… is being propagated by Hugh McLeod, who, once again, has decided to raise the egalitarian “Es Gibt Keine Einliste Es gibt keine A-Liste” (Or, “There is no A-list”, for our non-German reading readers). This issue seems to raise its head every few months, and I am continually flabbergasted that people such as Mr. McLeod continue to deny its very existence.
In this case Mr. McLeod hails that the A-list is over thanks to social networks such as Facebook. He quotes perennial A-lister Robert Scoble,who, in fact, notes that his blogging buddies have noticed a fall in traffic, perhaps *because* of networks such as Facebook.Well, sorry to break it to you guys, but this analysis is pure, unvarnished, horse shit.
Facebook and blogging are related, but very different, mediums.
And in BOTH cases, just as in ALL situations where human beings interact with limited attention spans, there will ALWAYS be folks who command more of it. There will ALWAYS be people at the top of the attention food chain, some in part because they deserve it, and some others because they are undeniably pretty to look at, in others, its the train-wreck phenomenon in that you can’t look away, and in others, because they just got there first.
To deny this fact is to deny reality.
And to think that its any different because there is another sub-medium that is now available for our attention is again — pure, unvarnished, horseshit.
There are going to be people who have more eyeballs looking at them whether its Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or Pownce. And this inequity will continue to exist even amongst the SAME GROUP OF A-LISTERS, because ironically, many of them are first adopters of different technologies.
Robert Scoble says he’s got a bajillion new friends on Pownce?
Michael Arrington says he’s got a google’s amount of friends on Facebook?
The gross irony is that these are the *same* guys! Do I begrudge them of that? Of course not. But if you want a more facile explanation of A-list, B-list and so on, you can substitute another name for it.
Popularity.
And this is merely a function of them being popular.
Social Networks don’t change that. And in many cases, I suspect, its not a binary or mutually exclusive phenomenon either Just *because* you introduce mediums that ask for your continuous partial attention, such as Twitter or Pownce, OR, walled-in gardens such as Facebook doesn’t mean that you necessarily take away from blogging — which is one of the greatest one-to-many publishing mediums available.
A-lists will always exist because there will always be people who are Popular.
And to deny that it will change because there is a new way for people to share and give attention is pure, unvarnished, horseshit.
33 Comments
But Tony, tell us how you really feel?
*smile*
Couldn’t agree more. The one thing I’d add is that both Scoble and Hugh may be experiencing less traffic because they are incredibly repetitive and boring. At least Hugh has cartoons, although this Microsoft big blue monster thing is incredibly lame.
I have to add that virtually no one I know who isn’t a techie even has a clue what twitter or pownce are.
Ben — I think I said it three times, didn’t I? :)
Martin,
No question that there may be other reasons why their traffic might be falling — its also summer in North America, and I’m sure there are seasonal changes in blogging as well.
Tony,
I think so. *grin* And now you’ve forced me into the discussion as well. Ah well, the debate rages on!
Ben,
The more the merrier, man … the more the merrier. ;)
MacLeod’s complete overlooking of increased use of RSS feeds as another possible cause of declining traffic is another good sign that he’s way off the mark.
Casey Serin as an A-lister though? Ugh.
I included his blog only as an example of a blog who is commanding attention.
In a loathe-inspiring train-wreck of a fashion, anyway.
Man, if even 1/10th of the stuff I read about this guy is true he must be one great piece of work.
Not the A-list argument again! (:
Unrelated: Your header is screwy for me in Firefox 2.0.0.4.
Heh. OF COURSE there is an A-List. My point was, so what? They’re a TINY percentage of the interesting stuff going out there. So thousands of people know that Robert Scoble spent two days in line getting a mobile phone. OK, cute story, I admire his tenacity, but so what? The barriers to entry to having an opinion one way or the other is absolutely zero.
What has always been more interesting to me is how blogs and social media CAN make a tangible difference to people’s lives on a scale much larger than any A-List.
That’s a far more interesting conversation, don;t you think?
Sure it is, but that’s not what I got out of your blog post.
Look, I basically got out of your commentary that we should all fly off to Facebook where we can find people with like interests and not wait on links from high and mighty A-listers.
But that misses the entire point of having a blog for some in the first place.
Facebook is a social network. Closed, walled-in garden. A really fast growing garden, but its walled in nonetheless.
Blogging is a publishing platform for the world, and for some people who view blogging as a means to not only have an opinion — but actually have it be listened to … by *Google*, then, as crass and mercenary as it sounds, yes — having quality inbound links do matter.
Now, I agree that we shouldn’t wait on and pander to A-listers. And I do agree that making a difference matters.
But we shouldn’t confuse social networking and blogging, and we shouldn’t be blind to the fact that in the sphere that we run in (or at least *I* do, with this blog), the same people who command attention in the blogosphere are the same ones who are commanding it in places like Facebook.
It all boils down to influence. Some people have it. And it transcends the mediums that they live in, should they wish to participate in like-minded mediums where their fans can move freely.
Stan,
Yeah … I got to fix that one day soon. ;)
I guess that hardest part to learn about this journey I’ve been on this last six years is, Blogging isn’t for everybody. Not that it isn’t a powerful tool- it is, at least, it is for the person well-suited to using it.
And if you are lucky enough to become an A-Lister, by luck, by skill, by timing, whatever, that’s great.
But the stories I’m watching with most interest these days are not the ones where BlogCeleb stands in line at a store for two days to buy an iPhone and everybody blogs about it as well and it gets onto Techmeme etc etc…
People watch those kinda stories not for the story itself, they watch it because they think their peers are watching it too, and if they want to be in the know and get peer approval they’d better stay hip to it.
