric Berlin — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:57:02 -0000

Yeah, exactly, "how're they gonna make their money back?" was the first question to pop in my head when I saw this story.

Charge businesses for the right to use the service? Put banners on web profiles? Subscription fees for value-added services?

I love twitter, though like you my usage has dropped way off. And I'm confused as you as to what they will do to build a sustainable business.

Re: It’s Arrington vs. Scoble over Podtech

Eric Berlin — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 19:32:12 -0000

Wow, interesting use of the word "if" by Scoble (shouldn't that be when).... ;-)

Re: Jason wants a velvet rope on his blog

Eric Berlin — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 19:07:37 -0000

It does seem odd and provocative that Calacanis would seemingly punish many of his admirers by closing off comments.

I'm guessing Jason has also been heavily been influenced by Twitter and enjoys the ability to fire out commentary without having to necessarily follow it up with clarifications and debate.

So in essence he's not happy with the blogging platform in general (and I would argue that comments are an essential component of blogging: the post is the beginning, and then the real conversation begins in the comments, or at least that's the hope ;-) ). Therefore it's interesting that he challenges those who want to respond to his writing to publish a blog post of their own.

Or maybe it's a ruse meant to drive up his inbound links? Or maybe as you assert Mathew it's all merely a ploy to drive the Techmeme-conversation on a lazy summer's weekend?

Re: Does my butt look big in this avatar?

Eric Berlin — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 14:45:58 -0000

While Second Life might be an interesting experiment, you're right in pointing out that Habbo is a real revenue generator, and also proves that kids don't (necessarily) need cutting edge graphics and animation to keep them entertained.

Habbo, Club Penguin, Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom, and Neopets all generate a ton of traffic and revenue and don't get covered nearly as much as media sensation Second Life.

Re: News flash: Digg headlines not "real" news

Eric Berlin — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 15:45:22 -0000

Mathew, I completely agree. The blogosphere grew out of a need for people to get more and different kinds of information and entertainment content than what they were getting from traditional media, and the social media explosion (including social news sites) is simply a continuation of this trend.

The Daily Show is amazing... and it's as amazing as it is because it sits atop all the other mass of media and news that's already out there. As you mention Digg and delicious and Reddit are similar -- you can't look at them in a vacuum.

Re: Calacanis: Web 3.0 is whatever I say it is

Eric Berlin — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 16:37:33 -0000

Are people becoming too concerned with the *semantics* web?

I understand that Mr. Calacanis excels at drumming up controversy and blogospheric conversations, but I'm surprised at the reactions to this.

Maybe I'm just more comfortable with throwing loose labels around than others, but I see zero that's controversial in Jason's definition, and in fact think it's right on. Web technology is more or less commoditized today, therefore the best ideas and execution of those ideas will tend to win out over the next few years. That's my take as well.

Now, maybe the semantic web (or the "whatever web") will be Web 3.0 *or* Web 4.0 or whatever, but does that really matter?

Re: Shall we Gather at the (funding) river

Eric Berlin — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 06:52:02 -0000

Personally, I don't think the proposition of paying bloggers for their writing will be the "winning concept" that the VCs are likely betting on with $6 million.

Now, I'm biased (heh...) but I see a valuable proposition in offering bloggers a grassroots-built network where they get free review materials, professional guidance in terms of story writing *and* free editing services, and a platform in which to hit a much wider audience than in the smaller pond of an individual blog. The reader is then served by finding a one-stop shop, an online magazine of superior blogging.

Eric Berlin
Executive Producer
Blogcritics.org

Re: Well done, Dan — failure is educational

Eric Berlin — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 09:23:35 -0000

Yes, I must admit that I like and admire the Newsvine model as well, at least at this early stage -- it's really nice mix of "hard news" (with the ability to comment added, something you'll likely never see at a reuters.com) and bloggy elements. What that bloggy element "brings to the table" and adds to the mix will be very interesting and will likely help to determine the long-term success of that venture.

