The Scoop No Longer Exists
The blogosphere used to be about twenty people. You knew who was saying what, and when they were saying it. Some of us have been around THAT long to remember what it was like before… today. Over the past couple of days, I've heard more than one of my friends complain about the lack of proper attribution – but I've seen the laziness unfold, time and again. Who knows who found what first? Here's the problem: getting a scoop isn't what it once was. Everyone gets the scoop, and everyone gets the exclusive. There's no such thing as an A-list blogger, just as there's no such thing as a C-list blogger.
I've stumbled upon gems over and over again, only to see them surface on more popular sites without necessarily stating that I was the originating source (with timing being of primary significance). It's not just the blog networks, you guys – it's the general blogosphere. It's the want and need that all of us have to make ourselves look more important than we might actually be. We're trying to show others that we can get the scoop – that we were the first to do something.
But being “first” is no longer important, as evidenced by all these damned memetrackers that I'm getting sick of hearing about. I don't visit Memeorandum on pure principle – I'm f*cking sick of the echo chamber. We all want to be on top, we all want to win – and sometimes in our quest to find the one ring to rule them all, we forget about giving credit where credit might be due (even if that comes in the form of a simple hyperlink or name-drop). Or, to put it another way, the blogosphere is starting to pull the same tricks that mainstream media has been accused of pulling in the past.
The only way to prove you were “the first” these days is to create something somewhat original – to do something different. There's definitely a need for weighing in on a topic, but don't do it for the sake of weighing in. And for goodness sake, please don't comment on this entry… or perform a trackback… or write about this post elsewhere. If you do, please don't credit me.
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7 Comments
Pioneer
February 15th, 2006
at 2:19am
The Scoop No Longer Exists?!?
I said that first, like, HOURS ago!
Pirillo, you sooooo got that idea from me!
thepaul
February 15th, 2006
at 7:59am
The #1 problem in the 'blogosphere' is that too many bloggers take themselves waaaaaay to seriously.
Ross
February 15th, 2006
at 9:04am
The “scoop” is an artifact of the press. I don't think it exists, nor matters, in the blogosphere. As others have pointed out, the blogosphere is a conversation. Do you know of anyone who cares who started the conversation?
I can't imagine, for one second, talking to anyone who wanted to discuss who deserved credit for starting a conversation on a particular subject. Its the size of the contribution to the conversation that matters. i.e. I don't care who start the conversation on Podcasting, but I do care about who is making a measurable and useful contribution to that conversation.
I thought people would have had this figured out by now.
Just my contribution…;)
-ross
Anonymous
February 15th, 2006
at 9:05am
The “scoop” is an artifact of the press. I don't think it exists, nor matters, in the blogosphere. As others have pointed out, the blogosphere is a conversation. Do you know of anyone who cares who started the conversation?
I can't imagine, for one second, talking to anyone who wanted to discuss who deserved credit for starting a conversation on a particular subject. Its the size of the contribution to the conversation that matters. i.e. I don't care who start the conversation on Podcasting, but I do care about who is making a measurable and useful contribution to that conversation.
I thought people would have had this figured out by now.
Just my contribution…;)
-ross
Anonymous
February 15th, 2006
at 12:21pm
As a mainstream media journalist, I can tell you that the scoop certainly does still exist! Who gets a story first does indeed matter.
Renai LeMay
ZDNet Australia
Anonymous
February 16th, 2006
at 12:10am
Renai, in the world of mainstream medie sure this still exist – but there you also have set timeframes for when a publicatoin will go out.
As for “giving credit”: Because the blogosphere is getting so big, some things are lying in the air. Somebody like Chris may receive a real scoop, but others at the same time can draw conclusions. And so they post what they found out “without” giving credit.
Nicole Simon
Tinu
February 18th, 2006
at 3:18pm
Well, Chris, it's about more than the scoop to me. I agree with your points, but it's also about how fast misinformation can spread, and how quickly I've seen people mis-quoted, and then subsequently blamed for spreading incorrect facts that they never even said in the first place.
All I can think is that it seems like a bad thing right now… but in a few months it may make individual sources stronger, because that trust relationship is going to become even more important as a result.