The news this week that Mottram is going to Yahoo! both disturbed and excited me. It is my personal belief that sports blogs are going to go through an exciting time of change and competition now. Some of the big boys (Yahoo! Sports, ESPN, etc.) are going to enter the blog world in a big way, and it'll be interesting to see which blogs can successfully compete and which blogs get hammered. Also, bloggers are slowly embracing technology (although for most of us, "technology" = successful Youtube embed) and improving their styles and topics.
However, I'm realizing as time goes on that although I think I have a good handle on where blogs are going and how they will get there (more multimedia content, emphasis on community among readers, live events, blog networks by topic and interest rather than cluttered masses of unrelated posts, commenting will be replaced by a more interactive method for reader feedback, etc.), I am probably not going to get to profit by it. By "profit" I mean make money, or make more blogging friends, or feed my ego. This is the disturbing part. Fact is, as just one blogger, I don't have that much influence and time to make sure that my blog is the first to adopt to these technological changes. And I've realized that the way I've spent my summer blogging (lots of video for content, rather than written posts; too much commenting/visiting of other bloggers web-site) has set me back from achieving these goals. Also, um, there's this thing called "job" and "real life" that I've not been giving enough effort to.
Anyway, you may ask, "Is this post going somewhere?" No. Err, wait, ok,sure. First, dear reader, tell me, what parts of this blog you most enjoy? Is it the athlete pictorials/video? The more serious Jesus Plays Sports and other perspective columns? My attempts at humor in Open Letters and the like? Or something else? This isn't me saying "Pat my back"; please tell me what you don't like as much, as well. Second, this is my open invitation to you, dear blogger, to ally with me and help be part of Sports Blogging 3.0. I'd call Sports Blogging 1.0 what Bill Simmons and other Internet pioneers did; 2.0 is Deadspin/AOL Fanhouse; but I believe 3.0 is soon coming. And this time, I want to be one of the people causing change and innovating instead of saying "Oh, I had that idea too, but I never did anything with it." If you're interested, shoot me an e-mail (see right column for gmail address, which is talktomc). Third, sorry, dear blogger, but I won't be commenting so much on your sites anymore. It was fun developing a presence on some blogs, but it lacks the difference-making potential I had hoped for. I'll try to up the linkage instead.
Here is a question. When will a blog become 'big' without latching onto a big name like Gawker, ESPN, Yahoo!, AOL, etc.? The Big Lead is about the only unaffiliated blog I can think of now, although it's early in the morning, and they always say they aren't making any money. When will the time come where a blog can actually make it, and stay that way, without latching on to a bigger name corporation and what will it take for a blog to be successful in that sense on their own?
ReplyDeleteShrewd observation, oh scaly-aliased one. Deadspin has done a great job of playing poor country cousin, but the site wouldn't be where it is today if it were named "deadspin.blogspot.com", for sure. I think the extent to which the amateurs have "taken over" the blogging game has been exaggerated.
ReplyDeleteI still think the answer to success is a network of skilled bloggers instead of single blogs, but I may be wrong. After all, Drudge managed to become popular by using a network of readers to submit info (rather than writers). But I am convinced that the answer is to create content. We aren't going to make it just by linking videos and paraphrasing AP columns, I don't think.
Creating content is a solid start.
ReplyDeleteAlso, teaming up. I think, for example, a blogger like you would be a great addition to any blog - let's say you wrote two to three posts for a bigger blog with similar minded bloggers (the obvious one is TSF)... you could get some more positiveness out of it... more feedback, more views, more comments.
Anyway, I think Blog 3.0 might involve talent levels... like bloggers will be advanced by the larger websites (sort of how AA or TBL advance you by letting you post once in a while), until you get promoted to the "Big Leagues". They'll be smaller "large blogs", meaning medium-level blogs, that'll push talented new bloggers along until they get a chance at the big leagues.
Or so I suspect....
MC Bias, we feel very late to the party. Clearly, you've been exploring Big Blog Ideas--and quite articulately, might we add--long before you weighed in on a We Rite Goode post. (And now that we review your site, the interesting "Should increasing traffic be our #1 goal?" post rings a bell). It's too bad you're cutting back on commenting because, frankly, that's how we rediscovered you.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what the next sort of blog 3.0 is going to be, but what I do know is that most people don't make much money off of blogging so it best be something you really enjoy doing.
ReplyDeleteAs for your blog, I enjoy when you talk about things that make you think a little. You know, the moderately cerebral stuff.