A VC - Latest Comments in Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

fredwilson — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:24:08 -0000

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

Keith McSpurren — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:55:52 -0000

Fred. How's a startup to stay on top of Google search results for 'live blogging' when you use a title like 'long live blogging'? you're killing me...lol.

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

Jorge Escobar — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:49:49 -0000

This is a great blog, and this post inspired me to write in my new blog.
I do think that there are two types of blogs: ones with soul and ones without.
Yours is full of soul!
Keep it going...

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

fredwilson — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:41:05 -0000

I am going to work to bring some of my tumblr content back to avc after I get the redesign done

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

fredwilson — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 06:58:05 -0000

How good is your tomato sauce?

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

Hockeydino — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 06:56:04 -0000

I'll give you $50 and 5 jars of homemade tomato sauce for it.

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

fredwilson — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:33:03 -0000

This blog and the comments I get influences what I do and how I think. So its more than window. I like to think of it as a door

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

fredwilson — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:31:05 -0000

My partner Brad's nephew said it best about personal blogs. "They have a point of view but at least I know what it is"

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

fredwilson — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:17:05 -0000

What are those examples?

Turner at time warner?

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

fredwilson — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:11:06 -0000

Since I can't play the guitar, I blog

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

slowblogger — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:13:06 -0000

I am with you. Welcome to slowblogging.

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

NICCAI — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:54:38 -0000

Techcrunch is a news feed - not a blog in the strictest definition. Although personal commentary abounds, even the readers holds them accountable if a level of journalistic integrity isn't found. For blogs, this happens less, because the notion of an editorial is far more tangible to the readership. Perhaps it has somewhat to do with frequency, but I think it has more to do with personal insight. TC (I'm not trying to pick on you, you're just an example) has the old mentality of trying to be the one breaking the news, not the one forstering the discussion and asking questions.

In the end, aggregation is a dead horse. I think the noise is growing too loud, and I think even Google will see this over time. Even you, Fred, I feel like your blog has suffered with the A VC and Tumblr split. (I'd switch to just your tumblr, but the lack of the full article feed is a turnoff.)

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

terra210 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:03:33 -0000

Smart comments. Agreed, that once something gets big, it loses authenticity, (my take). But at the same time, there has to be some big force behind the voice to make it interesting. There are multiple reasons why people want to connect with a voice and interact. Fred's blog has that. TechCrunch built it. TechCrunch grew as a it filled the need of a group. Then it neared expiration as the groups need transformed into other locations.

Fred's blog is a singular voice, representing the face of a whole complexity of possibilities and developments, on a global scale. So it is differenent structurally. If it serves or feeds his business, it doesn't really matter. It is the relation it brings for others to connect to that business and world of possiblities that make it flow. Maybe Fred is a "conduit"(?) and blogs like TechCrunch are more geographical, or locations(?)

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

terra210 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:52:02 -0000

I hope you don't sell your blog, and it does remain as it is, in terms of your voice and experience delivered, casually. When things are bought, they tend to get packaged which creates distance.

I have enjoyed reading this blog, in part because you are someone who can make things happen in the world. Most people who can do this, do so without any transparency, and we have no idea how it all works. Your posts allow people a little further inside, to understand how VCs help transform ideas into companies. This is very valuable, insightful and fun; it feels real. It is better than a docu-drama! it also is nice to get to "go along for the ride" as you do this; and to see the small bits you share about your lifestyle. It is full of verve, energy, and spontaneity; and reminds of possibilities.

Having said that; if you were selling insurance, or doing something more mundain, it would not be so interesting. Part of the attraction, is the fact that you are building markets. And I don't mean that the attraction is because you potentially are a funder for anyone's idea, (though this is also there, I am sure many would acknowledge this...). We all know this part of your role. But it is only the smallest piece of candy. The bigger attractor is getting to ride a long the edge of a wave, as a market emerges, with a force that can create waves.

Much Appreciated....

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

timtrampedach — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:40:10 -0000

I've been thinking about the increasing influence of PR agencies and outside interests trying to promote someone or something in blogs as well. To me, blogging initially was a way for individuals to get their opinion out with little to no influence by outsiders. This provided news from the trenches with analysis that was theoretically not influenced by anyone other than the blogger's personal opinion.

