Bengt, Steve and I spent a bunch of time posturing to figure out who could get their blog to the top of the Google search results for a made up word. It’s a page rank game, how “popular” is your web site?
Bah, kid stuff. Real men (real capitalist men) care about money. Here’s the acid test: How much is your blog worth?
My blog is worth $15,242.58.
How much is your blog worth?
Thanks Tom for the pointer!
On Sunday most people got their first glimpse of MSN Virtual Earth (well, the PR started Sunday at any rate) and frankly… it’s pretty damn cool. Imagine the useful features of Google earth… but in a web page… no software installer needed (unless, of course, you’re not running a modern browser, but then you’re probably on a 200 baud modem as well).
The site is cool for what it is, but it gets better, the Virtual Earth team thought ahead and built in some cool functionality to allow people to create custom maps… so one of our architects did. To the see the fruits of his handiwork go to the start preview, click the down arrow next to the “start preview” logo and select “MSN Bloggers Map” from the Popular Feeds/Staff picks section. Voila, a list of MSN bloggers showing their office locations on a satellite picture.
Think about how fantastic this is; we’ve made stalking accessible to the insanely lazy and clinically agoraphobic.
Sorry if you received a reload of my entire post set, my blog software threw a cog this morning and a reinstall was required to get up and running again.
The reason the World Wide Web is called the World Wide Web is because it’s filled with interconnected links, allowing you to move from site to site. Do you ever do that?
When I first started using the web, yes, I did click around from site to site, it was kind of neat. Now, when I want some information I go to a search engine (typically Google, but I’ve just installed the MSN toolbar, but I digress), type in a search and go directly to the info I want. I do very little “browsing” when on the web. Two reasons:
The thing that has brought back interest in web surfing for me is the concept of the blog sphere. A blog sphere is a subset of a subset of the web; it’s the blogs (one subset) I read (another sub set). This narrowing of scope has made it much easier to navigate the web in an ad hoc fashion as I am no longer presented with the overwhelming scope of the web… I’m presented with the web as seen by people I think are interesting (who find interesting links, produce interesting content or are, simply, interesting).
All day today I’ve been listening to a new, free album I downloaded from Mercedes Benz (yes, the auto manufacturer). Seeing as you don’t expect go looking for music on a car manufacturer’s site and I don’t own a Mercedes (or a Chrysler for that matter) it’s unlikely I would have happened upon this site on my own. I found it because Paul left a comment on my blog, and he entered the URL for his blog. Reading his blog I found the info on the Benz free music download.
Viewed as a whole, the web is full of a bunch of random crap. Viewed through the filter of the people with whom I share a connection it becomes a whole lot more interesting.
I’ve found that without an RSS reader I don’t get around to checking out my friend’s pages, so I need to get myself a reader and am now going to make a concerted effort to find one that fits my needs. Throughout this process I’ll keep you updated with my impressions of the various clients I try out. Note that I may end up finding a great client and/or get bored before I can try out every client out there, so don’t be disappointed if I peter out.
So, what are my criteria?
Must Have:
Like to Have:
I’ve started an initial list of readers with my main requirements: http://www.little.org/tips/rssreaders.htm. If you have an app you really like, please let me know.
Seriously now… blogs are little more than personal home pages with built-in text editors.
People put up web pages for a number of reasons, but it’s really all about a real or perceived notion that what they have to say is interesting to other people. Blogs are all the rage now because they’ve cut through the painful overhead of setting up and maintaining a web page. Here’s what I say, they’re nothing new, just a better implementation.
Bill Gates is now going to get a blog. Doesn’t he already have one right here? Sure… it doesn’t look like a blog, but it serves the same function. So, if Bill Gates already has a web page that provides a forum for his views and news what is he really getting?
Perhaps it’s not that simple. Our society is continuing to evolve from a formal to informal society. We don’t wear ties to work anymore. We don’t like our neighbor’s kids to call us “Mr. This” or “Mrs. That”. We prefer instant messaging over e-mail. Are blogs just an extension of that formal to casual transition our culture is making?
A formal home page is cold and corporate. It has pretty graphics and structured layout. A blog tends to have fewer static pictures and the content, while structured, tends to be shorter and come in fits and bursts (My posts range from a couple lines to long boring rants no one reads… are you still here?).
So what do you think? Are blogs really something new?
My Cousin Mark Robert (I can’t remember a name for two seconds? Must be time to put me out to pasture) used to work for Nokia as a patent attorney, now it appears he spends his time blogging. I guess I’ll have to drop him an e-mail to find out else what he’s up to.
Aren’t computers grand? The magic of the web and blogging technology allow us to keep a virtual eye on Rob and Sharon as they each celebrate their 30th birthday in Paris.
Rob has quite the photo setup and the skills to back it up. The pictures are bound to be beautiful.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one…
Sure, an oldie but a goodie. Now in my defense I speak English, French and a little German. I don’t, however, have any idea what is being written into the comment fields of my blog (see here and here). I found a Norwegian to English translator on the web (but have since lost it… I’ll find it again I know, if only IE had some sort of history feature ;)) and had fair results. Perhaps I should try Swedish or Finnish… I’d really love to know what this person has taken the time to write. Anyone speak… well… whatever?
Blogging seems to be seeping deeper and deeper into our culture. Aditya posted a link to a great NYT article on blogging.
Here’s the quote that got me thinking:
And while there are exceptions, many journal writers exhibit a surprising lack of curiosity about the journals of true strangers. They’re too busy writing posts to browse.
Blogging is really very self-serving (except in my case, because I’m special). People have a strong need for validation, they want to know they are liked, respected, feared, or whatever resonates best with their psyche. When you think of blogging as simply people looking for acceptance, is there any surprise that high school kids gravitate to it?
No, I don’t think it’s wrong to seek validation, I think it’s natural. I wish more people recognized the want for validation as a basic human need. You want to experiment with validation?
Fun with validation:
People will be giving you information all day long, it’s unavoidable. Next time you get information from someone you have two choices. You can say either:
a. “Yeah, I knew that”
or
b. “Cool!”
Try it out, watch their face. So, what did you learn?
Choosing option “a” is really an attempt to usurp validation from the other person. Sure, you’ve made it clear you already have the information, have you made them respect you? If you short circuit their request for validation they are not going to be happy, in fact, they will be so distracted by you being a “know-it-all” that you will not get any benefit. With choice “a” you both loose.
Choose “b” and you you’ll get a much better response from the other person. Will they think less of you? Unlikely. Will you feel worse? You already know you knew the information, who cares if the other person knows you knew? Get over yourself.
Validation isn’t limited to sharing knowledge, it covers every aspect of the way people communicate. When someone shows you their new camera they really don’t want to know it was the wrong purchase, they want to hear “cool!” There’s no point in telling them they paid too much, who wins?
Okay Reeves, this sounds very touchy-feely… what’s in it for me? Validation, of course. If people feel validated when they talk to you, they will like you. People who like you will do stuff for you. Pretty simple, huh?
Now go tell all your friends to read my blog because I’m really really cool and I know stuff.