The Cult of the Amateur Web 2.0 Critic

I got an early Christmas gift of "The Cult of the Amateur" by Andrew Keen and I have already finished it.

The book is short and offers little original or insightful web 2.0 or even web 1.0 criticism. There is some good, topical commentary on the downside of user-generated content, blogs, citizen journalism, and online copyright chaos. But a lot of the book rehashes tired, old Internet (and granted legitimate) criticisms about Internet porn and gambling, with some saccharine lamentations for the death of newspaper classifieds and others. Then much of the book simplistically blames the Internet for the death of record stores and identity theft as if the Internet was the only factor in their demise. The book also glazes over things with vehement tunnel vision.

Still, I don't regret having read it.

There has been so much hyperbole about the web lately and particularly web 2.o (I have not been alone in predicting this bubble 2.0 to burst soon.) I firmly believe that boosterism doesn't ultimately help - it pushes both the good and bad aspects forward. Acknowledging the shortcomings as you go and addressing them builds something much stronger and much greater.

When Keen's book came out in caused a stir in the blogosphere. By and large, I heard critics denouncing the book with the one-sided fervour of Keen. There was no insightful dialogue going on either way.

I understand that Keen wants to sell books and he does this by being sensational. You don't make a buzz with a treatise showing both sides of an issue. So, Keen takes a stand and single-mindedly argues it.

Keen does raise some very good points that need to be discussed and acted upon.

For instance, why do so many people believe - or at least want to believe - so much rubbish news that comes out of the blogs? Why do people need to have news fresh by the minute instead of waiting for the facts to come in. Why would I want my news or commentary from someone more opinionated than knowledgeable (I don't want any comments on this point - it's a rhetorical question!). These are the main reasons I so rarely read blogs. But then again, many people blog about things that no other sources would cover.

Keen is also critical of the low quality of most YouTube content. And again, why so many people watch it (mystery) and believe it all to be true (stupidity). Again, I almost never watch YouTube except that it has allowed some small-scale companies to distribute content otherwise not feasible, such as CommonCraft's educational & entertaining videos. And yes, I have been known to watch a few irresistible memes/fad stuff on YouTube. It's not like everything on TV or in magazines is all enlightening fare either - why should Mark Burnett and Rupert Murdoch have the monopoly on manufacturing crap?

Like Keen, I also find the flagrant copyright violations that the Internet enables to be troubling. Not all Web 2.0 fans are digital communists. Obviously, people should be compensated for their work, although more reasonable pricing would help everyone.

There is a lot of things wrong with what's happening on the Net, but I believe that even greater, more positive things are happening on it. I think it's important to address the problems. Although I wish it were a better book, I applaud Keen for proclaiming that the emperor has no clothes.

Something To Blog Home About...

History has been on my mind today.

History of personal, local and international proportions. Today is the one year anniversary of this blog. I also bought a book today at Word on the Street about a favourite subject of mine, Toronto history. Later in the day, I read a chapters of a book by Tim Berners-Lee on the history of the World Wide Web.

I thought these three events provide an intriguing perspective on where my life stands right now and a look at my future.

I started blogging a year ago as the momentum of recent developments in the Internet had got me excited about the field again. Since starting in this field I have loved it tremendously - no regrets ever. But the dot bomb was hard to live through, having a kid brought a whole new level of responsibility, and frankly circumstances had not handed me exciting online opportunities.

To fill the void over those intervening years, I spent a lot of time reading about Toronto history (I have about a hundred books on local history most of which I've read). I joined Heritage Toronto and maintained their website. I'd even thought about starting my own Toronto walking tours company and started planning some tours. I also started working on a possible print book on famous Torontonians.

Glen 2.0

But last year my life started to change course, back to my love of the Internet. I started really getting excited about some "new" (for me) Internet developments. First del.ici.ous, then blogging, RSS, accessibility, social media, the Semantic Web and microformats, etc. I also had my company's website relaunch that I lead that solidified my views on good web design and allowed me to put some theory and my thoughts into practice. And this blog was a great way for me to share all this.

