Friday, August 8, 2008
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Fav.or.it Really Bothers Me I've actually never spent a whole lot of time on Fav.or.it. Whenever Louis Gray made a big deal of them a while back, I covered the back and forth and the finer points either side had to make, but I was in a place where I was all full up on early adopting and didn't have a chance to try out the site in great depth, only to look over the feature list and get an idea on how they worked.
In my coverage, though, I implored Robert Scoble and Adam Ostrow to explain the allure to me:
I'm really asking this question to people like Adam and Scoble, both of whom have used the system and seemed to like it (as well as any of the folks in our readership that have grabbed any of our freely available invite codes). If you are seeing something that Louis and I are missing, please explain it to me.Robert and Louis had some follow-up comments via Twitter, but they didn't exactly explain why I should go ga-ga over things.
Fast-forward to today. I'm working on a project relating to my new take/eureka. As a part of that, I'm looking for legal, quality sources of technology news that I can pay to syndicate to a website as a way to provide context to editorial and other types of content on the site (without going out and hiring a news staff). It isn't a cheap proposition, but working at Mashable, I know what a hassle it can be to headhunt quality writing talent for news stories, when normally everyone you hire for that is really interested in doing paid editorial or on air work.
Concurrent to this, I get a pitch from Nick Halstead over at Fav.or.it to check out some "new ways to navigate the site":
We put up a major updated today - 4 new ways to navigate, by Tag (my new favorit!), By Feed, full-text search and popular pages.I took a good long look at the links he sent me, today. Here's the thing - they're reposting full feeds, pulling up all comments from the original sites, and advertising other Fav.or.it site content around their pulled content. If you leave a comment there at Fav.or.it, it doesn't head back to the original site, either.
The best way to experience all of this is go take a look, below are links to pages which we think best demonstrate the new functionality.
Tag Page Examples
http://fav.or.it/tag/obama
http://fav.or.it/tag/gadget
http://fav.or.it/tag/chocolate
http://fav.or.it/tag/apple
Feed Page Examples
http://fav.or.it/feed/523 - (Mashable)
http://fav.or.it/feed/672 - (TechCrunch)
http://fav.or.it/feed/528 - (Chris Brogan)
http://fav.or.it/feed/2214 - (/Film)
http://fav.or.it/feed/3746 - (Just Jared)
They're splogging, in other words. Not only that, but they're splogging and trapping content and visitors at their site. Additionally, they're pulling out any advertisements that are normally in the feeds, as well (something that must be actively filtered for).
What's more, these guys are darlings in the Web 2.0 press. When Louis and I weren't so convinced on these guys, I remember Nick and Robert both defending it on FriendFeed or Twitter, as well as a number of other community advocates. I actually invited Nick to contact me to appear on an episode of Mashable Conversations to explain to me the value of the service. He agreed to come on the show, but never nailed down a date to do so.
So should I just start going around and re-using others content without permission, or should I fork up the cash on this new project and subscribe to some syndication networks and wire services for what I want to do?
Seems to me, if I frame my service with the right buzzwords, I can get away with using others content, no problem. Obviously, I'm probably going to go the legitimate route, but I'm wondering if I'm a fool for doing so.
Labels: adam ostrow, louis gray, nick halstead, robert scoble
posted by Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins at 3:06 PM[Blog] | [Home] | [Robots]
I Appeared on ScatterCast As many of you know, I'm some sort of podcasting fanatic. On a typical day, I've recorded at least two podcasting sessions, either for me, for Mashable, or as an appearance on someone else's podcast. If I'm not on a podcast, I'm blogging about podcasts. Sometimes I have phonecalls with other companies about their podcasts. I have podcasts coming out my nose.
Sean P. Aune, one of my buddies who works with me over at Mashable and does the Mashable Conversations video podcast with me had me on his podcast: ScatterCast:
This week I brought on Mark “Rizzn” Hopkins that I work with over at Mashable, and he has his own blog at Rizzn.com. Mark has been involved with podcasting for years, so we have a nice discussion about the history of the format, why it’s become popular and where he sees it going in the years to come. He’s probably forgotten more about the format than most people have ever even known, so it’s an interesting look into the thoughts of one of the biggest advocates of this style of chat show.We had a good time - definitely worth a listen. Also a subscribe.
