Over the last 18 months or so, I've gained something of a reputation for being an early adopter more likely to heap praise on early versions of software with clear bugs than to drag services through the mud, calling out their every hole and flaw. I've stated that I do champion the little guy, and when I've found a service I like, there's no question you'll know, because I'll be consistent in my comments on it, highlighting new tweaks and trying to help you understand why I like what I do, and, in the converse, why I might not like other options.But does my tendency to be positive and shun negativity make me less believable? Should I maintain a ratio of cranky posts to positive ones for variety's sake or to prove I'm not a paid shill on the take? As far as I'm concerned, no. In most cases, rather than drag down services, or dance on the graves of failed startups, I see sites' potential, and recognize the very real people behind services who are working hard to make their products as good as they can.
Marshall Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb jokingly commented on FriendFeed today: "You should write a really harsh review of something tho, just to maintain credibility!"
It's clear my quasi-utopian view isn't held in many corners of the blogosphere. Some revel in negative reviews or tearing people down. Others feel they have a calling to be "balanced", evening out an otherwise positive post by highlighting a service's deficiencies, or if the service happens to be amazing, to pick three random competitors for whom this new arrival will certainly mean curtains. But to be honest, even if I have more readers now than I did three, six or twelve months ago, this is still my personal blog, and should reflect how I feel. When I write up a service, I aim to deliver an accurate portrayal of the news, sites or individuals covered, but I would much rather highlight those companies and services I like than waste my time showing you the services that I didn't like. In essence, my silence in itself can be considered a negative review - and if you think about those topics I do write about, maybe there's a good reason I haven't covered every single service out there under the sun...
This isn't to say I haven't had a few negative posts here and there. I've at times been frustrated with TechCrunch (TechCrunch's Celebrating Failure Doesn't Help Anyone), ValleyWag (Valleywag Thinks My Old Posts are Breaking News) and even TechMeme (Blogrunner Likes Me, TechMeme Hates Me). I wasn't exactly overwhelming in my praise for NotchUp (NotchUp Sells You Out, but Nobody's Buying) and you likely remember my first comments on Fav.or.it. (Fav.or.it Beta Effort is Not My Favorite. Not Even Close.)
But these negative posts are are a rarity.
In fact, Mark Hopkins of Mashable said to one FriendFeed user in search for good PR that it's fairly obvious when I've found a favorite: "Talk to Louis Gray. Forget product evangelist. When he likes something, he's a one man crusade."
If you listened to this week's Elite Tech News podcast, you could probably tell that my positive viewpoints on the Web were frequently outnumbered by those who didn't favor companies, services, or individuals, who feared their content would be stolen, and that tech leaders and bloggers were too money-driven or ego-driven to be trusted. But I would rather accurately portray my intrigue and excitement around new services, even if they're not perfect. I don't think it does me a lot of good to sit down with a service I don't like or can't recommend and put 500 words into it.
You could probably also tell this from the interview Mark Evans posted this morning, Who’s Louis Gray?, which helps explain my background, and shows why I've ended up covering what I do. The tech world is moving faster than just about any market out there which I can think of. There are some amazing folks out there working ridiculous hours trying to make the next big thing. Only a few will make it. But if we tear them down too early, they might never actually reach their full potential, and I don't think it's really worth it, simply to engage in a race for page views.
17 comments:
Will I yank your chain if I get a chance - you betcha I will but then that is something that friends do to each other and if there is one thing that I would like to believe is that we are friends even though we may never meet face to face.
And yer right negativity doesn't deliver credibility but that doesn't mean that always being on the upside of some does either. It is the voice that one develops that delivers that credibility - positive or negative - and you have the voice.
You just keep doing what you do best Louis and I'll keep reading (and giving you a hard time :) )
That said, so far you've done a great job. I think you are fair and I do recall those posts where you were carefully critical, and I appreciated them.
Can't win huh?
Where the balance has to come in is two instances: 1.)people are asked to spend money on the products you review. 2.) some situation where you're expected to write about ALL products/services.
I don't think either situation applies to you.
You might want to put something about that in your disclaimer on your about page so that people know that if you didn't write about it, you probably didn't like it.
But it's your blog, you can do what you want and if you want to only write about products and services you like and are interested in, I doubt it will put too many people off. People won't be looking to you as an authority on *everything* social-network or web 2.0 wise, but if you're not striving for that, it's not a negative.
Sidenote: Why not here? For those of you reading this and .. ugh ... were still in elementary school ??(no slight intended), Robert Seidman (who appears above me here somewhere) was doing Internet prognostication back in the mid 1990's. I was factually thrilled to see him still here commenting. (It was Louis' reference to Friendfeed that reconnected us). Just neat stuff! Period.
Don't worry about defending yourself about how you view and write about what's happening. Unlike many people, you spend the time to get a real feel for new services. If you like them and/or feel they have promise, so be it!
By the way, maybe it's time for one of the tech scene's hottest bloggers to jump on the Wordpress bandwagon. :)
You hit the nail on the head when you say "personal" blog. That's what it is - your opinion, nothing more, nothing less. Some will agree, some won't. That's what is fun about the medium, don't you think?
Frankly I learn more from you guys about what is good and usable than I ever do from mainstream media.
Keep on bloggin'!
My attitude to those who don't like my words: it's your problem, not mine. Keep on writing, and develop a thick skin. (If you don't have one, already).) Every writer needs one of those - but no Web N.X service will ever deliver that. It's purely a human requirement. :-)
Carolyn Ann