I wanted to take this knowledge and newfound passion to the next level and as such decided to do my Master's and hopefully PhD focusing on Internet as much as possible.

I was excited to meet others who shared my passion and who I could learn from. And so I made a real effort for the first time ever to go to industry events and try some social networking. This has had some ups (I have met some cool people and got to know some industry friends much better) and some downs (like pretty much all the real world Internet groups in Toronto and I tried out a lot of them. CaseCamp is the only good one for the record. I've been working on a blog about how crappy they are but have been reluctant to as it seems awful to be so negative to people that are trying not matter how shitty of a job they are doing). I attended Mesh last Spring, the first Web conference I had been to - it was amazing! I also spent an insane amount of time on Facebook, reconnecting with old friends and friended some people that I really wasn't friends with (not like I'm the only one guilty of that).

Corny as it sounds I feel like I had a flash of light where one's future is revealed to them. I am certain now that I want to spend the rest of my life working in the Internet - learning about it, talking about it, sharing info, building in it.

I really felt that doing this meant that I had to focus completely on the Net and give up all my old "time-wasters". My Toronto book in progress was transferred to a wiki (one subsequently neglected). Haven't watched much TV in ages - even the box sets of BattleStar Gallatica, Dukes of Hazard or Scrubs. I felt like I had kicked my travel addiction and swore off travel. I stopped all reading other than about Net topics - hence my reading of "Weaving the Web" by Tim Berners-Lee (a great read and now I'm dying to make a pilgrimage to CERN, the birthplace of the Web).

This weekend I'd planned to get a head start on some online modules for my program and to spend a long time on this blog anniversary (as it is, I'm working on it in the wee hours - so the date will appear as a day off the actual anniversary). But the weather was so damn nice and my daughter was dying to spend time with me, so we decided to got to some cultural events that my wife and I used to go to a lot of before having a toddler made it too difficult. We went to Nuit Blanche and Word on the Street. It was great to participate in something creative and cultural and in complete different spheres again.

The article I wrote for work on Toronto's outdoor art (and posted here last week) got me thinking that I do love Toronto and its art scene and its history. I love spending time with my family too.

So I'm getting the sense that following my passion for the Net doesn't mean I have to wear hard-wired blinders.

I guess I'm feeling lucky that I know what I want to do with my life. I know what things are worthwhile to spend my very finite time on. I also feel happy that I have so many cool things in my life and the opportunity to partake, to various degrees, in them all.

The title of my first blog entry ever was "Nothing to blog home about" but ironically this blog lead to changes in my home, so it was indeed something to blog home about.

Man, this blog was so sappy. Thank God no one reads it!

Web 2.0 Mash Ups

Recently, two of my greatest loves on the Internet have just married another one of my greatest Internet loves. Marriages made in cyber-heaven and I'm blissfully happy!

Facebook, which I am still addicted to, now integrates really nicely with you dear blog and with my beloved del.icio.us tagging.

While I am rather reluctant to hoist all my stuff on otherwise innocent friends, I do like to have some audience for what I believe to be some cool, meaningful work I've been doing online.

Rather than try and get the audience to come to me, it's better to go to where the market is: Facebook!

del.ico.us built a custom application to syndicate your bookmarks (only the ones you choose to share) onto your Facebook profile page and if you choose to also on Facebook's stalker page.

Facebook allows you to publish all your blog postings, granted in vanilla format, into Facebook via importing them as Notes. Facebook then automatically checks every two hours for new updates and publishes them.

While my blog readership is growing very slowly (and I have no idea who some of the subscribers and visitors are, which is a good sign) it's great to have another venue as well.

My del.ico.us work I've been dying to make better use of (eg. see "Net News" on the right). There is a promising Network ability on del.ico.us but I don't know anybody seriously using it (other than Eden). If you'd like to join My Network please do so.

I also got excited when another love of mine, this one an offline one, seemed to have a cool Facebook application. The new Vampires application seemed cool but just sucked, truthfully. (Note for those "Zombies" who bit me and want me to feast on some fresh, tasty brains - forget it. Zombies are beyond my mandate.)

Otherwise this Web 2.0 mash-ups have been a beautiful thing!