And this, I’m afraid, is the least exciting part of Web 2.0 these days. At least for me, it is.
Not only for you, Hugh.
btw. tony:
The correct translation into German would actually be
“Es gibt keine A-Liste”
Nether use babelfish or google translate or the likes for something you want to put on your blog ;)
Marcel,
I’ll know who to turn to for my next to / from German translation. ;)
:)
Hugh,
We can discuss the merits of the techblogging penchant for navel-gazing some other time, if you like. I think there are valid arguments on either side to be honest (eventcasting vs. vain-streaming).
But whether you find it tiresome is besides your original point, which had everything to do with the differences between Facebook, Blogging and the A-list status of people who were involved thereof — arguments that I don’t think hold water.
I guess this is an area where we’ll agree to disagree.
It’s all good, Tony. We’re both lucky to be part of what is, at the end of the day, a very fascinating part of the electronic world. Good luck to you :)
Tony,
You will get more A-list juice if you spell Hugh’s name correctly.
;)
In my view the blogosophere and social networking worlds have very different cultures and people who fill them up. So it’s not a zero sum game i.e. the popularity of Facebook (and hasn’t MySpace had a billion registered users for several years already? How did Facebook reinvent the wheel?) does in no way deflate the popularity of the blosophere or any “A List” bloggers in the process.
Now, if you want to argue that some bloggers are losing audience due to some notion of “more choice than ever before” (more quality bloggers, more web communities, more high quality content, etc. etc.) that’s something I’d be interested in hearing out.
In my view the blogosophere and social networking worlds have very different cultures and people who fill them up. So it’s not a zero sum game i.e. the popularity of Facebook (and hasn’t MySpace had a billion registered users for several years already? How did Facebook reinvent the wheel?) does in no way deflate the popularity of the blosophere or any “A List” bloggers in the process.
Now, if you want to argue that some bloggers are losing audience due to some notion of “more choice than ever before (more quality bloggers, more web communities, more high quality content, etc. etc.) that’s something I’d be interested in hearing out.
Looks like I missed one juicy conversation here.
Love the images, Tony. And you got Hugh commenting. I think this is the stuff A-listers are made of ;-)
This has given me an idea… see you at Conversation Agent, or not. After all, I am a Z-lister.
Funny thing is MY traffic is actually up. The people I was quoting were NOT A Listers at all.
I wasn’t here first, but you’re kind to say so.
For what it’s worth, blogging for me has always been about getting good ideas rolling, and helping roll other people’s good ideas. All the rest is gravy.
All the talk about A-lists and “attention food chains” is mostly bullshit, but it’s unavoidable. The Technorati Top 100 (or whatever number) is a perfect example of the train wreck people can’t help rubbernecking for. Especially if they have blogs, because they’re in it.
Funny thing about Facebook. A friend recently pointed out to me that my neglected Facebook profile — something I filled out once and didn’t look at again — said I was gay. Seems I had checked the wrong box after “Interested in:” So I checked “women” instead of “men”. When I saved the changes, the banner ad at the bottom turned into one for high-heeled shoes at Nieman-Marcus.
I just checked back to the same page, and it’s giving me ads for HOURLY AND SKILLED NATIONWIDE EMPLOYMENT GUIDE. I’m manly now. Hooah.
Thus FaceBook achieves the same level of targeted advertising accuracy as, well, television. No stopping progress.
My Wife has a blog, she writes amazing witty posts and has only been blogging for a couple of months. She had 150 visits three days ago and was thrilled. She is like the hundreds and thousands of bloggers out there that write great stuff and are thrilled to get the odd comment here and there. This is why I created my site and why blogging is absolutely thriving way down in the dark areas of the Z list, we are where the real “blog community” is (the Z-list I mean!).
Eric,
That’s an interesting argument and one that I’d try on for size. The nich-ification of new media probably means smaller pieces of pie for everyone, especially where certain sub-media aren’t growing as fast as others.
Robert,
The fact that only A-listers have their traffic going up doesn’t change the assertion that there are some who command a disproportionate amount of attention — some of it being justified, and some of it not.
[which is what Hugh's initial assertion was all about]
Yeah, something I’ve been thinking about lately — playing off a topic that I know has come up on DJI from time-to-time — is that it’s harder to “break in” now than even two or three years ago. That goes for a blog trying to gain audience and aspire to the vaunted “A List” or for a commercial website or web community trying to gain market share and pull in significent revenue.
Doc,
Thanks for stopping by.
Shit, whether it is derived from humans or horses, is smelly and offensive, and for the purposes of the argument, relative.
I’ll just leave it at that. ;)
[well, that and to make mental note how advertisers like to segment gay men!]
Eric,
I think that’s a fair assessment in any maturing field / industry / segment — that blogging is evolving quickly probably makes it even more so.
Without sounding horribly cliche’d (and failing, I think), to find the kind of success that many us crave — certainly, as an adequate return on time and energy — I think its important to find ‘blue oceans’, rather than trying to compete within established ‘red oceans’.
Kevin,
Good luck with fuelmyblog — you’re doing some fine work :)
Tony, I think that’s a fairly central question and concern that new and even established bloggers are struggling with. It’s difficult to cut against the tide — to somewhat vibe with your metaphor — with the hope and belief that a significant audience will follow.
The importance of paid advertising has also been on my mind. I wonder if playing it organic (great content, consistent posting, networking, commenting regularly on other blogs in the subject area/niche, etc. etc.) when starting from scratch can be enough to gain a signficant readership. Probably this plays back to your notion of the red/blue ocean — exploring new waters for new audiences!
thanks for all. eyvallah sağol. iyi bir site.
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