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John Furrier › Likes
In-Stream Twitter Ads: You’re Already Doing Them [Yes, You] - http://siliconangle.net/ver2...
Hutch Carpenter, Kol Tregaskes, Dedegi and 17 other people liked this
Ah, the "every link is a paid link" moral relativism argument. Mark says "I’ve had a grand total of about five people unfollow me personally because of ads I’ve run in my tweets" but doesn't take into account the people (like me) that choose not to start following him because of in-tweet ads.
- Matt Cutts
So are you going to unfollow Robert? He is sponsored by Rackspace, and frequently puts out Rackspace-promoting content in his tweets. Should I unfollow you? You're paid by Google, and often put out Google related materials that you wouldn't normally propagate if you weren't on staff there.
- Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
Mark, you're welcome to think everyone is doing in-stream Twitter ads by your definition of "ads"; I just disagree with you. :)
- Matt Cutts
from iPhone
I think it will be relatively easy to spot the shill ads from individuals that are posting information about/from their employers or about products they are truly enthused about. People aren't stupid.
- Brian Sullivan
@Matt - let's go with *your* definition of ad, or rather, your employer's definition of ad..... http://screencast.com/t... - by that definition, your latest tweet is an ad.
- Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
My tweet about email spammer Alan Ralsky being sentenced to jail is an ad? I'm not following you, sorry. My point in commenting was that you don't really know how many people choose not to follow you because of tweets like "Follow @BlueToolCrew & you could win a Craftsman Autohammer. Your thumbs will thank you! http://spon.in/06/D8" I suppose the claim is that's disclosure because the redirector has "spon" in it? I think that sort or tweet has a more corrosive effect on your followers than you might expect.
- Matt Cutts
from iPhone
Agree with Matt Cutts. I think irrelevant ads that distract and are not useful to the audience do have a corrosive effect on your followers. The best example I have of ads done tastefully is Google AdWords that promotes relevant ads above organic search results. In many cases the ad is better than the search result even. However Matt, what would be your opposition to an ad that is as relevant to any other tweet from someone you are following.
- Bindu Reddy
@Matt: the latest tweet at the time when I wrote that was one about Google Chrome Extensions, Matt. http://screencast.com/t... That's an announcement post for your employer, purely promotional with a little bit of endorsement on the side.
- Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
For that matter, I'm not the one who's against ads. If you want to promote who you work for and who pays for your meals, I'm all about that. You're the one who says that's a bad thing. With regard to my sponsored tweets coming from the Craftsman campaign, there are about three types of conspicuous disclosure involved - there's a tool bar that shows up on the link, there's disclosure on...
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- Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins
I'm on Mark's side, but I think you're all doing it right. (I think Mark's saying the same thing though) Follow your stats. In the end it's the numbers that count.
- Jesse Stay
I do think it's a little odd that a Google employee is going by assumption though. I'm curious where Matt's stats are to prove his point.
- Jesse Stay
Which is why I unfollowed those jackasses :-). Anyone who I felt was marketing was unfollowed.
- Richard A.
Richard, which is fine - from what these guys are saying you're in the minority. (although calling them a jackass for it is a bit over-the-top I think - let them use it the way they like!)
- Jesse Stay
Every link you tweet, to your own content or anyone else's, is an ad. You are fooling yourself if you think otherwise. Whether they are paid ads or not, depends. I'd like to think most are unpaid. I will admit to tweeting things and posting stuff here on friendfeed where I got some sort of compensation for doing it (though not always money), but I won't admit to doing it for anything I...
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- April Russo (app103)
This reminds me of early discussions with google founder in 1999 around paid inclusion (prior to adwords) - the number one issue being discussed here is about user experience - period. Expectations are different for different people Matt Cutts will always disagree with Mark Hopkins until there is a norm on what is a sponsored tweet. Do I stop using gmail because lame ass ads show up...
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- John Furrier
Awesome.
Garin Kilpatrick, China Internet Rumors, Voyagerfan5761 and 128 other people liked this
hahahaha
- MG Siegler
haha
- Daniel Brusilovsky
I've been having fun watching the Facebook employees do that today as well - lol
- Jesse Stay
Is there a group "I Just plain hate Facebook"? I'd like to join.
- Jeff P. Henderson
Scary thing is I think a lot of people are actually taking that group seriously.
- Tony, Paradox of FF
Hhahhahaha!!!
- Zulema ◕ ◡ ◕
LOL at Mark Zuckerberg joining. That's hilarious.
- Haggis (Sean Loyless)
laugh out loud.
- Micah Wittman
LOL!! Yes they are, Tony - that makes it so much better. :->
- Kurt Kringle
It's killing me - check it out :-> http://www.facebook.com/search...
- Kurt Kringle
I just love how some people have joined, completely ignoring the description of the group and showing the type of people they really are. I don't *love* the changes, but I will get used to them and someday soon I will not even remember the old way it was done. Change is good... long live change!
- Travis Koger
hahha that is too funny!! :D
- Susan Beebe
Classy!
- Tyson Key
ROFL
- Roberto Bonini
I HATE THE NEW FACEBOOK HOME PAGE, UNTIL ITS NEXT FACELIFT, AFTER WHICH I WILL BITTERLY COMPLAIN ABOUT HOW PERFECT THIS LAYOUT WAS.
- Rebecca Sun
Yes, Rebecca, exactly. :)
- Dan Hsiao
just joined
- johnpiercy
Touché Facebook Employees, Touché.
- Navarr
ahahahaha:D
- beybinesen
Try http://lite.facebook.com/opozo, the simple the better, but not simpler.
- Orlando Pozo
I'll be speaking at StartupSchool tomorrow. (http://startupschool.org/speaker...) Any suggestions?
Shanmuganandh, TheHenry, Tyson Key and 28 other people liked this
Will you ignore them like the past time? ;-)
- alieb
Probably.
- Paul Buchheit
Really liked your talk last year.
- Akshay Dodeja
Will it be streamed live?
- Cliff Gerrish
talk about Friend Feed!
- Jay
I think it would be interesting to hear how do your plan your product/feature roadmap. How did it change over the last 2 years for friendfeed when you were thinking about products and features.
- Akshay Dodeja
Oh, also tell them when stream splicing (subscribing to friendfeed feeds within friendfeed - people and search) will be launched.
- Cliff Gerrish
Might be interesting to discuss how to distinguish "a feature" vs "complete product" in context of startup development strategy. Is a bright idea going to become a killer app? Or would even just an incremental improvement to current state of the art be a plausible basis for business plan appropriate for a startup?
- Dan Freeman
Dont get discouraged by VCs
- Khuram Hussain
I suggest a talk on the rich and glorious future of the service FriendFeed on the World Wide Web.
- Thomas Hawk
You shall tell them that FF will be the freaky geeky cousin of FB for along long time
- Robert Higgins
Actually I don't care what you speak on, I just can't wait to hear it!
- Jay
Assuming that acquisition talks had been happening for a long time...how did you decide when was the right time to be acquired (and that Facebook was the right fit)? If the tables were turned (FF was FB's size and FB was FF's size) how would you handle the acquisition of Facebook? How is your role different at Facebook as compared to Friendfeed?
- Adam Kazwell
Talk about your vision of the Web to come (1-5 years) -- I can't care less about PR people, social media expert, guru or whatever talking about that but would be really interesting to hear you on this matter, and I guess it is the same for other people and startuppers
- alieb
PR lessons from the FriendFeed acquisition.
- Bruce Lewis
Painting your keyboard black?
- Eric Borisch
Key lessons learned from FriendFeed ? What made you to sell Friendfeed to facebook?
- Rama Vadakattu
The Startup School is live now at http://www.justin.tv/startup...
- Robert Scoble
Geez, the quality of the stream out of justin.tv is unwatchable.
- Cliff Gerrish
I'm not even getting any audio/video at all. It says offline. WTF? Why couldn't they use LiveStream?