I write a blog, but I don't read them...

I confess that while I urge/coerce, everyone I know to read my blog, I don’t reciprocate.

I don’t read more than a handful of blogs regularly – I don’t even pour over my subscriptions in my readers with any frequency.

This confession is a result of having read and agreeing with Jakob Nielsen's article, published today, “Write Articles, Not Blog Postings”. In the article, Nielsen highlights the uneven quality of blogs:

• Sometimes people toss off a posting in a minute. Other times they spend hours.

• Sometimes a writer happens to know a lot about the topic at hand, possibly because they've just spent several months working on that exact problem. Other times people know nothing--which doesn't keep them from voicing their opinions :-)

• Sometimes people are lucky and get a blinding insight. Other times they post more out of duty than anything else.
  

While I like blog’s conversational, personal and generally less rigid, more open style, I also like to have background information and in-depth analysis.

Too many bloggers feel required to blog regularly regardless of whether they have anything useful to say. Or perhaps blogging is just so trendy, everyone is doing it regardless of whether or not they have anything to add or any writing ability. (I live in a glass house, so I’m not throwing stones at anyone I wouldn’t throw at myself.)

Perhaps my general dislike for blogs is that in many cases blogs are about topics that I don’t care passionately enough about to justify the uneven quality and singular focus. Then there are blogs on topics I thought I cared deeply about, but then upon finding blogs on that topic, (eg. Xena or Shakira), I just couldn’t possibly care about it to the degree that the bloggers do. I also haven’t found blogs on some specific topics I care deeply about (eg. the cultural aspects of the Internet or the Web from a production standpoint – all I have found are blogs focusing on the business aspects eg. marketing, investing opportunities, etc. or are too tech-geek for me).

If considering starting a blog, Nielsen cautions (in his utilitarian way):

To demonstrate world-class expertise, avoid quickly written, shallow postings. Instead, invest your time in thorough, value-added content that attracts paying customers.

But it takes so much time to write at that level of insight and quality. I understand and appreciate the allure of the ease of blog publishing, but it is true that while a blog posting is easy to do, it may often offer minimal return.

I don't promise consistent quality or insightful value-add commentary, so to be fair to my friends and family, you are forgiven, if you, like me, just don't see a convincing reason to read the blog.

My Comments on Comments

Blogs by their very nature need to have comments, otherwise they are nothing significantly different than any web posting.

(Yes, Webslinger lacks in this regard - despite the much-appreciated efforts of three loyal readers.)

With this blog, I really wanted to be as open as possible to hearing from anyone - including complete strangers or passing readers that want to leave a quick note. Therefore, I have left the settings of this blog open to anonymous comments.

This tactic, I believe, helps encourage discussion and interaction and makes new readers and blog newbies more likely to comment.

The downside is spammers are hijacking this openness to post spam comments. I hate spam as much, if not more so, than anyone, so I find this really annoying!

My last post has an anonymous comment that I'm fairly certain is spam. I am reluctant to delete it though, as I don't want to cut legitimate comments - even if they are vague or off-topic. So if you were the person who posted it - please identify yourself.

The spam comments to date have not so numerous that I can't delete them manually. But I've been told that as a blog's readership grows, so too does spam.

I've decided in order to encourage easy and open dialogue in this blog, I'm going to continue to allow anonymous comments. I hope the spam doesn't grow or I might be forced to restrict comments.

I'm certain most other bloggers have faced or will face this same issue. It will be a real shame if spammers ruin one of the greatest strengths of the blog medium.

Blogging for dollars

Yesterday, while pining over the Mesh web conference line-up (that I won't be able to go to, sigh), I came across B5Media, a Toronto-based company that pays people to blog on their network. They also had a link on the site to job postings for bloggers at ProBlogger.

I had considered the idea a few weeks ago, when I received a print copy of Digital Journal, that mentioned they also pay people to blog. Digital Journal is also a Toronto company.

I don't think I want to do make Webslinger into a professional blog though.

Yes, I like money (but not in that Midas way).

But if Webslinger was professional, I wouldn't have the same freedom to publish more personal items that are a record I want to keep of my online life (see yesterday's posting). Also, I'd have to commit to regular updates and a more clear focus.

