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[…] Reinforcing that thinking is a comment from Cyndy Aleo-Carreira on profy.com: I think I nearly busted my gut laughing at the idea of “thoughtful analysis” ever being popular. […]

[…] But far from evolving from enthusiastic semi-amateurs into a formidable new journalistic force, this elite may be turning inward. Cyndy Aleo-Carreirra over at Profy.com argues that they the more they argue among themselves, the more traffic it drives: It’s making me miss the old days of a longer news cycle and a wider focus in what’s considered news, because I’d much rather read about the 89-year-old in Malaysia using the web for her political campaign than the latest blogger slapfest. […]

[…] Cult of Personality: What Has Web 2.0 Done to Journalism? - Profy.Com Cyndy Aleo-Carreira: “At the same time, people are noticing that Web 2.0 hasn’t had the same effect on traditional journalism as you might have expected. While many mainstream news outlets have increased their online presence and added reader comments and (tags: media web2.0 blogging) […]

Comments

Thanks for the shoutout and to some extent you’re absolutely right, though so is TechCrunch. Eventually, it all becomes politics. But I think I should note that some of us aren’t interested in playing that game. Some of us will be loyal to our audience before we’re loyal to money and the grand schemes of capitalism.

On top of that I think some bloggers, Robert Scoble in particular, are making an effort to branch out and start reading those who aren’t A-listers. Scoble has talked about this numerous times and has put it into action by not really subscribing to many A-listers on FriendFeed and taking note of the ‘little people.”

But just like every industry, there’s always the big players who have the ability to break the story first and who get noticed regardless of what they say. Web 2.0 and journalism aren’t the only ones.

What’s funny to me is that the whole lot are flies buzzing around the steaming pile that is Web 2.0…

In reality, these people don’t get it. They’re just not that important in the overall scheme of things.

According to The State of the News Media 2008 report, “blogs were the lowest on the list of ‘important’ sources of news” and only 15% of blog readers read them for news and information. Obviously, blogs almost certainly have better standing with technologists and geeks who wake up in the morning to read TechCrunch and Scobleizer, but the point is that if you only read what Michael Arrington writes, you’ll probably walk away with the impression that tech blogs are the most important thing to not only the technology industry, but the media industry as a whole. They’re not. The Average american has never heard of any of the technology A-listers, probably never will and frankly, most likely wouldn’t care to.

In my opinion, the vast majority of technology blogs really fall short where it counts despite the fact that they apparently see themselves as news powerhouses.

Case in point: yesterday Dow Jones VentureSource released 2007 Web 2.0 funding figures which raise the prospect that the Web 2.0 investment boom is peaking or has peaked, especially in Silicon Valley. This is not surprising and in light of the dire economic situation, I think we can expect that investments in prototypical can’t-make-money Web 2.0 startups will decline further as we move forward.

What I find most ironic is that as I scanned the handful of popular Web 2.0 blogs that I sometimes read this morning, I couldn’t find any mention of this news despite the fact that it’s received wide mainstream press. In my opinion, it’s more newsworthy than Duncan Riley. Wonder why nobody “big” has yet written about it, including CNET killer TechCrunch? I think you can do the math.

@Corvida: Scoble is full of it. Take a look at the top listings of the FIVE HUNDRED TWELVE people he’s subscribed to: Bret Taylor, Chris Messina, Dave Winer, Fred Wilson, Jeremy Zawodny, Jess Lee, Kevin Fox, mashable, michael arrington, niniane, Paul Buchheit, Scott Beale. Regular list of nobodies, isn’t it? He will “add” just about anyone who prostrates themselves at the Scoble altar, but do you REALLY think he pays them any attention?

@Drama: Agreed. The same cult of personality will form around any technology, no matter how small it seems in the overall scheme of things. However, for me at least, I’d never have made it as a “regular” journalist. I’m just too opinionated and poor at hiding it. Blogging is probably the only thing I’m even reasonably mediocre at.

What a lot of these people don’t see is how fleeting this all is. Where are a lot of the people who were so “famous” during Web 1.0 like Glenn Davis? Back then you knew that you’d “made it” in the cool kids circle if your site made Cool Site of the Day, and yet both the site and its owner have all but vanished. It’s Andy Warhol come true, and it will happen over and over and over again.