Your work seems to always hit on the themes I'm thinking a lot about, Matthew! I agree, everyone interested in this area is looking at what works, what doesn't, what *should* work but doesn't, and vice versa! And yes, unless you have the enormous built in traffic of a Google or Yahoo, it's very hard to build a stable traffic base. So I think that's partly why we're seeing aggregators on top of aggregators. It's really a mess in a lot of ways! But it also makes perfect sense given the explosion of media, information, people coming online, and relative newness of it all.

Re: Bubble Zen: When is a bubble half-inflated?

Eric Berlin — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 06:23:12 -0000

Great analysis as always, Mathew.

I think as with both things, the truth lies somewhere in between the two extremes. The good news all around, I would think, is that we've reached an age where ideas and business models can be cheaply and relatively easily explored.

Blogcritics.org (full disclosure: I'm the Exec Producer) is a perfect example. Founded by Eric Olsen in mid-2002, it's had the marvelous ability to grow organically and at an absolutely grass roots level because the overhead was so low. Further, things like easy access to broadband and cheap cell phone rates allow for a dispersed and virtual organization to run on the cheap.

I very much like Mark Evans' notion of investors adapting to this climate and going for smaller, targeted rounds of investment that don't just include money but include the assets to help an organization like mine reach the next level.

Re: CoComment, MyComments, Co.mments

Eric Berlin — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 00:06:06 -0000

From a business/corporate blogs standpoint (an area that is only going to continue to rapidly expand in my view) companies are going to want to track what customers/readers are saying in comments across the web.

Hell, during one dark period of my "professional" life, I transcribed answering machine messages from customers issuing complaints about services and products! Getting medieval on comments will get right up on the biz world's radar at some point.

Re: Why is everyone so down on Digg?

Eric Berlin — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 02:12:09 -0000

I think that some are resistant to the communal power of digg and reddit for a variety of reasons: it's sloppy, it's geeky, it's low brow... it's not "cool" enough.

I like digg, even though I wish it weren't so tech focused. I actually wish that some of these platforms (and MAN are there are a lot of start-ups out there trying to cash in on the digg-model) had a "blog" or even "Internet" category -- what's up with the lack of that? The reddit model is really fun in my view as you can vote comments up and down, which really satisfies some kind of primal e-urge!

And that's the thing with digg and reddit -- they're satisfying platforms because they meet some kind of intuitive need to interact with both information and other community members at the same time.

I'm afraid to say that like it or not resistance truly is futile.

As a side note, you've emerged as my favorite tech blogger Mathew, awesome stuff as always !

Re: Sweet - Digg gets diggable comments

Eric Berlin — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 01:28:32 -0000

I couldn't agree more, Mathew. I'm not a big Slashdot guy, so I first experienced the ability to vote comments up or down via Reddit. Reddit is currently my favorite "social bookmarking" website, mostly because the popular stories are interesting and range outside of tech-obsessed world.

The ability to vote down a comment that annoys me or vote up a comment I agree with gives me a strangely satisfied feeling, almost akin to the feeling one would feel if we were able to talk directly to those who cut us off on the freeway or, alternatively, allow us to change lanes.

Anyone want to guess which happens more down here in LA?

So I think Digg made a great decision to add this feature. It will be very interesting to see how much this affects the attitudes of commenters, who can be especially vicious on these kinds of sites.

Re: Blog hiatus - I hear the beach calling

Eric Berlin — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 07:48:50 -0000

Enjoy Mathew!

I made the transition from the cold (New York) to sunny and warm (northern and now southern cali) years ago and can't now imagine ever going back.

Re: I like Derek’s “user-generated content”

Eric Berlin — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 12:41:19 -0000

It's always interesting to examine (or deconstruct) the meaning behind the words we use. In my view, "user generated content" has its place... when it's used carefully. Myspace blogs, for example, pump out lots of user generated content (which is now beginning to be indexed!). That's user gen content, in my view. So it implies a lack of quality or polish, I suppose.

