Blogging is a new form. “Media now is raw, collaborative and instantaneous,” argues Om Malik, one of the world’s most successful bloggers. With a new form comes new challenges, and Om recently wrote a post on Gigaom reflecting on the past 10 years he spent perfecting the art of blogging.
I wrote every day and every day traffic went up. More importantly, more people joined the community of readers. My blog became a collaborative whiteboard /sounding board for my book, Broadbandits, which I had just begun writing.
Being addictive in nature, I was quickly hooked. The idea that all these smart people were sharing all their insights with me was the greatest feedback loop of all time. With every blog post, I engaged and learned. Ten years later, that learning continues. Not a day goes by that doesn’t see one of our readers leave a comment that makes me re-evaluate how I look at the technology or a topic I just wrote about.
At the end of the post Om re-emphasizes the community aspect of blogging.
In 2008, I wrote that “blogging is not just an act of publishing but also a communal activity. It is more than leaving comments; it is about creating connections.” That is the single biggest lesson learned of these past 10 years. Every connection has lead to a new idea, new thought and a new opportunity.
In my opinion, this is one area where AdPulp is missing the boat. I don’t know if it’s something we’re not doing right*, or if our readers simply don’t have much to add. Perhaps it is a combination of both.
At any rate, if we are going to keep this project going and keep it vital to the creators as well as the readers, we need to mix things up a bit and change the score.
My new friend Daniel Honigman of AdYapper advised me recently, “It’s not just about creating content anymore, now you have to give readers a platform.” I agree, and I want to make sure that AdPulp is a platform for you to sound off and be heard.
What that platform looks like and how it works is the question. I’m looking forward to your answers.
*I’ve noticed how many traditional journalists fail to interact in social channels, which they use simply as another broadcast medium. As an experiment, find a favorite journo on Twitter and try to engage them in dialogue — I think you’ll find it difficult. I know I do, and it’s a reminder to me to not repeat that mistake here.