As much fun as it is to be thought of highly here, I know I’m small, and have never claimed otherwise. I also tend to be excited about products (Web 1.0, 2.0 or otherwise) which I use frequently and can drive change or the way I consume information. I’ve been accused of highlighting sites like ReadBurner, FriendFeed, AssetBar, Shyftr or Feedheads a bit, but I’m using all of them and have enjoyed the 2-way conversation with the developers. To me, it’s not about personality at all.

And what happens to thoughtful analysis in a climate such as ours? Chris Shipley and I are struggling with how to balance reasoned insight with maintaining visibility and engagement. Would love thoughts from others as well. http://tinyurl.com/3268k8

There is no thoughtful and reasoned analysis in the current climate. My post above was more thoughtful and reasoned than anything I’ve seen on TechCrunch.

Any analysis which does not include the concepts of “revenue model”, “profitability”, and “getting to cash-flow positive” is neither reasoned nor thoughtful, it’s pandering. Web 2.0 has become the punchline of jokes, and for good reason. The upcoming purge will be a boon to the industry as technology for technology’s sake is the most public form of masturbation.

@Louis Gray You say it’s not about personality, yet in your post about FriendFeed, you pointed out the “A-list bloggers.” Personality is what’s driving the entire Web 2.0 train. It’s all about WHO the adopters are and what they pimp rather than what might be the better or more useful technology. I have my own personal favorites, too, but 9 times out of 10 they aren’t what the cool kids are using, and that’s downright depressing, because some of these companies have some really great products that just get overlooked.

The case in point is the entire PR industry that surrounds Web 2.0. PR reps fall all over themselves to get coverage on the big blogs, even though they break embargo time and time again to ensure they get the biggest headline out of it. It becomes expected, but you never see a PR firm taking their news somewhere else first.

@Carla I’m sorry, I think I nearly busted my gut laughing at the idea of “thoughtful analysis” ever being popular. There’s very little of that going on right now in the constant fight to get to the story first. Sometimes I’m writing something that takes a couple of weeks to gestate, but a lot of the time I feel like I’m the only one who actually takes the time to let things sink in. My Firefox never has fewer than three lines of tabs that I go back to as if they are puzzle pieces waiting to fall into place, but I’m thinking there is less and less room for that type of critical thinking and writing in this space.

@Grendel and @Cyndy Sounds like I hit a nerve with a lot of folks as to “thoughtful analysis.” Punching out immediate thoughts on an issue usually only serves to make you look foolish down the road. Yet its rewarded on an hourly basis in the blogosphere. Hell, we’re doing it right now. We have to before the issue disappears into the ether and is replaced by another one.

@Carla, absolutely! I was formulating my reply as @Grendel was posting, but I couldn’t agree more. I think I’d been doing this for about three months when I suddenly realized that I couldn’t remember whether or not I had already reviewed a particular app. I think that’s about the time that I decided I was going to stop jumping on the bandwagon and decide what interested me on my own.

I’m still a frequent Twitter user, but at the same time, When Scott Beale posted last night that there was a rumor that the latest Mac update was breaking SSH, I realized it was probably the first TRULY useful information I’d ever found via Twitter. IN A YEAR. I still don’t like it. I’m there, but not enjoying myself. It makes the fast pace of 2.0 blogs LOOK like thoughtful analysis.

Was it useful enough that you’d pay for the service? I think not.

Tick… Tick… Tick… time is running out on this bubble and the people standing outside it blowing hot air in

@cyndy lol. i go back and forth about twitter. sometimes i love it and find it integral to the larger conversation and sometimes i just want it to shut up.

good points. however, it’s interesting that you link to all these super duper bloggers and then don’t give even one link to the people you say are more worthwhile. why do you think that is?

Isabella, because then the article would have been so long I would still be writing it.

I lost track of how many feeds ages ago. I love what I’m reading over at Guidewire (Carla’s site which she listed above). Drama 2.0’s blog is hilarious, but I find his articles over at e-consultancy even more interesting. Many of the “company” blogs that do more than just blog about their product are really interesting, which is why I still read the AllPeers blog, as well as Nova Spivack’s blog and a bunch of others.

I’m also finding some really interesting stuff on Twine, which gives me a wide variety of new reading about focused topics.