- Fulaan, inna Hebel
ya audio is really BAD!
- Roshan Ramachandran
:(
- Fulaan, inna Hebel
Please tell me there'll be a recording of the speakers after #sus09
- Fulaan, inna Hebel
Talk about how fun PR is during / after exit LOL :D
- Susan Beebe
BTW, the new FB feed is simply awesome!!
- Susan Beebe
The Continuous Permanent Reinvention of Publishing. Good #fbf09 post by @R_Nash http://rnash.com/article... Publishing is waking up to #ebooks
John Furrier liked this
The Future of the Social Web: In Five Eras - http://www.web-strategist.com/blog...
Rajif Krobat, Baytech, Björn Klose and 113 other people liked this
Interesting stuff...thanks for sharing
- Hugo Guzman
Great info! I agree fish where the fish are :)
- Peter du Toit (S.Africa)
Agree on the whole. I always find these categories a little artificial: Really "Forrester-speak". :) I think the recommendations are the most interesting. I'd make a separate post out of that.
- Meryn Stol
You say it yourself: "What’s interesting isn’t this vision for the future, but what it holds in store for brands, " . I'd like these recommendations to be fleshed out with concrete first steps to take. Doesn't have to be more than links to relevant resources.
- Meryn Stol
Meryn The recommendations are fleshed out in the actual reports. Our clients (brands) have access to see them.
- Jeremiah Owyang
Hmm ok... Then I'll need to get the details elsewhere I guess. :)
- Meryn Stol
Interesting categorization of the development into eras. Any consideration to the impact of scale on the 5th era? Just as a recent example with Facebook, their format evolution was not well received by what is not an insignificant number of members, and yet the reality is - that change - negative impact not withstanding is not rolling back.
- Patrick Boegel
There will be a give and take between communities and brands. The thing is, Facebook doesn't have a competitive alternative that users could go to. In my report, we suggest that active communities could define specs for products, and bid MULTIPLE companies to build it.
- Jeremiah Owyang
I completely understand that Jeremiah, just wondering if the nature of scale impacted or perhaps better said impacts the thought process for very complex long term brand relationships, ie Health Insurance, Financial Services, a college/university choice, where consversation and user invovlement can be complicated. Very interested in the full report either way. Thx.
- Patrick Boegel
good stuff Jeremiah, enjoyed and some good thought provokers there for the future
- Richard Binhammer
Nice paper but really expensive for young people. $750 means $41 for page.
- Alp
Great information, understanding the future's potential is more important than ever on the social web.
- Maria Reyes-McDavis
Interesting, but very general and hard to apply. I see companies more as å provide of tools/stage for conversation, aka the gold rush mining vs selling tools
- Anders Dahlberg
Alp, Many of Forrester's clients are large brands who have a subscription. We're still sharing a great deal on this blog, and have given the report to bloggers to cover, so there's value to be had there.
- Jeremiah Owyang
Jeremiah (and the team), a great piece of work and, I imagine, a labour of both love and loathing at times! I have been very interested in this area as I have looked at the shift in skills to deliver social media activity changes from one of basic coding knowledge to much more human, interactive skills.
- Paul Fabretti
Fantastic article! I found it SO intriguing that I've even printed it out!
- J. D. Ebberly
"How Brands Should Prepare" is a great bit of information. Jeremiah, it would be nice (i'd be reading) if you expanded in future blog posts about the "How Brands Should Prepare".
- frank barry
That's likely to be a research report I'm thinking about writing Frank
- Jeremiah Owyang
Probably correct in assuming that most online social networks will neither spawn nor solidify to the point of being considered ‘affinity groups’ with the level of cohesion, unified budgetary authority or organized implementation capability of NGOs, churches, or employee aggregations. Even in the era of social commerce. I hope I’m wrong.
- A Mitchell
Great post, understanding the future's potential is more important than ever on the social web.
- Vlad Hrouda
Just found this... great stuff!
- Gerd Leonhard
We are pleased to announce that the Gillmor Gang is back - and delivered through the Real Time Network on building43.com. Gillmor Gang (with video!) will air live on Thursdays, at 1PM Pacific time. Rackspace is happy to sponsor Gillmor Gang, and the Real Time Network. This cooperative effort will continue building43's efforts to educate, inform...
Rick Bucich, Nicholas Chase, Rui Pereira and 31 other people liked this
Congratulations, Rob - I know you've been working to make this happen on your end. So, when is that break coming you were talking about taking? :)
- Robert J Taylor
Gutsy move to sponsor a show which has a meltdown every 1.2 episodes :)
- Mark
Sounds like a great fit.
- Mike Doeff
from iPhone
sweet and/or awesome
- Chris Heath
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there will be an archive! I can't watch video on my work pc! Can't wait for the Gilmor Gang to happen again!
- ursi
WOW, just made my day, Gillmor is my dowsing rods for the attention economy the rest of the world is just figuring out we are living in
- David Stratton
How are you guys managing the video feeds from multiple locations for this show? Would love for you to share your secret :-)
- Chris Nadeau
Skypesaurus II.
- Vezquex: God of FF
from fftogo
not really skypesaurus, but a child or red-headed step-son ... they're using mac minis right? and what for kvm?
- Chris Heath
Twitter matters - I wouldn't know the Fiat race successes without it. Could apply to many other things as well. #gillmorgang
- Rick Bucich
Why Twitter is underhyped and is probably worth five to 10 billion dollars - http://scobleizer.posterous.com/why-twi...
Garin Kilpatrick, Stephen Edgar, Hiệp lê tuấn and 75 other people liked this
Posted via web from scobleizer's posterous
- Robert Scoble
from Posterous
I was thinking about this today - I don't remember 4 or 5 entire tech conferences devoted to just Facebook in a single year. That makes me think something's different about Twitter. Maybe you're right on the reasons - I'm not sure what it is, but Twitter has the celebrity appeal that is drawing more people percentage-wise than Facebook. Interesting to see if Facebook can turn things around (I have faith they will).
- Jesse Stay
Jesse: I've talked with dozens of businesses and they all say Facebook isn't working as well for them.
- Robert Scoble
Facebook needs to fix the fundamental issues I laid out in that post before businesses will get excited. Hopefully the FriendFeed team can help them there.
- Robert Scoble
Twitter is so much more live, fun, exciting, happening!
- Marilyn Jansen Lopes
Robert yeah - that's why I was one of the few excited about the FriendFeed acquisition. I think it has the chance to fix those problems. I agree completely. In the meantime I'm going to make Facebook better for business on SocialToo. :-)
- Jesse Stay
i think robert's hit it on the head. FB is simply too cumbersome and too information-poor to be of value to businesses; twitter's extreme simplicity ("just" a stream) and ability to be mined make it easy and valuable for businesses to use. i'm on a trip to nyc right now and am amazed at how much local businesses have picked up using Twitter.
- empireofno
Sigh, Posterous is still not working for me. Not good.
- Robert Scoble
They're out for a beer...
- Gus
Posterous is back now.
- Gus
Gus: it's still down here. Hmmm.
- Robert Scoble
Gus, it's now working again, thanks!
- Robert Scoble
Twitter is open to the world. Facebook content is only really fully open if you subscribe. Facebook has an image problem where business is concerned, basically it's perceived to be full of kids wittering on about drunken nights out. Similar opinions could be held about Twitter but successes are easy to see and the 140 character limit also limits the bullshit. Twitter is an old fashioned...
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- Gilbert Harding
It so baffling how such a mess of a site that is USELESS w/out a 3rd party app has such a HUGE adoption rate. On second thought, I blame you guys, Robert & co., for bringing the masses over. Now, no one wants to leave! ;)
- Mona Nomura
it's not the site itself that is really the useful part, it's the platform it has become. Actually, I'd venture to say that, since most people still use the web interface, it explains why most people still don't see the power of Twitter. I've always disliked it, but it's success in penetrating...uh...everything cannot be denied.
- Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah
Maybe power is a little strong, LOL. I've never noticed the search being broken, though.
- Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah
@rasheen @mona - it's irrelevant whether the useful part is the site or a third party app. No third party would exists without Twitter. How smart is to let others do the hard work at your place (if you'll be able to make money from this)? ;-)
- Markingegno - Donato
Maybe it's the tools I use (or don't use) - pre Gnomedex I had two people monitoring on Tweet Deck, two on Co-Tweet, and Chris would monitor via web...and whatever he uses. We'd STILL have discrepancies. Baffling.
- Mona Nomura
:) Meant to comment here..copying text from above. I am a total geek w/ my hands on my keyboard 71% of a 24 hr. day, yet I frequently find myself frustrated w/ FB's extremely non intuitive web interface...Now....that being said ~ today I found myself conversing fast, fluid & furious very Tweet-Like from the new FB iPhone App while lounging at the Pool...Who knows what I'm talking about?...
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- Zaneology
Facebook's design is definitely crap and makes the site a PITA to use for me. Too much going on.
- Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah
I think Twitter is super over-hyped. Five to 10 billion? That's way too much, comparing to traditional industries. Take for example Israeli company Iscar (www.iscar.com) that is considered a world leading supplier of precision carbide metal working tools (cutting tools), has billions of dollars in revenues, employs thousands of workers all around the world and reports an average of 15%...
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- Nir Ben Yona
O_O 5-10 BILLION? noooo way.. maybe 550 million at MAX, but no billion dollar ranges.
- Kevin Nunez
I agree w/ billion - the entire market is shifting because of social media, led by Twitter.
- Mona Nomura
Scobleizer: I could not disagree with you more about "Facebook needs to fix the fundamental issues I laid out in that post before businesses will get excited". Look at companies like Zynga who are making high double digit to low triple digit millions on top of the Facebook platform. Also Playfish, Slide, Playdom, etc. You're just wrong on this one--businesses are already there, and making lots of money.
- Eric Florenzano
after years of avoiding it, I broke down and registered for a FB account. the inability for me to choose whatever user name I want is close to a deal breaker for me. But I went ahead and registered anyway. After 30 minutes I got tired of all of the customization and quit.
- jbrotherlove
mmm posterous down..
- Ouriel Ohayon
Go you halves Robert
- Michael McGimpsey
So far, facebook and twitter have the same problem: monetization (I read your post about Sushi restaurants paying to list coupons next to their mentions in search results which could have some legs but it still needs to be proven). The other problem for twitter is the sign up process: it is still way too hard to find the right people based on your interests and as a result a lot of...
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- Edwin Khodabakchian
Here's my full response: http://staynalive.com/article...
- Jesse Stay
Just as AIM was adopted by the masses in the late 90's, Twitter is being adopted now. I think, in the next decade, competing services will arise making Twitter just one service among several status/comment services feeding into a more broad (more robust) platform that has yet to be defined. Just as you can now chat between AIM and Yahoo IM, you'll be able to interact between Twitter and...
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- Gus
I not sure that you're right, Robert. But I'm not sure that you're wrong either. Twitter going for that price would kick off another tech bubble.
- Roberto Bonini
I don't think I could ever engage with Twitter in its current form. The reason why businesses and celebrities like it is that it's so simple. The can post updates from their mobile phones and look at their follower count and feel good about themselves being popular. But I doubt that most people see more than 1% of the tweets from the people they follow. I also don't think that they can be worth anything like $5B because they have no assets.
- James Myatt
From posterous: Wow.. I completely disagree!! Yes it is good for the duration of a tweet and maybe even the duration of it's search (two weeks), but the entire world doesn't think/work within such a limited window. Yes the twitter environment is successful, but where would twitter be without all the layers and add-ons that actually make it easy to use? You can't (fully) figure that into...
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- Chris Myles
Did anyone else experience this? When I read the title I had this image of Scoble with a Dr. Evil (Austin Powers) voice over.. "Twitter is worth ... 5 BILLION dollars"!!
- Chris Myles
we need to wait for the Facebook/FF/Linkedin $1bn revenue IPO before we place that value on Twitter. An FB/FF/LI combination could justify a $10bn IPO in 2010. Twitter can't (yet).
- Thomas Power
Robert, this looks way off dude. 'Underhyped', what else is more hyped than Twitter these days? And how did you figure the $5-10 B valuation? It may end up being worth something, but wonder if any businesses actually quantified their ROI of using Twitter. Most seem to be on the bandwagon but fumbling in the dark trying to figure out if it means anything or not.
- Nalin Perera
Facebook got a jewel with the FriendFeed acquisition. The ability to create publicly available informaiton and track the social web is there for the taking, if they pursue it.
- Hutch Carpenter
Hey Robert, it seems there's a clone of you :P http://www.motogp.com/en...
- Massimo MaxKava Cavazzini
@edwk / Edwin, totally agree with you that Twitter has huge issues in the user discovery department without the use of third party tools. It is pretty much inexcusable that they, instead of pushing the foolish "Suggested Users" thing, haven't simply INDEXED THE BIOS to allow (new) users to search over those with a simple searchbox: "What are you interested in? [type a keyword]"...
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- Alex Schleber
Great post Robert, Arrington and Gillmor were already preaching something similar and we definitely need strong Twitter competition now.
- Alberto Saavedra
Alex. I did not know about http://TweepSearch.com thanks for the heads up.
- Edwin Khodabakchian
This is retarded. How on earth is Twitter worth $5-$10 billion? I see absolutely no evidence of any revenue generating opportunities produced by Twitter. This guy needs to stop drinking the Kool-Aid.
- Scott Carmichael
Whether Twitter is worth $5+ billion today is an unfortunate focus here. I pay attention to how attractive Twitter is becoming to small and LOCAL businesses, small organizations, and small events--particularly in these tough economic times. It reminds me a lot of how small scale customers saw Google AdWords when it first became available. It was a breath of fresh air compared to the...
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- Loren Heiny
I think Twitter was stupid to turn down the $500 million offer from facebook. I doubt if Twitter will ever earn that kind of revenue in my lifetime.
- Garin Kilpatrick
Robert is anyone not bringing their Tweets into Facebook? It makes Facebook more boring than it should be.
Ozer Wrzl (EN), April Buchheit, Morton Fox and 12 other people liked this
Nope, not currently sending tweets into FB. But thinking about it.
- Kevin Whalen
Most Twitter users never tweet.
- Tim Tyler
Twitter sucks. It's novelty has peaked.
- Daniel
I don't send my tweets into facebook. Different content for a different audience
- Duane-PreppyDude
Did it for a while - but as Twitter reposted my friendfeed and Facebook had my friendfeed already, I decided it was just too noisy in there ...
- Harald Felgner
I concur with Duane.
- Tomy Thomson
i did it for a few weeks, but it was noise for the others so i gave it up
- Flynn (Michael A. Volz)
I use Selective Twitter as well. Otherwise, one could end up massively spamming facebook. I think facebook also has a hard limit on how many tweets per day it's willing to take from you.
- John Wang
I had my Twitter account connected to FB but I'm planning to sever that! It's more useful to have Friend Feed and twitter connected that couple I used to keep in touch with my professional and personal hobby world.
- Marco ILLESCAS
I had a few friends drop me on FB because they felt overwhelmed and didn't understand they could hide my tweets. There are a lot of excess tweets and posts going to too many accts. It takes time to send them more selectively, but I'm trying to do it more often.
- Cathryn Hrudicka
I don't import. It's too big of a mess. I don't import them into FF anymore either.
- Ben Hanten
I use the Selective Twitter option to share tweets I think might be appropriate there.