Labels: podcasts, sean p. aune
posted by Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins at 10:08 AM Thursday, August 7, 2008[Blog] | [Home] | [Robots]
What's Next? Alright. I've got several threads that I need to cap off here, and life has had me chasing rabbit trails instead of paying attention to what I said I was going to talk about here. Let's go down the list of things I said I was going to blog on here or elsewhere:
- Duncan Riley and Aaron Brazell's Blog Network Thing
- Austin Resources - I decided to do this over at Mashable, but I'd like to get some more input from you guys here as I develop the series. I know a lot of the Austin crew reads me here, so definitely give me your input. If you know any great bloggers in Austin who aren't on this list, leave them in the comments.
- Closed Topics vs. Open Topics - I had this thing I started talking about guided discussions vs things you don't mind if trolls get in on. Sitting in drafts still. Interesting topic, though.
- At the Edge of Eureka - Boy, you almost forgot about this, right? This is something where I've hit my eureka on. Right now I'm deciding what I want to say and what needs to be in the business plan.
- By the way, did anyone get this joke? I'm guessing not (which is OK by me. I amuse myself).
- There's also this thing that ValleyWag said, and the fact that I don't really agree with Ben Parr. I have a feeling that I'll be seriously pissing our readers off at Mashable if I get too honest about social media consultants as a group. There are some SMC I really like and who I think really have it together, but there are a lot of charlatans, and I think if I say that at Mashable, it'll cause some serious waves.
- ... and of course, my new take on blogging's style of journalism. Not to keep you in suspense, but I may save this for last, or at least the middle. Still want a couple more days between you know what and this.
Which stuff do you want first? posted by Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins at 11:27 PM Tuesday, August 5, 2008
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Some Amendments to Yesterday's Screed A lot of what I said yesterday still stand. Actually, almost all of it still stands.
However, I feel I may have unfairly pointed some of my fervor at some folks that may not have warranted it. That's what this post is for.
Andrew Feinberg - he's not best known for being a contributor to TechnoSailor he says, and made it very clear that he wasn't attempting to be part of the lynch mob that came after me. Indeed, he implored me to shoot him if he ever became part of the blogosphere's various lynch mobs. I think that in my state of being overwhelmed, I mistook his general cynicism towards a lot of the "social media" culture to being directed at me personally. In other words, he's just cranky in general (not simply sour on me), and that's something I can respect.
Aaron Brazell - he admitted that his language was overly harsh, and while we still disagree on some semantics, he convincingly explained to me how it wasn't his intent to insult me. His witticism about my journalistic practices was the straw that broke the camel's back for me, but he restated his issues were more with that one piece than my entire body of work. We agreed to disagree.
So far, no one else has come forth to walk back any of their comments (nor did I really expect them to), though Svetlana Gladkova did try to tell me on the comments to a post on TechnoSailor that calling Mashable sensationalist was actually a compliment. I'm not sure how that's supposed to work.
Hopefully this will be the last I speak of this incident. I'm going to give this site another 24 hours to exist on "orange alert" with comment moderation turned on, although I'm happy to report that 94% of the comments I've received thus far on the topic have been overwhelmingly positive. As it turns out, I'm not out in left field.
I should probably take this opportunity to further go into the nature of what I think blogging's form of journalism is, but I think it's best left for another day, because while it's interesting, sparking a discussion on it so hot on the heels of this mess is likely going to end up tangling the topics together, and we'll end up back on the discussion of whether or not I'm a douche or all my detractors are douches, or what have you.
Let's agree to talk about that later then, shall we?
In the meantime, any serious thoughts are welcome on whether the blogosphere is screwed business-wise or if these recent events (Profy, Weblogs, Inc. and Gawker) are entirely coincidental and in no way form a pattern. posted by Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins at 9:26 AM Monday, August 4, 2008
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High School Drama in the Blogosphere [Disclaimer: This article and video is only targeted towards a select few who know who they are. Chances are that if you aren't one of those few, you'll either be bored or insulted unnecessarily. Feel free to ignore this if you haven't publicly insulted me in the last four or five days.]