Re: Items that might grow up to be blog posts

Eric Berlin — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 12:30:55 -0000

I don't buy Sim's argument. Tech.memeorandum's traffic is down... okay, that can tell us any number of things: there are meme trackers and meme diggers a-plenty these days, so perhaps memeorandum's market share is dropping (I think Gabe's expansion strategy is fab-o, by the way, as I point out here). Or perhaps there haven't been quite as many red hot news stories in the past few months.

Another possibility -- and another something I point out in the piece above -- is that tech.memeorandum can do more to expand the number of sources that it covers.

Re: Social network space a tad crowded?

Eric Berlin — Fri, 12 May 2006 02:06:07 -0000

Mathew, totally and completely agree... and doesn't the eye glaze over when you see more than 5 of these at the end of a post? 10?

But I have a big "but" here: would you really call digg, reddit, etc. the social network space? Social network to me is myspace and friendster and facebook, where "the deal" is personal profiles and friend gathering and finding bands. Newsvine does a great job with profiles but that's more of a personal presence and much less a "personal space."

Re: NBC and YouTube, sitting in a tree

Eric Berlin — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 00:34:44 -0000

If I may quote myself:

"I applaud NBC's move. It will be the forward-thinking media companies, those that accept that content must be "let go" in order to bring audience back, that understand that the media landscape is fractured and will only continue to splinter endlessly and chaotically, who will be left standing when the web 3.0 dance party (sponsored by Google-MicroFox) begins."

Re: Forget Digg, what about Fark?

Eric Berlin — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 01:04:25 -0000

I read the biz 2.0 piece and have been following the subsequent buzz throughout the day. Prognostications for investing in blogs and user-gen content driven-properties seem to vary from the rosy (I'd throw the Business 2.0 piece into that category) to the very cautious.

What's your prognosis, Mathew? Will this investment fuel a "blogging bubble"?

Re: Forget Digg, what about Fark?

Eric Berlin — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 01:06:52 -0000

By the way, Fark seems to be the MySpace of the blogging world, doesn't it? People make fun of how sophomoric it is, how the design sucks, but meanwhile it gets over one million visitors a day, rules supreme on The Truth Laid Bear, etc.

Re: Social software is not a fad

Eric Berlin — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 20:13:06 -0000

Mathew, I think you're exactly right. I see "social software" as yet another milestone along a trail that includes e-mail and the web and more recently blogging and RSS. They start out as edge-cases but eventually become nearly ubiquitous to the online experience.

RSS is a great example, I'd say. Signing up for a site's feed via e-mail address (or RSSfwd.com, a great service) does *not* require knowledge of how RSS works or even what it is.

Social software will (and in many ways is) just another part of how people communicate, interact, and share

Re: Is submitting things to Digg “work”?

Eric Berlin — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 00:56:01 -0000

I always circle back to the notion of a "value proposition" -- there's got to be a win-win for both sides to make for a successful online community of any sort. This may or may not involve cash compensation -- I'd argue that in the vast majority of cases cash doesn't make sense or is unworkable. I think netscape's experiment is both interesting and unique i.e. Calacanis has money to play around with obviously.

At Blogcritics, there's no way that we could pay our 1,700 writer/bloggers. However, we think what we do offer -- writing mentorship (who else does that for "mere" bloggers?), editing of feature-length pieces, thousands of free review materials, exposure to a far larger audience, entry to a pretty cool community and the untold opportunities that brings, Google juice and traffic for home sites, etc. etc. -- is pretty great and has been the fuel to a grassroots phenomenon based upon not a dime of investment cash.

Overall, I find myself ambivalent like you, Mathew. And for some reason I bristle a bit at Rose's notion of the absolutely organic process where users submit and vote for stories simply because "they want to." That doesn't really mean anything, in my view. Everyone outside of prison walls does things because they want to.

