Apr

5

Blogging ourselves to death

April 5, 2008 |

Talk about a dramatic headline.

If today were Friday, I’m sure the New York Times “Blog Till They Drop” story would be getting even more play:

They work long hours, often to exhaustion. Many are paid by the piece — not garments, but blog posts. This is the digital-era sweatshop. You may know it by a different name: home.

A growing work force of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment.

It’s a nice piece of link-bait, especially with its focus on tech blogs, but the piece has a fatal flaw, as Matt Craven from the Blog Herald points out: it only talks about the hyper-competitive and large, news-breaking blogs like TechCrunch and the Gawker network.

Of course, a lot of us B, C and D listers feel we need to keep up with the big guys. But that is simply not possible. A single blogger just can’t keep up with the posting rhythm of any of the major tech blogs - and that’s ok (Doc Searls has a few words to say about that and how overrated scoops are as well).

As Paul Chaney pointed out a few days ago, if you have nothing to say - just don’t say anything - it’s ok. Smaller blogs best create value by providing analysis and creative insight - and that doesn’t come by thrying to hammer out yet another post for the sake of it.

Mike Arrington might have to worry about missing a big story - most bloggers don’t, but I can also see how some bloggers might get sucked into that idea and rhythm.

Still, the NYT’s piece seems a bit overly dramatic in talking about blogging (and the Times author also could have noted that Arrington has a penchant for being a bit overly dramatic himself when he quotes him).

There are a million other jobs out there where people are on-call 24/7; there is a workoholic in every office; and some people just can’t let go.

It’s not just a blogging problem - it’s about the way we, as a society, look at work. For better or worse, the tech blogging world just reflects that.

At the end of the day, though, blogging for me is simply a venue for my thoughts. There is no competition in it - it’s just a fun hobby that has allowed me to connect with a number of great people I would have never met otherwise.

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2 Comments so far

  1. WinExtra » OMG! I’m gonna die on April 5, 2008 9:55 pm

    […] not like this super drive to succeed is something that is relegated to just the blogging world. As Frederic at The Last Podcast said: There are a million other jobs out there where people are on-call 24/7; there is a workaholic in […]

  2. Paul Chaney on April 7, 2008 6:50 am

    Thanks for the mention Frederic. I caught the NY Times story as well and blogged about it.

    Too many of us (me included) get sucked into the “gotta get more traffic, more traffic, gotta get more traffic” *pant, pant, pant* mindset and lose sight of what blogging is really all about — sharing your own ideas, thoughts and opinions about topics you truly care about.

    A lot of us envy the ability of these networks to keep pumping out stories like cars on the Ford assembly line…and we try to emulate them. For most of us that’s not doable. Neither is it necessary. I say, find your voice, discover what you’re truly passionate about (for that is what will sustain you over the long-haul), stay true to your “calling,” and worry not a whit about someone else is doing.

    BTW, blogging is a great way to discover where your passions lie. The cream of what you really care about is going to rise to the top.

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