There are some weeks that I'm really ashamed of what I do for a living. These last few days have been reflective of that feeling. I posted what I thought was an evenhanded article on Friday afternoon about the 'early retirement' of the editorial staff from Profy.com. Somehow, for at least a few bloggers, this has turned into a "let's trash Mashable and Mark Hopkins" festival. These are folks that I've up until recently regarded as friends, allies and peers.
I say "up until recently" because some have really said some horrible things about me.
These things are so insulting and quotable that I'm really considering making them a permanent part of my web design here - enshrining them in the template. When you watch the video, you'll hear most of them, but let me put a few of the choice quotes here for your perusal:
"..if you are paid to be journalistic [Mark], then you my friend are a shitty journalist."
- Aaron Brazell, owner of TechnoSailor.com
"Mashable just chooses what they think is sensational enough to bring eyeballs (like in this case) ...there are much better places to reach people who actually care."
- Svetlana Gladkova, editor of Profy.com
"'Word comes to us?' 'Multiple sources?' I've been asked why I never tried to write for any 'A-List' blogs. Answer? I'd rather learn how to do it right ... in this case, I see little reason why anyone would want to be anonymous. I thought you were better than that, Mark."
- Andrew Feinberg, Washington DC commentator for TechnoSailor.com
"'[Mark] handled a hard story well' - I'm not even sure where to go from that. I'd be interested in hearing Editor Ostrow or Owner Cashmore's views on this post. Overall I'd say the post lacks consideration. I think I will have a response to the initial Mashable post this weekend - I'm really disappointed in Mashable on that post."
- Allen Stern, owner and editor of CenterNetworks.com
"I forget that the tech blogosphere is so much like high school and that there are many who believe it’s more important to be first than it is to get the story right."
- Cyndy Aleo-Carreira, contributor to The Industry Standard
Here's the bottom line - no one has been able to dispute any of the facts I've put out. Not a single one. I got the story right. I got the story first. What got people upset is that I didn't tell the story they wanted it told. Instead of admitting that fact, a few folks decided to pick the piece apart and focus on the process rather than what the heck is going on over at Profy (and perhaps the blogosphere as a whole) that would cause a whole editorial staff to walk out.
In this video, you'll hear me get all hot under the collar. I'm frankly sick of this high school drama, butt-hurt over nothing, childish behavior. We're supposed to be professionals.
Up until this point, it has generally been my policy to make nice with folks who come after me, even those that try to build a blogging career out of nitpicking my editorial policy. This has brought upon my life nothing but grief and a receding hairline. I simply don't have the patience or the health to expend upon this crap any longer. I can't believe I'm saying this, I'm starting to understand why Mike Arrington is such a prick to most of the blogosphere. He gets this crap all the time.
I don't expect apologies or personal emails or even comments from the folks I mention in this post or in the video. I'll say this - I hope it was gratifying, because it's your last chance to take potshots at me and call me a friend. This is the last time I wipe the slate clean. Disagree with me if you like (I love a good debate), but if you publicly denigrate my craft, my abilities or my person - we're done.
I'm not going to lose sleep over you. I'm not going to declare war on you. I'm not going to embargo your sources or not link to your blog. I'm simply going to never assume you have anything but your own best interests at heart, and will continue to stab me in the back if it means you might get ahead or a few more pageviews.
I'm simply too weary of doing nothing wrong and having to apologize for it.
Download the MP4
Labels: aaron brazell, allen stern, andrew feinberg, cyndy aleo-carreira
posted by Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins at 5:18 PM Sunday, August 3, 2008[Blog] | [Home] | [Robots]
Professional or Prosumer? This question is for the content producers out there. When you're creating a new venture, a new production, some sort of new content project... do you go for the most professional and feature-laden toolset out there? Imagine this is a new project for the general audiences you usually pitch to, but might have slightly different branding.
We have such a wide variety of tools to use when hosting and distributing our media these days - if I want to do video and have a sort of organically created feel, I can use YouTube to achieve that end. Flipside, I could use a completely decked out solution like CastFire or Episodic.
In the audio sense, there are a number of really good podcast platforms out there, and on the very organic and versatile side, there's stuff like Utterz, and on the uber-professional side there's outfits like Libsyn.
Does the distribution outfit matter when you're looking at content to subscribe and consume? Or is a feed is a feed is a feed?
Labels: distribution
posted by Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins at 2:18 AM