- Tom Landini
Agree... tweets just crowd the facebook news stream
- Bindu Reddy
Its more interesting than those fucking retarded Quizzes. I also hate status updates from all the apps. ><
- Logan Lindquist
Not going to import my tweets from Twitter into Facebook. I keep two separate groups on each service, and am not really interested in crossing them over at present.
- Steve Farnworth
And yes I know you can ban them, as I have been, however I said before to people its near impossible because there are a Quizzillion FB quizzes.... A word I made up in my spare time hating them.
- Logan Lindquist
I block/hide anybody who puts all their tweets into Facebook. Use Selective Twitter if you want to update both statuses.
- Otto
Unless I really like you, I hide anyone who has all of their tweets coming into FB. Drives me nuts.
- Jeff "RESPRES" Turner
It's fine to hide people or their tweets, but I don't think it's necessary to drop someone as a friend on FB just because of their feeds. It's interesting, some people use FB more like LinkedIn, with the info profile being the key feature; others prioritize the "wall" and feeds more.
- Cathryn Hrudicka
I don't. Tweets are for public comments. Facebook is for my friends. I very much dislike reading the same content from people on every platform.
- Amy Anuszewski
I don't.
- felix
Facebook culture demands minimal tweet noise. Use Selective Twitter or Ping.fm for specific tweets you want to share to your #fb friends. If folks want to read all of your tweets, they'll follow you on Twitter. I think this distinction in "media consumption capacity" will be a tough nut for facebook to crack. FB wants to be Twitter and FriendFeed - both are high volume media platforms....
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- Susan Beebe
from BuddyFeed
Nope, i see a whole bunch of @replys as peoples status's and it just makes less sense than their regular status updates, so i dont want to do that myself.
- Simon Wicks
Only selected tweets with the Selective Twitter.
- Jemm
yup...selective twitter rocks!
- Rohit
For months I am publishing with this flow: Twitter --> FriendFeed --> Facebook. A single input is better than three ;)
- Nicola Junior Vitto
@Nicola: Soon it will be: -> Facebook -> blackhole :P
- Jemm
@Jemm Yes, probably :(
- Nicola Junior Vitto
Yep, I had mine linked to FB for some time now.
- Louis Trapani
I've always brought my tweets into Facebook, but it works for me because my FB and Twitter followers are two different groups. I only have a handful of twitter folks that are my FB friends as well. At the same token, there are lots of posts I put on FB that are solely for that arena.
- Naomi Williams
Nope + never will. Facebook is for ex-girlfriends, pretending to be a pirate & so forth.
- goodmachine
@goodmachine That is too funny..
- Naomi Williams
I use the FF tab but that activity doesn't show up in the main stream.
- dthree
I don't.
- pea
Would make Facebook very noisy, and that interface is not built for the firehose IMO.
- Eric @ CSTechcast.com
Nope - I use facebook to keep in touch with familiy, colleagues and old classmates.
- Nisse
i hate it when people put their tweets into facebook. all those @replies don't make sense. use tweetdeck an decide on a per-message-basis if you want to post to twitter, facebook, or both.
- flaimo
The Secret Behind The Real-Time Web - http://www.youtube.com/watch...
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Kazutaka Ogaki, zeroinfluencer, Joe Silence is not dead and 92 other people liked this
Amazing job Ross and Dan!
- Benjamin Golub
Awesome!
- Casey Muller
Really cool!
- Rutger Blom
Nice! Good actors too. :)
- Gus
Awesome, as you once said yourself, in lego.
- Simon Wicks
You and Dan did such an AWESOME!!! Job!!
- Rachel Lea Fox
Thanks, Rachel!
- Ross Miller
We should totally build the "Open FF" out of LEGOs. BTW, superb video!
- Jemm
Really awesome! Thanks Ross and Dan!
- directeur
No thank you directeur. It's the amazing FF community that inspired this video.
- Ross Miller
If there were an 'awesome, ultra-mega, super kick-ass' button, I'd click it.
- April Buchheit
April: Haha... I would click that button all the time :)
- Ross Miller
OK you screw us on the facebook deal, but those things make me love this place
- Dobromir Hadzhiev
ahhhh...now I understand all the lego pictures!
- Jini
Jini: And you thought we were just goofing off :p
- Ross Miller
from iPhone
Who wouldn't want to play with legos?!
- Jini
This is clearly the highlight of your awesome work at FF!
- Anne Bouey
This is teh awesomesause!
- AJ Batac
Why is "I wonder how this site works?" a question? Do you? Why are you asking us?
- Andy Bakun
you should be proud, It is great...
- amelia arapoff
I could watch this 50 times. Thanks!
- Robert Scoble
Glad you liked it, Robert!
- Ross Miller
I could watch this over and over again all day. Really.
- April Buchheit
It's definitely fun to watch. Thanks, April!
- Ross Miller
fantastic
- mjc
wow. i'm snagging this to store offline.
- Joe Silence is not dead
krishnan: Cloud vendors If you're interested in being able to prove your security assertions join the A6 working group http://bit.ly/EG7Sq via @Beaker - http://twitter.com/krishna...
John Furrier liked this
Join me, Louis Gray, and others on a live call starting in three minutes: live at 4:30 PDT w/ @Scobleizer @louisgray @nicefishfilms @rizzn & @michellegreer talking FriendFeed + Facebook - http://www.talkshoe.com/talksho...
Daniel Rowley, phil baumann, Alex 'BuckyBit' Covic and 20 other people liked this
I'd love to but I'm done for today with this stuff. It's too dispiriting.
- Jim Hearts FF
Jim: I understand. We're on now.
- Robert Scoble
Isn't this open for everyone to listen to? Looks like I have to login?
- Panayotis Vryonis
I was going to watch it but it says we have to log in. I guess I will pass.
- Paul L. McCord Jr.
Working BugMeNot Login - donny75 / donny75. Its way too choppy either way.
- Joshua
Is anyone watching the chat that's on the call?
- Jesse Stay
ahhh. the audio is driving me crazy. sorry guys. too hard to follow. @Jesse - Louis is.
- Brian Daniel Eisenberg
FriendFeed is Facebooks Summize. It’s All About Search. http://bit.ly/11ZW6l
- paul mooney
Where's the Facebook link for live chat of the call? :-P
- jcunwired
I dont think that FB will close FF not now and not in few years ...FF is a great site and will stay pls dont be negative :-))
- Johni Fisher
cool
- Allen Stern
Don't hold your breath there Johni, the door's going to slam shut. Otherwise Paul, Bret & Co. would already have let us know. Instead, there are only vague references that its not going away immediately.
- jcunwired
:-)) lets see
- Johni Fisher
Disturbing point about smaller companies getting gobbled up and eventually it is going to be only four major entry points: (1) Google (2) Apple (3) Facebook and (4) Microsoft
- James Clark
the sound is finally ok - good talk. Insightful.
- Alex 'BuckyBit' Covic
yeah, it's finally working.
- Robert Scoble
thanks for arranging this call guys... I am on there with my old internet ID "smbeebe"
- Susan Beebe
So are we FriendFeed enthusiasts so out of the loop what the average user wants? Friendfeed was for me the best of two worlds, between Twitter and Facebook. I thought FF has the best tech. Does this mean we here don't understand the average consumer?
- Alex 'BuckyBit' Covic
Robert - the sound is great .. and u do respond to yr mails :-)))
- Johni Fisher
Fwd: Facebook acquires FriendFeed. Interview with Paul Buchheit, cofounder of FriendFeed. - http://btre.blogtalkradio.com/74_2996... (via http://friendfeed.com/scoblei...)
Phillip Stewart, paniaguai, Bart LePoole and 173 other people liked this
Well that was fast, Robert.
- Adam Reyher
Wow. I honestly did not see THAT coming....
- Carter Rabasa
Nice work Robert.
- Alex Calic
ya talk about real time news, thanks
- sean percival
listening
- Chris Saad
This is beginning to resemble journalism.
