Are These Really the Top Tech Blogs?
So, Techcrunch is running with a list of the top bloggers based on Techmeme headlines. Nerds are obsessed with lists - oh, a tidy way of organising and deconstructing thought. Techmeme doesn’t represent tech bloggers on the ground. Rather it bolsters the position of commercial news blogging operations like Techcrunch, ReadWriteWeb and ZDNet.
It’s a nice, incestuous relationship going here. Companies desperate to attract the right sort of attention of industry movers and shakers, VCs and press go these routes. Hoping and praying to be picked up by the biggies. Nowhere is this more visible than over on Techcrunch itself, where it runs an ad selling space on the site says ‘Easier that getting Arrington to link to your site’. How do you feel about the Techmeme-isation of tech blogging? Is it a good thing?
April 21st, 2008 at 12:54 pm
A suggestion of “incestuous relationships” in the commentariat well I never.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:07 pm
@Dan: You’re suggesting that this is widespread? Here in Ireland too?
April 22nd, 2008 at 1:35 am
TechMeme can be a great tool to measure the “hot” stories in the blogosphere. Living in this space means I’ve probably seen most of the breaking news via RSS already, but I do like the site. I also happen to like statistics, which is why charts like this are interesting, but I can’t say I was overwhelmed with this one. I don’t fault TechCrunch for running it at all. They do a good job. But one size does not fit all when it comes to counting up the numbers. Your mileage may vary.
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:40 am
@Louis: I admire what TC do too. But the success of TC comes at the expense of bloggers who used to break stories years ago. Commercial blogging, which it has benefit a few, has taken the wind out of the sails of many.
And even while I express this, I’m subscribed to TC and read it everyday. This quandary is something that needs to be breached.