Socially that is. Seems Chris Pirillo and a few others at Gnomedex to have a little “social experiment” with TechMeme. I have to admit, it is slightly funny in a High School prank kinda way.
Of course on the other hand, it has potential to undermine the reliability of TechMeme. It also should serve as a reminder to all of us that TechMeme is not the end-all of sources. It is what it is. Merely a aggregation of some of the more popular bloggers and blogs in the tech field. I still check it regularly, but exclusivity precludes it from being my main source of information. I prefer my bloglines for that. Sure, it’s still exclusive because it’s only certain blogs, but I have control over what blogs I read. I’m not depending on the whims of a bunch of bloggers at a conference who take it upon themselves to point TechMeme in one direction.
Technorati Tags: bloglines, techmeme, memeorandom, chris pirillo, gnomedex, geek news central, techmeme hacked
Is PayPerPost that bad?
A new Web 2.0 company aimed at bloggers called PayPerPost is creating quite the stir today. It breaks down to being a paid blogger website. Bloggers sign up and get paid to do reviews on T.V. shows, websites, movies, etc…
Marshall at TechCrunch compares using PayPerPost to selling your soul. Jeremiah says it makes mercenaries out of bloggers. Postbubble doesn’t think it’s all that bad, but figures it’s doomed to fail. Darren at Problogger turned in a more level-headed review while still mentioning that it could spell disaster for some bloggers if complete transparency isn’t used.
There are plenty more, check out techmeme to see them all.
Here’s my take. There is something to the point that we as bloggers already do create buzz about the things we like. Sure, it would be nice to be compensated for that buzz. The problem arises when, as Darren pointed out, the transparency disappears. If I read a blogger’s review of a movie or website, and nothing is said about the blogger getting paid for it, I assume that the review is an honest one. If there is no mention of being paid for the review, but the blogger did get paid, that assumption is wrong and the trust I have as a reader is gone.
The flip side to that is that a quick look at the current opportunities at PayPerPost reveals a payscale that is only in the $5-$10 range. I can’t see people selling out for a measly $5. If it becomes possible to write many posts and the opportunities become more widespread, I can see people selling out for what could amount to $50+ a week. That’s not chump change. In fact, that would make for a rather large income increase from my blog.
Would I do it? Maybe once or twice. And only with complete transparency. Each post would most certainly have to have a disclaimer. I don’t think I will though. Unless you take complete advantage of the system set up there, the money is not good enough. I’ll settle for my honest Adsense and Affiliate links.
Bottomline? Very few honest bloggers will use the service. Postbubble is probably right. PayPerPost will probably fail. The only future I see is the Splogs picking up on it and taking advantage of it. And, honestly, I think it will take a while before the advertisers catch on to whats happening and begin shying away from paid posts in that way.
P.S. I have no qualms with doing honest reviews of Schwag. I could use a new laptop.
Technorati Tags: payperpost, blogging, evil