- Ian Tindale
im not sure its such a great thing facebook and friendfeed sitting in a tree.
- Eran Even-Kesef
Good job Robert
- Ruchit Garg
Definitely, I'm listening now. Wow! This is breaking news!
- Manu Ullas
hopefully this turns out okay, don't want friendfeed to get ruined. great interview, that was fast reporting!
- Dakota O'Neill
What are your thoughts Robert?
- Amani
WD mate
- Chris Saad
Hoping this will lead to an improved/cleaner interface for Facebook...I prefer Friendfeed
- Rick Bucich
That was quick. Thanks robert.
- Akshay Dodeja
so, so sad. I like(d) Friendfeed much more than facebook
- Francisco Kemeny
home run for FF.. Facebook will be able to give developers a treasure trove of data one thing that Twitter is dominating on right now. Twitter has a huge developer community but isn't managing that. Here FB is poised to be huge
- John Furrier
So classic that Robert has the first interview about this...Where's Louis? :)
- Anthony Farrior
Wow!
- Ideas At Random
I think FriendFeed can help Facebook more than the other way around.
- Manu Ullas
"very cool...."
- Carter Rabasa
How do they plan to mix the teenagers with the geeks?
- Jordi Soler
Amani: I am excited! Facebook has 800 employees and 300 million users. This makes both companies much more important.
- Robert Scoble
from iPhone
here was a comment on SiliconANGLE blog .. very funny .. "Hey, since we've copied almost every innovation you've had, guess you might as well play on the company softball team!"
- John Furrier
Nice strategic move - Interesting to see how this will integrate and looks in 12 months
- Alex Vermeule (@alexve)
to be honnest I was predicting google offer, then facebook preceed google on this, they are doing well, now rarding FF this is great, the sucess is to know when to pass to something else, the future will make the abtle wave, facebook rude for all geek it is time to code.
- abdellah
You rascal Robert, bet you had wind about FriendFeed and FaceBook merger before today? Yes? Have not used either SM apps. much UNTIL Twitter locked my account. May have been a fortunate mishap as it turns out. Getting to know the beauties of both apps. =)
- SashaKane
Awesome. Thanks.
- M. Kong
Should be so very interesting.
- Adam
Robert wastes no time on the reporting. CNN needs reporters like this.
- JonInteractive
Not sure I am so jazzed about it....but congratulations to the FF crew.
- Kreg Steppe
Honestly, I won't get used to following Robert Scoble in Facebook. Seems out of place to me.
- Jordi Soler
Wow! I was not expecting that.
- Devon Govett
Letter 'F' affinity and alliteration merger, classic playbook move.
- James Watters
Did I hear someone laugh in the background when you asked about FF users being disappointed?
- Paul Saarinen
Agreed Jordi
- Rick Bucich
A good interview Robert.
- Thomas Hawk
Thanks Robert! - shared and linked over on Phreadz : http://tech.phreadz.com/v...
- kosso
Robert, mind if I transcribe this? (Unless someone else already has.)
- Bruce Lewis
from fftogo
Congrats on getting this story Robert. I agree--this is great, realtime journalism!
- Sunshine
No mention of twitter?
- Ivan Kirigin
Hahahaha...all that time you invested over here on FF paid off today! LMAO
- Francine Hardaway
Francine: just watch what happens now. :-)
- Robert Scoble
from iPhone
do you have a small amount of FriendFeed shares Robert?
- Torsten Eckert
NOOOOOOO. Damnit! I am praying that Facebook doesn't wall up Friendfeed. I was starting to build a site around Friendfeed :(
- beersage
beersage: as Facebook is trying to break their users into a more public world, I doubt that you really have anything to worry about there.
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
Starting to listen to this now. Hoping you are right, Rob.
- beersage
I hope so to. But regardless, I think that it was in reality necessary for FriendFeed to sell to really put the technology in front of a sufficient number of eyeballs. Facebook is probably the best acquirer that FriendFeed could have. (I would have not felt the same had FF been acquired by Google)
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
The thing with Friendfeed though is how I can share things outside of a 'wall.' I prominently feature the FF widget on my site. I'm just concerned of losing that capability as I was tinkering with delivering a new site w/ content primarily running through my Friendfeed account. I am to this day unable to do much outside of the wall. I am unable to subscribe to Fan Page updates in Google reader for instance. That is what concerns me about FB acquiring FF given my goals.
- beersage
Robert sounded quite breathless in that interview. Thanks Robert.
- Roberto Bonini
Great interview great Job!!
- Kevin J Hatton
Wow! I'm in shock. I can't wait to hear this interview.
- Micah Wittman
from iPhone
This deal was about getting Paul and the team and nothing else
- Stephen Pickering
@stephan, are you serious? FB is buying a concept, a technoloie, a structure, a content and a user list
- abdellah
Unconvincing Paul Buchheit, the team is more exited of being part of bigger story - logical for them to move on
- patrickdh
now how could a team that left google resist under a unique perception system, where the leader vision is upon any thing
- abdellah
They want a way to turn their white pages into a yellow pages and the only guy on Earth who knows how to do it, is Paul
- Stephen Pickering
It was only about the technology and the people. Most people are on also FB anyway.
- James Myatt
My guess is that Paul got a tooooooooon of options and will soon be the No.2 guy at Facebook
- Stephen Pickering
Glossing over of that "short term" question by the FF boys. It just seems more about the individuals at FF than it does the users of FF. "Their (Facebook) long term goals" Nice interview, Robert!
- Melanie Reed
Well, it looks as if pass-through of FriendFeed Likes, Comments, etc. to Twitter is down. Will it be for good? Did Twitter do this in response to the acquisition? Or is it just a regular (though curiously timed) hiccup?
- Alex Schleber
twitter dow!!
- abdellah
Alex, my Facebook posts have been going through FriendFeed to Twitter today. :)
- guruvan (Rob Nelson)
How did you record the phone conversation with Paul Buchheit? I went to BlogTalkRadio.com but... it‘s not clear at all :-(
- Florin Grozea
Florin, rough transcript here: http://friendfeed.com/brlewis...
- Bruce Lewis
I have a few choice words. @#%&. That is all.
- Zachary TG
To do this call I used BlogTalk Radio's Cinch: http://cinch.blogtalkradio.com/
- Robert Scoble
dugg: http://digg.com/tech_ne...
- Gaith
Thanks for this, Scoble.
- mp3WatchWorld
this is why your own personal website is always more important than friendfeed, Twitter and all the rest. that's never going anywhere
- Terry O'Fee
from BuddyFeed
Damn, just passed 29,000 FriendFeed comments. All without ghost writers. I need to get a life.
Jacque, John Furrier, Bruce Lewis and 40 other people liked this
yep, but we love it...keep it up!
- Craig Shipp
Who needs a life when you've got followers?
- Meryn Stol
Do you sleep?
- Leigh Marriner
You posted 29k comments? You're a bot!
- Keith Barrett
darn, with 5,340 comments I thought I was active, and people asked me "do you sleep" but you are a killer!
- Bora Zivkovic
Thanks for all the comments.
- Peter
You live in Half Moon Bay one of the most beautiful places in The Bay and you spend most of your time on the computer. Something is wrong.
- CW™
Not a bad statistic! in my trade you would be a 'Gunn!!'
- Bob Heath
Robert should be called "The Iron Commenter".
- Keith Barrett
CW: actually I am in a sports bar now in San Antonio. A good percentage of my tweets were made on my iPhone.
- Robert Scoble
from iPhone
Ahh.. well then I understand totally. San Antonio could be so borring. ;)
- CW™
And hot!
- Robert Scoble
from iPhone
Is that about 50-100 comments per day Robert?
- David Damore
Well, take it from a music turned tech guy, you are deeply appreciated. I truly have not read 29k posts, but from what I have read ( I read and apply it to my work), you are a main source of mine. PLEASE DON'T STOP!!
