Social media consultant Brian Oberkirch is not fond of TechCrunch’s oversimplified Kevin v. Evan post. And Oberkirch didn’t like Kent Newsome’s post on the 5 stages of blogging much better.
So what does Oberkirch like?
I actually think the ‘King of the Mountain’ approach to tracking startups is disrespectful to the idea of entrepreneurship. Like every new thing has to be an ‘x-killer’ or it doesn’t merit review. I believe in the power of unique user experiences to create lots of value and, therefore, lots of new businesses. I believe in the connective power of the Web to create a truly global community and market for the quirkiest of ideas. I believe that lifetimes are measured out in coffee spoons and not deposit slips, and I will talk about the Web accordingly.
And I will fly the flags of my friends who are living examples of just this sort of thing: Ben Brown, Adaptive Path, Satisfaction, Amit Gupta, Mule Design, Dogster and on & on.
One of the things not said by Oberkirch is this: When a site like TechCrunch rockets into orbit, it leaves its grassroots community behind. TechCrunch, one might argue, is now mainstream media.