Re: Sanger sticks a fork in Wikipedia

Eric Berlin — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 19:16:23 -0000

There seems to be a movement to take community-based platforms and try to slap some element of "expertise" (which some might deem as control) upon them.

Take digg and netscape -- it's the same thing, isn't? Calacanis took the digg model and is attempting to use editorial "anchors" to provide some level of editorial control over a social media/news experience.

I find this to be one of the most interesting developments in online media right about now -- great post, Mathew.

Re: Sanger sticks a fork in Wikipedia

Eric Berlin — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 23:22:50 -0000

Yes, exactly right Mathew, and the winning models will be those that balance those two sides while pleasing and serving an audience best. It's really fascinating to think about how young social networks and social news and other kinds of social media sites really are. It's fun to think about who will emerge as the diggs and myspaces and wikipedias of two years from now.

Re: MySpace — so popular no one goes there

Eric Berlin — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:15:51 -0000

I think there's a distinction between what's hip and hot and what's massively popular. MySpace is the #6 most popular website on the Internet, according to Alexa.

That said, I think there's absolutely a hunger for something newer and hipper and less gorged by the corporate beast, and there are dozens of start-ups falling all over themeselves trying to meet that need.

Re: Yes, blogging can be a business

Eric Berlin — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 20:53:14 -0000

Very interesting that Calacanis posits unedited blogging as a way to keep costs low. That makes sense, but one must consider that the writer(s) involved must have the chops and self-editing discipline to produce a publication worth reading!

Re: Reddit gets to Digg-ify Conde Nast

Eric Berlin — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 23:18:48 -0000

I agree that it's a very interesting acquisition, Mathew. I'm fascinated to see how much potential there is/will be for social news verticals, or players to fill in space that digg isn't covering (perhaps that's a better way to phrase it!).

Reddit does what it does very well: very simple, clean, and a good mix of stories (tech, non-tech, political, odd ball). I hope they continue to do well.

Re: Viral is great — but does the infection last?

Eric Berlin — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 20:26:25 -0000

"Viral" is just another distribution mechanism, isn't it? It's the content that really counts. Dove and the mentos/diet coke video became as "big" as they did because the content was really interesting and compelling.

Your comparison with super bowl ads is the right one, I think. Pushing online products and services particularly is much more effective in the online medium. That trend will only grow, I would think, whether it be viral or more traditional online advertising.

Re: Viral is great — but does the infection last?

Eric Berlin — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 18:32:09 -0000

So I think you're saying that viral marketing is a superior distribution mechanism, Michael? Perhaps, but I still think the content has to be there. No one is interested in sending a typical car ad to their friends or blogging about the latest Ditech commercial, you know?

Interestingly, I first saw the dove video by clicking a link on a social news site (reddit, I think). I do know that I had no idea that the video was associated with dove until I read about it in this very column! What stuck with me was how the process of "beauty" is created for marketing purposes.

Re: No, Mike — TechCrunch is not different

Eric Berlin — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 20:32:30 -0000

Yeah, I'm baffled that Arrington would try to set himself apart like that. Stemming from your definition of honesty, I would add transparancy as something that I look for and appreciate in journalists/bloggers/writers. When I read a piece in Slate and see a "full disclosure: MSN signs my paychecks" or whatever, it really puts me at ease. I know then that the writer is doing his/her utmost to play it straight, and laying out the conflicts that they're working around helps to give me (and readers) an accurate depiction of the landscape.

Re: No, Mike — TechCrunch is not different

Eric Berlin — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 20:38:57 -0000

The great thing about the proliferation of online media is that it's so much more difficult to be "opaque" or even semi-transparent.

I'm sure there is some downside to too much transparency (maybe one day the expectation will be that you must disclose what you eat for dinner every night, Mathew!) but I can't think of anything at the moment.

Re: No, Mike — TechCrunch is not different

Eric Berlin — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 21:24:08 -0000

Right, I think the blogers vs. journalists debate often misses the point. The only real difference I can see is access or the willingness to go out and create access (to people, information, resources, etc.).

