Tech Journalism

by Jay Cuthrell
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One of the things I notice when attending technology events is the ability of the tech blog ecosystem to crank out coverage even before the event is over. Tech blog posts appear before the coffee carts are removed. Conclusions and predictions are posted at the speed of light.

Fascinating.

Indeed, these are long tech blog posts that say what folks must be thinking. There are fully worked out scenarios outlining explicit details and actions that must be taken by companies and their leaders per the social contract of the development community. Yes, these long tech blog posts are the blueprints for the solution.

There are examples where those tech blog writers aren’t even in attendance. These tech blog writers are just that good, that tuned in, and that hip to the low down of it all.

Fascinating.

As such, I’m starting to recommend that folks disconnect from any tech blog that uses the following conventions in any post.

  • [horse race metaphor] 1
  • physical violence metaphor
  • hyperbole (all of it)
  • all internal links
  • war references (any and all of them)
  • [blatant refusal to use proper terminology] 2
  • consistent rivalry references
  • [catering to irrational fears] 4
  • writing about writing about writing (potentially about writing)

But I like reading the tabloids

Okay. Sure. It’s a guilty pleasure. We’ve all been there. So, let’s make a deal. For a week (or two), stop reading anything that has exhibited the prior list of things to watch out for. See how that feels. We’ll call this our little A/B test.

This is not a veiled GTD experiment. This is a cleansing of the impurities that build up from a steady diet of tech blog coverage. For the test, the general time collection method is simple. Determine the total time you normally spend on tech blog X, Y, and Z… use browser plugins or just guestimate if you are into that concept. Otherwise, how does 30 minutes sound?

Tech Blog Free Diet

Monday: Determine the tech community project you care the most about and engage in that community to see what is going on or spend more time you’d normally spend there

Tuesday: Do not read anything. Instead, organize your bookmarks and wonder why you saved them in the first place. Crazy, right?

Wednesday: Find two projects on Github, Google Code, SF, LP, or Codeplex, etc. and follow something or make a comment if you can

Thursday: If you use Twitter, only share links to the two projects you found on Wednesday, say it is awesome or worth checking out and tag it #blogaboutit

Friday: Determine what your favorite is, find out who the top 10 committers are, and send number 7, 8, 9, and 10 a personal thank you note if you can find them online easily.

ALL THESE TECH BLOGS ARE YOURS EXCEPT TECHMEME. ATTEMPT NO LANDINGS THERE.

Remember, this A/B experiment is our little secret.

Perhaps, just like the rise of meta summary curating services, there will be a community scale expansion that buries things not worthy of being read by folks regardless of where it is [published] 3 or the SEO melange that pushes it to the top spot of seemingly arbitrary lists.

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