The competition of the blogs was just each other in those days, but now individual blogs like TechCrunch have grown so large that they compete with the large media corporations. It's all "media" after all and distribution size is certainly not the only, but a major factor in determining competitors - not the technology used to distribute (blogs, websites, print, etc), because that's a whole lot easier to change than getting readers. GigaOM's recent deal with BusinessWeek is a good example of this coming of age of blogs and the type of competitors and partners now available to big blogs. Partners for blogs used to conjure thoughts of "let's find other narrowly-defined blogs and band together to cross-post" as opposed to finding a big media company to syndicate to.

So the competition has changed and has caught the eye of PR agencies, lobbyists, etc. - people trying to get someone else's message out by directly or indirectly influencing the outlet. Effectively, the independence of blogs will diminish as they grow in size.

I do get the symbiotic relationship of all the stakeholders and I'm not a PR-agency hater at all. I think it's just important to realize what the motives of the different blogs is and how this may change over time due to the evolution an convergence of the different mediums. By nature, this blog could be labeled as having the motive for Fred to push his investments, but it's clear that this isn't the case. I respect that a lot and it may be one of the few blogs that will stand out over time as being the unfettered opinion of one person or a very small team.

I'm curious to see how other feel about this.

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

Jeremy Wright — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:12:20 -0000

Definitely. Though there have been *some* personality-driven acquisitions that have succeeded in big media companies, that tends to be when the personality actually moves VERY quickly up the food chain so his/her personality becomes embedded in the culture...

So, basically, they work if the person doesn't leave. But how often does it really happen where the company gets bought and the founding team / SME's / CEO / visionaries stick around forever?

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

Carrie — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:29:54 -0000

Hi Maria,
I know that when I notice a blog I read suddenly start in increase their posting from one a day to two a day I will start visiting the blog twice a day now instead of the usual once a day.

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

PKafka — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:29:28 -0000

Fred, we're just talking about guitars here, right? You can play them well, or badly. You can write your own music, or cover other people's tunes. And you can play because you like to play, and/or play because you want other people to hear you play, and/or play because you want to make a living playing. Or any combination of the above. Alt take: Message not the medium.

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

gregorylent — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:27:43 -0000

lovely thread

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

colin henderson — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:10:37 -0000

Fear not Fred ... you are the new A List.
I see the Calcanis thing as a joke. Certainly some blogs have moved into something that looks like something in media with multiple authors, and while interesting they are just not blogs, as I define them narrowly, being one persons view, take it or leave it.
So the new A list are the blogs that have their own niche, loyal readers, and commenters. I posted more on this earlier in the week.
http://tinyurl.com/6ck2dt

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

Don Jones — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:47:18 -0000

Successful blogs are the ones that have a soul to them. Sell the blog and you sell the soul...

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

jer979 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:38:05 -0000

For as long as I've been reading (and that's a long time), you've focused on the value of blog as community and you talk so often about the comments. It's a discussion. Scoble gets this, he just prefers FriendFeed, which is fine. Not sure about the others, the mega-blogs.

Getting value from the community is why I keep on blogging (2400 posts on my personal blog since 2000 and 300 on my Social Media/WOM blog) on issues from small to large...that's why they are so great.

Not that you need the encouragement, but keep up the good fight, Fred! ;-)

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

fredwilson — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:24:06 -0000

My gut says you are building a following

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

themaria — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:02:40 -0000

I would love amplification of this comment, or pointer to a relevant resource.

For an established blog like yours, readers come back daily for the consistently great content that they have come to expect. But how are these spikes explained for a new blog? In my blog's example, which is very new (and I am only now starting to blog with frequency), I doubt that I have that many loyal readers. Which leads me to believe that an increase in blogging frequency can lead to an increase in "google juice". Or is there something else at work here? Thanks!

Re: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging

kenberger — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:58:45 -0000

exactly- I wish the universe would adopt Disqus (Techcrunch?), it's in a class by itself.