Basically, it would just take all the fun out of blogging.

It would be nice to get more exposure to my blog and, again, I like money, but if the fun is gone and the personal relevance too, then I don't see the point.

Today, I did see another way to make money online...

Globe&Mail currently has a contest to win $10,000 by adding your comments to their blogs and articles.

Webslinger doesn't offer a cent for your comments, but they are greatly appreciated.

1.2 readers for every blog

Last week, I read in an article, Web 2.0 - Using Blogs by Brad Einarsen that every North American blog has an average of 1.2 readers (based on study by Forrester). I’m hoping that figure does not include the blog author!
Thanks to my wife and Eden, my loyal blog readers, my blog is at least ahead of the pack.
The research shows that most blog readers are also people that write blogs. Blogs don’t get a lot of reach beyond this group.
Plus the number of blogs out there is overwhelming and disheartening. I keep finding at least one or two a day – many of which are definitely worth reading regularly and some are good, but considering my information overload, I don’t have time for.
This all lead me to feel quite discouraged about blogging, but then a faithful Webslinger reader, my wife, mentioned that there is a lot of value in blogging just to keep a record of what I’m doing and learning online. Isn’t this how blogs started – as a web diary, a.k.a web log? I think I will keep blogging as it is a useful record of my online experience and findings and if anything else comes of it (including a reader or two – or rather .2) then all the better.
However, I don’t plan to blog as frequently. Some blog entries are really just drawing attention to useful articles I read. And there isn’t a lot of value in just posting an intro to these without offering my take on it or some sort of context or analysis.
I read a lot of articles about the Internet every day and have been faithfully bookmarking ones with lasting value to my del.icio.us. I was thinking it would be great if I could share my picks and upon looking into it I found that del.icio.us makes syndicating and sharing bookmarks and tags really easy.
As such I have launched my breaking news feature, which you’ll see on the right.
Web news - picks by Glen
There are a lot of articles published about the Internet, many of which are nothing more than screen-filler. I collect the articles that discuss best-practices, trends, latest research, the evolving role of the Internet within our society and culture and of course cool and shiny new developments.
You can view the web news here or subscribe to the feed yourself.
So Webslinger may be evolving despite the discouraging statistics. And if you are a loyal reader (I can hear crickets chirping) let me know...

Travels online and off

Just got back from a week in Mexico, hence the Webslinger hiatus.

Mexico
Checking out the ever-useful TripAdvisor and the recently-discovered Debbie's Caribbean Reviews we found an area of Mexico that was safe from the ongoing attacks/murders of Canadian tourists there. We would never have been able to find a truly safe destination in Mexico and a resort that fit our various needs, without being able to research online. Online comments and forums also convinced us to stay clear of Dominican Republic, which we almost went to. So in the end, we had a pretty good trip thanks the Internet.

But once there, a week without Internet access was hard for me, but I managed. The ever-present blender drinks certainly helped.

Along the theme of travel, here are a couple related sites:

43Places
A website I discovered shortly before leaving, is 43places.com Users can enter the 43 places they most want to go and indicate there progress. Here's my list (just got 2 down). You can share tips and reviews on the location and share with others who share your destinations. This combines the right amount of personalization, user generated content and community. Okay I already had a list so this site just takes that to the extreme!


Moto-MoJo
Colleague and MediaGleaner blogger, Liz is off to Europe for her own Long Way Round motorcycle adventure. She started a blog about her trip. Her many problems and great struggles in Brugge make for good reading. Not that I wish more problems on her, but a smooth trip wouldn't have been nearly as compelling. Check out Moto-Mojo (but start at the earliest entry).

Down the road
Found another site that seems promising, Virtual Tourist. I'll be checking it out more as we plan our summer trip to St. Pierre & Miquelon, Newfoundland & Labrador. Plus Yahoo Travel seems to be expanding lately. Just filled out an online survey for their site that seems that they offer way more cool stuff than I ever could find. (I did write a whole bunch of destination reviews for them so I hope it comes to something!)

Casecamp

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