- professor daddyo
Thanks. I have been on FriendFeed since February of 2008.
- Robert Scoble
from iPhone
Don't forget the over 21,000 likes
- Asgeir
I thought the point of commenting and getting social was to 'enrich' your life... At least that's my story - and I'm stickin' to it!!
- Victoria Plautia
I thought this was your life :)
- Bryan Lee
I thought FriendFeed WAS life?
- Patrik Johansson
it would be hilarious if there were multiple Scoble's writing all this
- Mark
Lightweight. :D
- Steven Perez
Curse the Iphone or its Apple's fault
- Kim Landwehr
umm wow man, thats alot of txt talking
- Mich De
instead of a live you could also get some ghostwriters like @guykawasaki . Although he says comments are always his own, so that approach won't help either.
- Till
I passed 1000 likes today. That's my milestone. Congrats to you, too, Robert.
- Ben Hanten
I passed on breakfast this morning
- Bwana ☠
Re: Twitter’s platform shortcomings - http://scobleizer.com/2009...
John Furrier, Nimaa, Craig Shipp and 5 other people liked this
"Mark: I have, but I've learned by watching Leo Laporte (who is responsible for getting a lot of the early adopters onto Twitter in the first place) that people don't move easily once they've started pouring their life into something. I don't think there's anything Twitter can do now to slow its growth. Me neither. :-)"
- Robert Scoble
The value of moving has to be greater than the value of staying. Or, the perceived lack of value of moving probably has to be greater than any irritations in staying. For example, if Twitter were constantly down to due to DDoS or constantly being spammed without any effective controls.
- Justin Long
I guess I just have so much lower expectations from twitter and friendfeed and the like. Nothing is forever.
- Phil Calvin
Justin: Twitter was constantly down in 2007 and 2008 and we didn't leave even though there were other (and some good, like Pownce) alternatives. I don't believe Twitter will be stopped, even by its own management (or lack thereof) at this point. So, they might as well keep treating developers and users like crap.
- Robert Scoble
Robert, would you agree with my student Tam Chung's opinion on Twitter's imminent demise? http://tinyurl.com/l3y69l
- Shari Weiss
I think you're wrong Robert, and I think you would have said the same thing about MySpace 5 years ago... all those scares about pedophiles, and STILL people just kept signing up -- until they didn't.
- Joel Bennett
Shari: I still haven't been able to move away from Twitter and until that happens Tam is wrong. Even though Tam is right. :-) Looking forward to the day when I can leave Twitter behind.
- Robert Scoble
@robert maybe in less then a year or two. I think that google voice have a lot to offer.
- abdellah
Probably the small outages here and there weren't painful enough to cause people to leave. They just temporarily migrated. I would guess it would have to be a number of long significant outages. I think you're right, though. There's enough people on Twitter that I doubt it's going to fold. But I wonder how long they can run it with no income stream?? How do they monetize it? How do they pay for the servers etc?
- Justin Long
Justin: I see a TON of ways to monetize. Heck, I'd pay for decent DMs. Flickr has proven I'll pay for search. I'd pay for a ton of features. And I see a TON of advertising models that could be used.
- Robert Scoble
True, I guess I wasn't thinking this morning of professional features; I was wondering how they would do advertising.
- Justin Long
i do wish they'd return the friend-of-a-friend replies to twitter though I also wish Friendfeed would do threaded discussions. and favoriting comments.
- Justin Long
Re: tr.im announces shutdown (Scripting News) - http://www.scripting.com/stories...
John Furrier, paul mooney, Martynas and Rob Diana liked this
"Dave, I just wrote about Twitter's Platform Shortcomings here: http://scobleizer.com/2009......"
- Robert Scoble
http://tweetmeme.com/about... shows how bit.ly (as default twitter shortener) makes it a market leader in url shorteners with 80% share. Compare with stats from 3 months ago http://www.techcrunch.com/2009...
- Atul Arora
Hmm, what if bit.ly dies like tr.im just announced it is going to do? Short links need life insurance. Now there's a business idea.
- Dominic Jones
Nambu is a Social Messaging Trainwreck and the only way they can come-up with to make money from Twitter is a tr.im extortion play
- paul mooney
So, what did Twitter do to piss off the bots? Twitter is under a denial of service attack. More here:
andy brudtkuhl, Thierry R. Andriamirado, Ryo / Fuck Facebook and 64 other people liked this
http://status.twitter.com/post... is Twitter's status update where they say they are down because they are under a denial of service attack.
- Robert Scoble
Good thing this didn't happen a few days ago or else we'd be talking about ScobleGate II. :)
- paisano
http://status.twitter.com/post... - "Update: the site is back up, but we are continuing to defend against and recover from this attack." Well it isn't back up.
- Holger Eilhard
It wasn't Twitter it was you Scoble. Great jobs pissing the bots off.
- Ryan Cummins
Holger the API is back up
- Mike White
Robert, it seems every social network is acting slow, LiveJournal, Facebook, GoogleReader was, Linkedin, and even Last.fm
- Matt Ruiz
Twitter was up again for a couple of seconds... will keep trying.
- Jordi Soler
Mike: Tweetdeck hasn't updated for me. Wait, now it has... Site is also showing up again.
- Holger Eilhard
Everyhing is slow except Friendfeed
- Asgeir
I don't know... I am having Friendfeed problems too
- Kimberle Kelly
I hate to say it but it doesn't seem likely that Twitter is the only target being DDoS'd. Facebook and LinkedIn have both been having problems with certain services since around the same time.
- Michael Owens
from iPhone
Yep. Seems Twitter's recovering: I've been able to log into it twice in the last minute. Haven't been able to post yet, though.
- Jordi Soler
Looks like FB is also being fekked with by the DoSers, according to AP http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic...
- Thom Kennon
Kimberle: FriendFeed is working here fine.
- Robert Scoble
facebook is slow too - hows friendfeed then?
- michelle harris
guys, I am hearing from sources on IRC on DALnet that Friendfeed is also being attacked
- Mark
FriendFeed stopped loading quite a few times this morning. And a few of my comments failed to post too. ... like I just had to try twice to post this.
- Daniel Sims
i've been getting lotsa latency on FF all a.m.
- Thom Kennon
What does this mean? Are all sites susceptible to attack like this? (i'm not a geek enough to know)
- Helene
yep, I posted on this an hour ago http://butyoureagirl.com/2009...
- Adria Richards
This was a test to see if we would run to FF - and we did :-)
- courtney benson
It looks like most of the prime players in social media aside from FriendFeed have been having problems all morning. Damn antisocial script kiddies!
- Michael Owens
from iPhone
wonder if this is the mullahs in Iran, hunting for green faces everywhere...
- Thom Kennon
facebook can't open... also i've problems with ff... i couldn't post my comments
- Zeynep Okyay
Note: I am getting 57% packet loss on Friendfeed right now
- Mark
Facebook is struggling too.
- L.P. NEENZ FALEAFINE
the grid is leaking!
- Thom Kennon
Robetr or someone make a tinychat page or something we need somewhere to discuss this
- Mark
Iran, North Korea...
- Jason Nunnelley
funny how Twitter's problem is affecting the entire social networking world
- Kimberle Kelly
I'd love to know what kind of a change in traffic FriendFeed receives when Twitter goes down. Can you see a spike?
- Dan Monsieurle
If Twitter gets massive attack, could that cascade onto other sites. If so, how? Thoughts?
- Bob Morris (polizeros)
I like how the NY Times started Digging their stories, instead of tweeting them, so they still show up here on FF.
- Mike White
Hey, I've been able to post on Twitter! http://twitter.com/jordiso...