Re: Linked In just doesn’t get it

Eric Berlin — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 01:10:35 -0000

I think your point about restrictiveness is key, Mathew. Friendster got swept aside by MySpace (in part) because the latter allowed the online hordes to truly run the asylum. Friendster's early policies to not allow profiles dedicated to inanimate objects or obviously false representations (Britney Spears, President Bush, etc.) hurt it, and the crowd migrated to where the vibe was less stuffy.

So I'm much more interested in sites like Jobster right now, which are trying to put a friendly face on business-related social interaction.

Re: Linked In just doesn’t get it

Eric Berlin — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 18:29:30 -0000

You bring up a very good point Uberveritas -- social networking is very far from a zero sum game these days. Some form of social networking experience will likely filter into multiple aspects of the average online user in the near term, and already it's common for people to maintain multiple profiles at multiple social networking-oriented sites.

Re: Diggers will find a way to get paid

Eric Berlin — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 21:41:01 -0000

My guess is that a number of experiments and models will play out, and Jason is and will be known as an early innovator in the emerging "social news industry." Like many other online phenomena, it began as a free wheeling and spirited foray into the void, building on the fantastic online tools that have fueled this "web 2.0" phase that we're now... digging, for lack of a better word!

I believe that the new Netscape is an early model for what most online news publications (including MSM) will look like -- a hybrid of "original" content, featured content (by admin/editors), and popular content as voted on by the audience.

Re: Digg — worthless, or just misunderstood?

Eric Berlin — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 02:14:37 -0000

Digg has its issues and challenges, but from what I can see Mr. Clarke is poking around in the wrong places.

I personally don't care for the tone with digg comments some of the time, but does that mean that Digg doesn't have value or is rotting from the inside? Hardly. I can happily enjoy digg's content without bothering with the comments if I like, or use its best-of-breed tools to help filter out the din. And the notion that sites will block digg as a referrer is ridiculous. Some traffic is better than others, but traffic is still traffic -- everybody loves it.

In my view digg's (and all social news sites') biggest challenge is the value of diggs/votes themselves. Should all votes be equal, how do you encourage participation while discouraging gaming, etc.

Re: The “long tail” and Wired magazine

Eric Berlin — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 02:12:52 -0000

But just having a comments section isn't enough, is it? Successful NOW bloggers, journalists, or blogger-journalists must use the story/post as the first part of a conversation, one that continues in the comments between readers and the author.

Mr. Ingram does a spot-on job of doing just that, by the way ;-)

Re: Yes — but a smaller, less frothy bubble

Eric Berlin — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 19:35:37 -0000

I think the entire key to this cycle, or bubble (or whatever), is that it's "a whole lot cheaper" all round. Companies can be founded by people that live in different parts of the globe, without office space and with the slimmest of overheads. Blogcritics is currently owned by three people who live in Ohio, Texas, and California and are helped out by army of volunteer editors and 1,700 writer/bloggers who hail from around the globe.

Even if this "bubble" "bursts" (it's the friday before christmas, so pardon my overuse of quotes) this level of innovation will still exist. And it will only increase as Tom Friedman's flat world continues to chase (and catch) the West.

Re: NBC should make Andy Samberg CEO

Eric Berlin — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 18:39:23 -0000

Somewhat ironically, I managed to watch Lazy Sunday for the very first time this very week (I must have been stuck down the social networking and blogging hole for the past year... or something).

One of my first remarks to a friend was, "I haven't watched SNL in about 10 years -- I didn't know it was funny again." And as I said it, I realized the power of that two-minute rap onslaught of gangstas straight out the Upper West Side bit of genius.

Re: http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2006/12/25/860/

Eric Berlin — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 07:45:50 -0000

Rock, Mathew! The wife was upset that our little apartment was relatively unadorned this year but luckily we have her family's decorated-to-perfected-hilt homstead in Orange County, CA to head off to.

