The Blog Herald, four weeks on… (Or is it four minutes? Or four months?)
Or is it three weeks? Five weeks? A year? Was it yesterday? Is it happening tomorrow?
Ack. Who cares. I’m as confused as anyone as to when the Blog Herald changed hands. Because when the big day came, I saw lots of promises that I actually believed would happen.
Silly me.
Like these, for instance…
“This acquisition allows BlogMedia to become the news destination of choice for readers seeking technology news & information about blogs, blog networks, and professional blogging.”
“Author, I can assure you that we have no desire to lower the quality of the work done at The Blog Herald.”
“Char, to your point about 9rules. We report on them at BNW because it’s news and they’re pretty high profile. We’ll do the same at The Blog Herald. I’m certainly not going to ‘target’ them out of any personal animosity I may or may not have. In fact, I have a ton of respect for Mike and Colin and the skills that they bring to the blog network / design / technology world. I can’t comment on Paul because I don’t really know him.”
>>”Owning the Blog Herald is a real chance to do something worthwhile for the industry, and to position blogging as a credible media source.”
“Amen. I agree with you. More to come.”
And there’s probably a pile more that I just can’t really be bothered to hunt down. The easy way to find them, if you’re interested, is just to find any of Matt Crayon’s comments on any other blog.
Because, just as Chris Pearson pointed out here…
…Rundlebot is going to comment on everything 9rules-related. Somehow, he will sniff it out and comment on it.
… you’ll find that Matt Crayon does exactly the same - and probably more frequently - whenever the words BlogMedia/BlogHerald/Erati/Blogs/Blogging/Bloggers crop up in a post.
Now, the ummm… ‘new’ Blog Herald kinda started out in the right direction in that the spelling improved (no, Duncan, I’m not personally attacking you). However, the content has remained almost identical, only with slightly more personal opinion, and a whole lot more snark.
If you’re going to promise to create something special, then create it. On day one. Don’t wait a month. Or two months. Or six months. Or whatever.
Do it now.
Or, better still, do it four weeks ago.
I know you’re promising great things (!?!) with the design and layout, but the fundamental changes MUST happen with the content. You can wrap any old bag of shit up in a nice design, but at the end of the day, it’s still any old bag of shit - just that the bag’s a little more expensive.
Shark jumping.
A couple of days ago, Matt Crayon called out b5media for jumping the shark by launching a blog about baldness.
Unbiased news? Hmmm. Nevermind. But while we’re talking about jumping sharks, I think it’s only fair to call out the Blog Herald, too. Because they jumped it themselves only yesterday, when Matt Crayon got himself all worked up about the way Scrivs dresses.
Yes, the way he dresses.
Then, in the comments for that post, someone called Marcus chipped in with this diamond…
“But it was called snark. Anyhow Rundlebot go back to hyping stuff you do a much better job of that than trying so hard to worry about TBH’s persecution of an innocent CEO who stole a business name, is launching a porn blog network, and yet thinks he can run the internets largest PC and Religiously correct Blogging Club and yet we aren’t supposed to poke a little fun at the arrogant bloke who can’t dress. Yet still remains a huge womanizer.”
Yes, yes, I know that Marcus writes for the Blog Herald. Buy you know what - the fact that Marcus just admitted that BlogMedia are using the blog to snark people simply proves what I suspected about the Blog Herald since it was sold: that it’s still nothing more than yet another personal and opinionated blog about blogs, bloggers, and blogging.
It’s also being used by one blog network to take potshots at any other blog network that crosses its path.
And, just as with BlogNetworkWatch.com, I seriously doubt that it can report unbiased blog network news, simply because it’s part of a blog network itself.
Plus, as far as I’m concerned anyway, it’s NEVER going to be a credible and serious source of news, simply because the writers have now openly and freely admitted that they’re using it for snark.
Flame me all you want for this, I’m just telling it like it is. And yes, I’m pissed that what appeared to have been a great opportunity to create a credible, unbiased, unopinionated, and reliable source of quality news and information - something that blogging desperately needs, and something that I was truly hoping for - has been well and truly wasted.
So, good work, fellers. It’s great to know that you’ve spent $30k (or was it $25k, or $72k, or $8.99, or whatever) on a big old personal snark machine.
I’m pleased it wasn’t my cash.