- Jordi Soler
The script kiddies in DALNET and UNDERNET are saying Friendfeed is being hit by thousands of botz
- Mark
is it just my connection or is FF now loading slowly? Does N Korea hate us because we're social? :)
- jeff hammond
Bob: any site that polls Twitter for status updates, like FF and Facebook, would fail to receive a response.
- Kevin Arth
Mark, i'm not seeing any slowdown in FF.
- dthree
Severe packet loss still coming from twitter.com, many API calls are being rejected.
- Mark
FF has been acting weird today too. Some comments don't post the first time, and I got a couple error messages.
- Tomy Thomson
As long as i can see these comments and see there is a problem with Twitter and other social media, I am fine. Hope everything gets back to normal soon.
- ashish
I've put in an API call to get Scoble's list of followers about ten times now and every one has failed
- Mark
loved the comment someone made about CNN it will take them two days to report the Twitter outage
- courtney benson
CNN are reporting on (almost gushing about) the DoS. think maybe they're still pissed about #cnnfail ?
- Jay Shapiro
from BuddyFeed
Well what do you know CNN made it in two hours. Guess one of their 7 reporters got the news from the Internet. :-)
- courtney benson
nothing on 4chan about the attacks in the random page from what I can see
- Mark
here's something weird - i tried posting to FB update with link to a thread here and it fails, 3 x now - "network" error.
- Thom Kennon
"Flickr has the hiccups." too...
- Holger Eilhard
Ok Mark. Your API call is the DoS attack then... ;)
- Tomi Itkonen
somebody call the sports writers over at ESPN to let them know too... they had their "social networks" turned off yesterday. now we know they feel.
- Thom Kennon
hehe. It was about a year ago that twitter was really bad, do you remember?
- Mark
Yeah. Twitter has actually been pretty stable recently.
- Tomi Itkonen
Reposts from Twitter are staring to appear here on FF. Maybe the worst is over?
- Bob Morris (polizeros)
Google search for "denial of service" has results about this current Twitter issue. GoogleBots are pretty snappy nowadays.
- Tomi Itkonen
I hope people are checking DNS servers. Often when multiple major independent services are DoS down it's via a DNS attack
- Keith Barrett
from Android
Facebook just came back for me
- Bob Morris (polizeros)
Mark Twitter was almost constantly down in 2007 and 2008 and always showed off a famous graphic of a whale. Now known as "fail whale."
- Robert Scoble
Members of 4chan's /b/ are indeed claiming that they exploited Twitter to cause the outage: http://ff.im/6fMrU -- whether they really did it or not is an entirely different story. /b/tards occasionally take credit for things that they do not do related to hacking / DDoS / etc
- Michael Owens
I first found i couldn't tweet around 3 hours ago. Wondered what was up--now I know~!
- Patricia Skinner
I get terrified of going to /b. never know if you are going to see naked images of 16 year old polish boys or photoshopped images of Sarah Palin having a shit.
- Mark
Nah, probably some1 did it 4 the heck of it or 4 a challenge! sigh :(
- polou/indigo_bow
@Apostol cannot be just by @RobertScoble by himself unfollowed 106,000 people on Twitter there r more reasons 2 DDoS. There r hobbyists that wants 2 challenge themselves or professionals doing those kinds of attacks 4 the reasons we might not even known until much later.
- polou/indigo_bow
FB wasn't working consistently and Flickr was having hiccups!
- Emi Endo
Live Journal acknowledged they're under a DDoS attack, too. http://community.livejournal.com/lj_main...
- Amie Gillingham
Twitter back up on my grid, funny but zero trending topics in the right rail. Am using #dos as hashtag but not much found there, yet.
- Thom Kennon
Twitter was back about 2 hours ago but again it isn't working.
- Zeynep Okyay
We're wondering how long it will take for someone to try to blame 4chan for this.
- 3Cinteractive, L.L.C.
from twhirl
We can survive future DDOS attacks by adopting an alternate, robust networking solution for tweets: http://crankypm.com/2009...
- DGentry
I don't think its about just Twitter its about the Web's vulnerability and Google finally jump on the bandwagon to assist 2 investigate this DDoS attack. I start 2 notice that some websites all over r slowing down or degrading in some form today.
- polou/indigo_bow
I had a feeling it would happen sometime. DoS attacks are not all that uncommon.
- Nile Flores
I don't think it is coincidental that twitter just "warmed" up their malware filter and #boom DoS attack. Story about filter here. http://bit.ly/xdfvN(Cnet) orignal blog http://bit.ly/4zPddP
- Ron Hudson
What I don't get is that some people are getting tweets out... and I can't get anything...
- Robert Freeze
Robert apparently the site is "up" but the api is still shaky. Some apps are getting through while other's are still down. It probably has to do with network topography and where different apps backend servers are located.
- Ron Hudson
I was able to post through friendfeed, and through twitter.com, but SocialScope is timing out :(
- Ron Hudson
my friendfeed entries are having trouble posting on Twitter - is the problem twitter ?
- Mekkar
I used Google and it was down for a couple of minutes I was going to tweet about it and that was down too I wonder if someone was doing a demo of a zombie network..maybe it was a sales pitch?
- BairdWilliamson
open microblogging standards have a chance to distribute the functions over multiple heterogeneous networks
- Mike Chelen
This morning, I noticed that FriendFeed 'lost' pictures I've posted from a Facebook page (but not the whole entry)
- Thierry R. Andriamirado
Disqus lost 1 of my comments about this DOS attack, on my own Tumblr. But I saw it.. twitted!
- Thierry R. Andriamirado
Techstars is just getting started in Boulder, Colorado. We are about to see the birth of 10 new companies. More here:
John Furrier, Andrew Hyde, Marco ILLESCAS and 21 other people liked this
Power to the Thursday morning Techstars. Can't wait to learn more.
- Holly Rae, FFer
You can search for "Techstars" and see the live chatter.
- Robert Scoble
Colorado is an amazing hotbed for startups
- Zoli Erdos
View from uptop: RT @jedwhite David Cohen with a full house up on stage at #techstars http://brightkite.com/objects...
- Yann Ropars
Why exactly is it a hotbed Zoli ?
- Kashif Khan
Yann: I'm in the front row. ReTel is up first. They help stores and restaurants optimize their operations. http://www.reteltechnologies.com/
- Robert Scoble
Kashif: Boulder has a higher percentage of educated people than any other city in USA, from what I was told last night.
- Robert Scoble
Kashif: Boulder is also very beautiful and geeks who come here for College don't want to leave. I totally grok that after walking around last night. Finally, there's a good community here that supports startups.
- Robert Scoble
the mentor crew is impressive, me thinks.... looking at http://www.techstars.org/
- Holly Rae, FFer
ReTel is interesting. Takes security video from retail stores, slices that up, sends it to workers around the world, who then analyze that video for him. Helps catch employees stealing from businesses, etc.
- Robert Scoble
aah thanks Robert, Ive heard about the natural beauty of Boulder, but now that it has geek points I need to visit that place
- Kashif Khan
Do they have Ustream.tv anywhere? anyone knows? #techstars
- Yann Ropars
Boulder's been a tech hotbed for a while - I had dealings with Republic Telecom (they made a Voice-over-Frame Relay system) there in the 1990s. Make sure to get to the Gold Hill Inn (up a dirt road into the Front Range) while you're there.
- John Craft
Everlater is a cool way to record your travels around the world. I'll have to try it out. http://www.everlater.com/ It builds a nice story site from all the things you've put into social networks and Flickr.
- Robert Scoble
Check out a page that the Everlater team built for Fred Wilson, very nice: http://www.everlater.com/fredwil...
- Robert Scoble
Salt Lake City is just as beautiful and has just as many, if not more startups. Boulder just gets the cred because they have one central source for all those startups.
- Jesse Stay
Now TimZon is on stage. http://www.timzon.com/ this lets you share visual feedback. Combines audio, video, whiteboard, and screen capture.