Re: Google wins — because it doesn’t suck

Eric Berlin — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 20:26:56 -0000

I'm not a fan of any of the blog search engines, but I must admit that I gave up on google blog search a long time ago -- perhaps it's gotten better, at least enough to reach the "doesn't suck" category as you say, Mathew?

I think the popularity of memetrackers such as memeorandum is partly the result of blog search engines generally sucking.

Re: Google wins — because it doesn’t suck

Eric Berlin — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 22:39:33 -0000

As of a year ago or so (the last time I was really engaged with blog search) I have to say that I liked Mr. Cuban's IceRocket better than Google, which I personally ranked behind both IceRocket and Technorati (the latter of which was a clunky mess).

That said, I just searched for "Mathew Ingram" on both Google blog search and Ice Rocket... and I have to say that I found more Google *a little* more relevant. But I really do like Ice Rocket's feature that lets you select between post by Mathew and posts about Mathew. As someone who taught basic library and Internet research sessions all over the desert of southern California for more than a year, I *really* appreciate this distinction.

Re: Google wins — because it doesn’t suck

Eric Berlin — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 22:42:14 -0000

Mark, I wrote my comment at nearly the same time you wrote yours (which is kind of a strange coincidence, really). I didn't use the advanced search feature to search by author using IceRocket, I must note!

Re: How do I get into these things?

Eric Berlin — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 20:47:03 -0000

I like the calacanis v. denton pairing!

Just let us know when to vote, Mathew, and we'll take to the fray, no quarter will be asked for nor received, etc. etc. !

Re: Seven ways to help Digg get better

Eric Berlin — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 21:36:52 -0000

I agree, Mathew. One of the things that has long bothered me about digg (though let's face it, it's still just about the best social news platform out there pound-for-pound) is the management's insistence about how "organic" the community is and what the community wants (via digging, burying, and so on) the community gets, and so on. From what I've seen this is simply not the case, what with the weighting of "diggs," weighting of digg users, etc. Some of this is necessary to run a successful social news community, but the attitude of the people who run the community -- how they interact with their community, the message and attitude they convey, etc. -- are very important.

Re: A back fence around a ghost town

Eric Berlin — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 03:59:04 -0000

From what I've seen, while there are local successes (as have been mentioned here) no one has been able to create a succesful collective of sites that focus on various locales. Maybe it's because ldesire for local-oriented content has not yet reached critical mass online? Or perhaps it's because no one can get the advertising model quite right. I wouldn't be surprised if the first model to find success will have a basis in social networking with some value-added content.

Re: Tony Hung fills in at Problogger

Eric Berlin — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 01:29:45 -0000

I enjoyed Tony's post as well, so much so that I wrote a piece based upon prereq #4 (I belive) around 1 in the morning last night!

Re: Yahoo buys MyBlogLog — but why?

Eric Berlin — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 14:53:14 -0000

Perhaps Yahoo! doesn't need to do anything with it, at least for the time being. If MyBlogLog continues to grow as it has been -- and I think there's a good chance it will -- it has a shot at being a "MySpace for bloggers" in terms of numbers. In terms of snatching up a hot property, I think Yahoo! made a great acquisition here.

One thing that would make me frown is if Yahoo tries to integrate MyBlogLog with Yahoo 360 :-(

Re: Yahoo buys MyBlogLog — but why?

Eric Berlin — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 15:20:52 -0000

True. Makes you wonder if Yahoo! will one day roll out a Yahoo Wizbang product that incorporates all of its content offerings, 360, del.icio.us, MyBlogLog, etc. into an all-in-one experience.

But it seems as though the scramble is on to snatch up all of the hot new web 2.0 plays, doesn't it? A coworker mentioned just yesterday that she felt Google's acquisition of YouTube was a defensive maneuver.

So it seems that the idea is buy first, figure out what to do with it later. In any event, as a fan of MyBlogLog (I see my thumbnail pic staring back at me even now!) I think it has great potential to bridge the gap between the still relatively separate blogging and social networking worlds.

