... Give Me A Job and I Will Blog About

Those who have been following me online for a while know that I dislike the behavior of most probloggers and their drive to realize their own American Dream, Powered by Regurgitation and Adsense™.

In fact one of the most recent entries on iFranky deals with the topic do bloggers need an opinion on everything and long before that I condemned the term blogging by quoting John Gruber. The truth is that when it comes to certain values, I’m a really boring, old-school nostalgic fart.

In recent times my (online) vendetta criticism has refocused on trying to correct the poor behavior of MSM⁽¹⁾, but in a country with a rather small local tech scene, one which is inherently broken and basks in all its glory receiving more gifts from brands than publicly disclosed⁽²⁾. While I paint a somber picture of the scene, it requires an advanced understanding of every market to know how bad the situation is. Usually the situation is much worse than what the naked eye sees. And it is in our country.

Lesson 1: You Are Not As Important As You Think

But that is not the point of this entry. Instead, today is all in the focus of traffic sluts the search for that elusive Adsense click being powered by a distinct lack of etiquette and manners often showcased by the egomaniacs. Under the mum of informing the readers and population.
More and more I discover among citizen journalists⁽³⁾ that they will literally share anything they can get their (virtual) hands on. This is obviously to expect, because after all every journalist dreams of big numbers/traffic and thinks traffic means that they bring value. And they actually might.

Little birds do not predict impending doom

The main problem is that together with information comes often attitude. One of the more prevalent behavioral principles nowadays is that if it isn’t forbidden, it’s allowed. And so the PR teams are often blamed for ‘not including a NDA’⁽⁴⁾ in their communications or even in their invites. Don’t be surprised when you read the following words from a blogger some day:

The PR agency really dropped the ball on this and we now know when item will be released

What the writer⁽⁵⁾ actually tries to convey here is this:

I am a huge moron and do not think that I should respect normal etiquette in communication, because indeed I am that important.

Lesson 2: This Presents a Big Risk

What many authors forget is that their own behavior incorporates a big risk. While in our rather small scene, market, it might be easy to become an influencer, authority, there is no obligation whatsoever for the brands to rely on these people. And maybe the only reason why they do so is that they are waiting for the next authority to step up.
It is a really thin line to walk. The line between publishing details which might have been targeted at a select group of people and going on the record. This does not require a NDA by whomever sent you an invite to a media only event, or media only information.

Citizen journalists, bloggers are but a tool in the PR machine. Often a not required one

For those not in the know: agencies and PR teams will mark themselves which information is for release and when. Usually understanding this requires very little brainpower from addressee since the most common sentence used is: For immediate release.

What many citizen journalists forget though is that it has never been easier for new publishers to enter a scene. To become an authority in their topic, and crash traffic expectations.

Lesson 3: To Become a Truly Respected Part of the Reporting World, Behavior Needs to Change

For many the dream of being a published writer, publisher is an on-going dream. It is difficult to argue that the websites written for Adsense is a publication and that true value is offered. With the ever expanding universe of websites written for Google and the elusive ad click, it has never been easier for agencies and PR teams to exclude the usual suspects who can not behave either. New displays are constantly created and the PR machine don’t really need you. For everyone who can be ditched, no matter how influential, at least 15 new sites⁽⁶⁾ are ready to go to the event. In the following five days everything which can already be found everywhere will continuously be regurgitated by the mob. Just because they were invited.

You are but a tool. And only you can change that.

Change is required to be taken serious, and become respected in the reporting world. A change in attitude, a return to old-school manners and etiquette. And a large improvement, an improvement in delivered quality. You do not need to be the best writer, the next Hunter S. Thompson, but a slight effort to bring added value would not be misplaced. Try it and before you know you are the next receiver of a free telco smartphone superstar in your local scene. It’s never been as easy. The PR machine will replace the rotten attitude even faster than you came.

Photo Credit: Photo by burpsean.

1. Main Stream Media(↩)
2. D’uh(↩)
3. I use the term Citizen “Journalist” freely, mainly condescendingly though(↩)
4. Non Disclosure Agreement(↩)
5. I use the term “writer” even more condescendingly than “citizen journalist”(↩)
6. Citizen journalists, writers, publishers… choose your pick how to call the species(↩)