**UPDATE**
Sorry, apparently I’ve mispelled Matt Crayon’s name right through this article. It should be ‘Craven’. Whoops.
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Mark Wade said on March 19, 2006 @ 2:46 pm...
Very nice piece Barry…
Barry Bell (View profile) said on March 19, 2006 @ 3:00 pm...
Cheers, Mark. Just calling it like I see it.
Matt said on March 19, 2006 @ 3:36 pm...
Nice piece, other than the fact that you misspelled my name abou 10 times through the column. I’m glad we’re living up to your expectations.
I don’t expect we’ll have a new design up for another 15-30 days, but it’s in the works, there are other projects ahead of it that our designers are focusing on.
As to the content, the traffic is up significantly since the acquisition, so are advertising sales and just about any other metric that matters. The new design will do a better job of differentiating news v. opinion v. satire - all of which Blog Herald has - and will continue to have in the future. Think newspaper - you have a mix of news, editorial, humor, entertainment, and so on. You’ll see the same with Blog Herald - we’re just going to do a better job of differentiating that content.
And yeah, I do tend to show up whenever we’re mentioned - Technorati is a wonderful thing.
Thanks for the criticisms - it was a well written piece.
~ The Crayon Man
Barry Bell (View profile) said on March 19, 2006 @ 3:55 pm...
Me and names, eh? Honest mistake that anyone could have made.
;o)
>>”we’re just going to do a better job of differentiating that content.”
Yep, that might just save your asses. With the emphasis on ‘might’. But for Christ’s sake, do it quickly. And while you’re on, have a chat with Marcus about what you’re trying to do with the site. Because it looks like he’s away with the fairies on this one.
A quick fix would be to re-work the categories you have right now. Like, for example, it probably wasn’t a good idea to tag that post as ‘General’.
And fuck the metrics, man. Give it a rest. I’m really not interested in hearing you thump your chest. Instead, how about doing something for ‘blogging’ as a whole, and use the Blog Herald to sell blogging to people who’ve not yet had any exposure to it.
A genuinely professional approach to the site would go a long, long way to achieving mainstream recognition for blogging - which would benefit a lot more people (including yourselves) than selling another couple of $50 blogads a month.
Just a thought.
Matt said on March 19, 2006 @ 7:58 pm...
And here’s where we differ - I’m not going to “fuck the metrics”.
This is a business. It’s how we make our living. I need to have traffic that continually grows, advertisers that buy ads to keep our business running, and so on.
I’m not running this as a charity - it’s a business. Advertising is the bread and butter.
Yes, the community can grow and bring even more business our way. And yes, we can do more to promote blogging as a viable alternative to mainstream journalism - but in some ways, that ship has already sailed.
The metrics are critical. We sold around $20k in ads & services so far this month - how much did you sell? How about 9rules? Or Weblogs, Inc.? Or Gawker?
We’re going to be here because we’re building a profitable business step by step - that’s the only metric that I care about.
Matt
Barry Bell (View profile) said on March 19, 2006 @ 8:09 pm...
I’m not telling you to fuck the metrics altogether. Sure it’s important to your business. And sure your metrics are critical to you.
Sorry to piss on your parade, though, but your metrics just aren’t critical to me.
What I said is that bragging and boasting about how great you’re doing (just as you did in that last comment, in fact) like some spoilt kid who got the biggest Christmas present doesn’t score any points at all over here.
It’s arrogant. It’s conceited. And it’s ugly.
That’s how your comment read to me.
So, $20k. Woooo. Good for you. What else do you want? A great big pat on the back?
;o)
Chris P. said on March 20, 2006 @ 6:10 pm...
What’s the deal with this, Barry? You seem a little preoccupied with this to me. And Mark Wade? Good to see you’re Technorati-ing the search term “BlogMedia sucks” in between tea breaks.
Barry Bell (View profile) said on March 20, 2006 @ 6:15 pm...
Afternoon Chris.
You call it preoccupied. I call it being passionate about something.
And I’ve only actually written two posts about it. So it looks like we’re probably both wrong.
Oh well.
Mark Wade said on March 20, 2006 @ 6:20 pm...
Ya know Chris - it’s obvious your Mommy never taught you about “Sticks and Stones.” Unfortunately for you I’m not going to lower myself to your level, you’ll have to raise yourself up to mine. If - IF you can tear yourself away from your Ba-Ba or your binky or whatever your current security blanket is.