Re: Yahoo buys MyBlogLog — but why?

Eric Berlin — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 19:28:58 -0000

Yes, I think that MyBlogLog's functionality could pretty neatly be tied to other kinds of social bookmarking sites. It's really a very nice extension away from "traditional" social networking -- where it seems like people are there... just to be somewhere -- to social networking that meets the needs of standalone sites/communities who want to connect with one another (blogs) and, perhaps, existing cohesive communities (flickr, let's say).

Re: Second Life: virtually a real business

Eric Berlin — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 13:47:52 -0000

It seems to me that Second Life is the place where people are just figuring out what to do with what's sort of a social MMO. I think when there are fun/challenging tasks to complete (World of Warcraft-style) that might be tied into pure gaming, or education, or budiness-related activities, things will get really interesting. Second Life is doing a little of this now, but I think we're just at the beginning.

Re: Digg, Stumble and the madness of crowds

Eric Berlin — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 19:44:12 -0000

I agree that Digg-driven traffic isn't all it's cracked up to be. However, while all traffic isn't equal, *most* publishers would agree that all traffic is better than no traffic!

In any event, I think the interesting thing here is that the focus is on the Digg community i.e. the people visiting and perhaps dropping negative comments on digg-linked sites. What if there was a nicer, friendlier, more stick-around kind of community driven by a social news site? While this sort of thing would be no easy feat to conjure, I believe that popular social news verticals will emerge that may create an environment that is more conducive to people sticking around links they visit, clicking on things (perhaps even ads!), etc.

I'd love to see a StumbleUpon what's-the-deal-with-it post, Mathew!

Re: Twitter to live, but don’t live to Twitter

Eric Berlin — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 06:01:06 -0000

Mathew, I started out as fairly ambivalent about Twitter, but the more I use it, the more I like it. I really like your take on it as another piece of the puzzle. For some people it is and will continue (in my view) to meet a need for staying connected and communicating in an ever frenzied world. And, sure, that will have negative consequences for some.

But for me, at the least, it's been an enjoyable way to take part in the great online conversation. I can see using it as part news reader, part e-mail, and part casual ongoing diary.

And let's not discount the fun factor. All web 2.0 and no play makes for a dull blogosphere (or something!).

Re: Print may be dying, but the news is not

Eric Berlin — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 19:44:27 -0000

I agree Mathew, it's that evolution that will be painful in some ways for traditional media companies and part of the "creative destruction" (or whatever) that the proliferation of technology and new media outlets (free, online, etc.) are causing. It's the same for the music industry and large media companies (see: Viacom v. Google/youtube for a recent example).

All of the rules are changing, new players are coming onto the scene, and newspaper companies and all old line media corporations need to evolve quickly to stay relevant. So it's interesting to me that companies such as the NYT company and Conde Nast are making acquisitions and in some ways changing the way they present information to online audiences. Netscape is another innovator, I'll wager, in adopting a digg-like model.

Re: Independent: just another word for "wrong"

Eric Berlin — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 19:08:28 -0000

Yes, it's the change of thinking overall that is essential. I've written pieces covering Reuters and The Economist's use of blogs, and while the desire seems to be there to implement blogs (and other tools) into their online offerings, they at the least still have a ways to go.

For example, while Reuter's ed-in-chief wrote a blog post, at the time I wrote the piece most of their blogs had the "ghost town effect" which is measured in lack of comments but more importantly, lack of posts for huge lengths of time.

And I spoke with The Economist's exec editor and head of online media, and while he enthusiastically spoke about their blog offerings, the integration with the rest of their online content was nearly nonexistent. Further, blog posts were anonymous, allowing no personal interaction with author and reader.

Re: Kathy Sierra: the dark side of anonymity

Eric Berlin — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 01:56:30 -0000

Agreed - shining a light on these bozos is the best way to expose them for the dark-souled cowards that they are.