It’s Not Tech Blogging That’s Boring
Jul 22 2008 
View Comments
The latest meme conversation floating around is about tech blogging being boring or failing. Suprisingly, Scoble didn’t link to Hodson’s article which seems as if it may or may not have sparked his post. Moving along…
I don’t feel tech blogging is boring nor is it failing me. If I did, I would clear out my RSS feeds. While the echo chamber can pose a serious problem sometimes, it doesn’t account for tech blogging as a whole. Techmeme doesn’t account for tech blogging as a whole. As much as I love working at ReadWriteWeb, we nor any other major blogging network accounts for tech blogging as a whole. We’re individual slices of the pie. If you feel like you’re being bored or it’s failing you then move along to something else.
Taking Care Of Business
Business tech talk can be fun. With Guidewire Group, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with a ton of great CEO’s and alumnus of the DEMO conferences. They’ve shown me interesting products such as ReQall and Silobreaker. They’ve given me great advice and I now have a different perspective on the business side of tech. It’s not a failure when bloggers blog about the business side of tech.
I also don’t think that tech blogging is controlled by PR. While PR definitely has their hands in the cookie jar, I think we’re controlled by our audiences and we do our best to give them business news that could change the services they use or the way they use a particular service. We inform them of things that they may not take the time to read about elsewhere. We let them know what’s going on with the companies that create and build the products that they use. To be honest, I feel like we do the dirty work and simplify all that jargon that would confuse the average user. Plain and simple, we give them what they may want or need, but don’t otherwise know how to get. I’d say we’re pretty successful at it too. It’s a necessary balance in my opinion even if it is drawn out sometimes.
A Plateau Perhaps?
Every once in a while, one hits a plateau. Things come to a standstill. At this point, there’s nothing wrong with tech blogging and I think we may have just hit a plateau. Also, there just aren’t any new services coming out that stand apart from other services that are currently available. Sidenote: That’s not an invitation to flood my inbox with pitches. We blog about what we do, what we see, and how we experience things. However, we can’t do that without something new to do, see, and experience. No one wants to keep blogging about the same services. Unfortunately, if that’s all there is, then that’s all you can do until something else comes along.
I don’t think this means blogging is boring or failing. We’re waiting for something better. In the mean time, we make due with what we have. What’s so wrong with that?
Other Related Links On The Web:
LOVED IT? SHARE IT!:
Perhaps it's burnout time for some bloggers! You still have energy, excitement, and a fresh perspective which is why you're fun to read. The question is, though, is that level of enthusiasm sustainable? For someone like Scoble, blogging since…the late 90's (I believe), he may have had enough, esp considering that there are now completely new tools to communicate and network with others (like FriendFeed, obviously). Why bother blogging when he can just post a link on FriendFeed? Plus, he's absolutely right – many A-List blogs are more like traditional media outlets now – the content is very much defined by press releases – slews of them – and less by bloggers actually finding something exciting (or different or fascinating) and sharing it with others through a post.
At the same time, there are a few major blogs out there that don't always go directly off of the press release. Problogger is a major blog that I've never seen a press release on. There are A-listers that go the opposite way, you just have to find them. On the other hand, just because you use a press release as a starting point doesn't mean it has to be the end all, be all of your post.
Of course, my own personal A-list doesn't go off of PRs all the time either.
It is very American of us to expect everything we see to fascinate and amaze. Some things are worth writing about even if they haven't been Bedazzled. I love writing tech news, social media news, and playing in this sandbox. Where it gets hard is the quota system many blogs have to get daily content/eyeballs. Some days it would be better to skip writing: no news, needing to keep writing fresh by taking a break, etc.. The current pay per post method of most blogs does not allow for that. If we could move away from a dependency on ads and find other revenue streams that would change as a matter of course, and many burnt out bloggers might find renewed energy and passion.
Leslie Poston
UptownUncorked.com, Blorge.com, Profy.com
Leslie, I think you are spot on (per usual). The real issue here is when money and art start playing in the same sandbox. A lot of the burnout comes from playing to quotes/traffic and all the cruft that fuels the large networks and some of the little guys alike.
There comes a point in your career as a blogger when you have to decide who you're writing for. I think the answer to that question decides how quickly you hit your burn cycle.
Great perspective Corvida.
I feel like the problem isn't that there's no news out there, but rather that everyone's got the same stories (much as in traditional media). I understand why all the major blogs need to cover all the major stories, but since they do each have the occasional story that no one else has got, as a reader I need to follow all of them to make sure I'm not missing anything – and end up reading the same major story 5 times. It would almost be better if bloggers just posted a link to a press release or previous story with the basic info and then actually wrote out their own take on it, so that readers could get the perspective without reading the same background info over and over.
I think it's also frustrating as a start-up when you feel you have a big, interesting, NEW story but don't get any love from bloggers because you're not Google or Microsoft. I'm sure I'm not the only one in that position :)
It's not really about Tech being boring. Apparently there are a lot of people who just cut and paste articles from all sorts of news networks. That makes it boring. Controversial topics can be sometimes fun especially when Tech Companies have a go at each other.
I notice you write a lot of geeky stuff. You should write a little on the Election. That'll spice things up.
Tech Blogging is never boring my dear. I just love it. ;-)
I don't know about you guys. I am always fascinated by all the Tech Blogs.
There is a certain style of writing that really captivates me. You sound laid back but have so much passion and composure when you get into the groove. Talking about the title, it really caught my attention.
Thanks,very interesting and useful post
In the law of attraction, you attract people to you likeness. Therefore, people who are attracted to you, in terms of your writing style will come from all places on earth. You do not need to worry whether they find your blogging boring.
A lot of people probably don't realize that you can have extreme learning curve on Web 2.0 technologies just by following good Web 2.0 blogs. This is one of them.
I got to agree on that. I have never find internet marketing or tech blogs boring because these topics are my interests. Likewise, i believe my readers feel the same way and this is why they are frequently coming back for more.
Rif Chia
Yes it is really true the things you are saying, lot of blogs help us to improve our skills.
Tech blogs are sites where people can find valuable information or learn something in particular. There are times where i have problems with my vista OS and i manage to solve them via blogs that contains valuable answers.
If it's really boring, there won't be so many visitors to this blog. Keep up the good work girl.
This is a good blog to pick up lot's of tech updates.
Thanks for some inspiration. I was getting bored about a lot of things, including tech blogging. Now I just gotta wait for something better to come along my way.
A lot of people just follow anything that comes fresh from the oven in technology. Not many people really digest them and see how good it works. Thanks for the tech write ups.
Yap Tech Blogging is never boring. It's getting more hot.
We still waiting for something better, and the blogging stuff is always rock.
We still waiting for something better, and the blogging stuff is always rock.
not boring at all…keep up the good work