- Robert Scoble
Interesting about TimZon...I might be able to use it in my web design business. E-mail feedback is remarkably inefficient.
- Sam Guzman
Now on stage is Take Comics http://www.takepublishing.com/ which is trying to bring high quality comics to both mobile and web.
- Robert Scoble
Robert - any more thoughts about timzon?
- Tobin Truog
Tobin, nah, I have to use it to see what I think of it.
- Robert Scoble
Now on stage is "Next Big Sound" http://thenextbigsound.com/ measures the growth and popularity for bands across major web properties and sells actionable insights around that data to band managers.
- Robert Scoble
Wow, Next Big Sound is example of a trend: getting data out of social networks and presenting this in new ways so that people can make better business decisions.
- Robert Scoble
Is there something specific about "Next Big Sound" to apply it just to bands? Can it also track brands?
- Kevin Krewell
Kevin: I'll ask. The whole shtick and UI, though, is really focused around music analysis.
- Robert Scoble
is there a ustream for this stuff?
- Darren Stuart
Thanks.
- Kevin Krewell
they are doing awesome stuff
- andy brudtkuhl
Vanilla rocked. Cool new forums.
- Robert Scoble
SendGrid is on stage right now, they are improving email for email marketers.
- Robert Scoble
Spry gives you insights to software projects.
- Robert Scoble
Thanks for documenting this, fun to see you, have a great time in town!
- Andrew Hyde
Everyone on Mashable/Twitter wants to tell me how lame I am and how I'm doing it wrong. Here's your chance to tell me I'm clueless:
Thierry R. Andriamirado, Hutch Carpenter, Peter Murphy and 40 other people liked this
Lots of people are saying I was always doing Twitter's following wrong. It's funny how social media experts have it all figured out. So, here's your chance to tell me how screwed up I still am.
- Robert Scoble
you're clueless.. :P
- Rob Sellen :o)
I think you tried a noble approach. It just was ruined by spammys. You did what you had to do to fix the problem.
- Drew Lucas
from iPhone
Tell me something I don't know. And tell me why. :-)
- Robert Scoble
Everyone thinks they're right in Social Media. I try to ignore them.
- Jesse Stay
were you? In hindsight? now you have done this big purge?
- Rob Sellen :o)
Drew: the real reason why I'm clueless is cause I am on FriendFeed, where I can put people into lists. Which, by the way, make AWESOME filters for searching.
- Robert Scoble
which list am I on?
- Alex Scrivener
Robert - I think you're always interesting and thought provoking.
- Andy C
I agree with Jesse, everyone thinks they are a social media "guru". I loved your approach, well done.
- Johnny
Alex: pay me $20 and I'll tell you. :-)
- Robert Scoble
Robert: I don't think you're clueless...just so cutting edge it doesn't make sense! haha I really like friendfeed, and if more people would more over here, I would use it more than Twitter. Actually, I'm already starting to use it more than Twitter.
- Sam Guzman
Your clueless Robert. You have no clue how to do the whole social media thing. Please teach me your cluelessness Master. :-P
- Rasmus Lauridsen
Everyone needs to "reboot" their twitter strategy once in a while, there's no harm in it at all. It's just those out there who still think that thousands of followers is the only metric that everyone should go by to determine if you're using twitter successfully.
- Richard Arblaster
Richard: bing!
- Robert Scoble
What? That's ridiculous. You don't look anything like Alicia Silverstone.
- John Craft
There is no right or wrong way to use (except maybe spam). Who cares what other people think about your social media habits.
- Shawn Hickman
I covered the topic of mass unfollowing awhile back when @Loic and @AriHerzog unfollowed everyone. I think you might enjoy the comments in particular. http://blog.tweetworks.com/2009...
- Mike Langford
Scoble is clueless like Socrates was foolish.
- Pierce Presley
Rob: in hindsight, yes, I was clueless. I just didn't get quite how clueless I was, because on FriendFeed I could follow small groups, like everyone else.
- Robert Scoble
Pierce: Good point!
- Sam Guzman
Loic is not around much anymore
- Mark
The reason you are clueless, is because we ALL are at the start.. how could you have known the "right" way at the start?? Couldn't.. so you NOW changed things... :o) Big difference now then?
- Rob Sellen :o)
the thing you HAVEN'T been clueless about is friendfeed... ;o)
- Rob Sellen :o)
your clueless, just like the rest of us !! We are all trying to figure things out.. each have their own way of doing it. To each thier own posion !
- Peter Dawson
The only way to know if your Twitter/Social Media approach is working or not is by looking to see if it is accomplishing your goals. There is no "one-size-fits-all" approach in a dynamic growing space. This Right/Wrong game is tiring at best.
- Bill Sanders
I have learned that there is no one set way to do social media right or wrong. Is there an echo in here?
- Mike Lewis
For half a sec I thought it was a FAB publicity stunt! Seriously Robert I adore and respect you. There are 2 different views. Twitter is different things to different people. You and I can agree to disagree. But, won't you MISS the amazing view of your HOME stream???
- Arleen Anderson
Arleen: the thing is I was looking at that screen less and less. Now I look at it a lot. Well, except for today cause Twitter has been mostly down.
- Robert Scoble
I find that alot of people are a bit... selfish in social media. I follow people I find interesting. They don't need to follow me back. Maybe they don't think what I post is interesting even if I find theirs to be. We got to cut down on our ego tripping sometimes and let people enjoy the social tools, the way they enjoy em. I bet ya, there are not two people out there, that use all of this in exactly the same way, and that is great.
- Rasmus Lauridsen
Steve: that's absolutely not true. Sit next to me sometime. I can follow many thousands of people.
- Robert Scoble
Your comments make the conclusion that everyone that disagrees with you is a social media expert, spammer, or non-techie. Are you sure you are not a politician in disguise? LOL Putting people in groups on Friendfeed did not require a massive un-following on twitter I know what you are doing. I like FreindFeed. I would not like twitter near as much if FriendFeed was not there. I am grateful for FriendFeed and it champion. Cheers for Robert
- RetiredTeacherD
Sorry Scobe, but you innovate, care deeply about all of this, and are fun to read. You don't even budge my Lame-O-Meter. (As for lame, well, AP is the King aren't they. And Reuters just told them to stop whining. Heh.)
- Bob Morris (polizeros)
Seems funny to me that everybody is still talking about this issue. What's the difference between this and telling people what you're having for lunch? Twitter is chatter but from time to time, a clear interesting idea comes through and sparks a reaction. Reminds me of the thought process in my own brain... tons of ideas, lots of chatter and some gems. Meditation helps me quiet my mind... perhaps unfollowing does the same. In any case, less chatter is always better.
- Yanik Falardeau
RetiredTeacher: heheh. But, sorry, the main reason I did the unfollow isn't the home feed, but DM's. They just became more and more filled with spam and useless stuff. Getting my home feed back is like icing on a cake.
- Robert Scoble
@Robert, There's no right or wrong answer to social media usage. Only you can decide your goals and if you're successful in achieving those goals, that's all there is to it. You're anything but clueless, not that you need me to tell you that :)
- MiaD
I was a big critic of your Swisher/Mossberg article as I think you are misguided about where in the social chain FF falls-- HOWEVER... although I had a FF account for awhile doesnt mean I 'tried' it. In light of the non conversational approach twitter is taking ( @replies) and the fact its getting spammy and many people are talking AT me not WITH me I concede. I don't agree with some of your tactics or selling points but I do agree FF IS ABSOLUTELY on to something in a big way.
- cheapsuits
Auto following everyone is not good idea...
- k00pa
ROFLCOPTER!
- k00pa
IMO. Your following deletion was good thing :)
- k00pa
I just use Twitter differently than most. Regardless whether I "follow" you or not, I still follow millions of people because I mostly use search for getting what I want.
- Jesse Stay
you did an experiment. you learned something. take the learning and move on. economic theorists are doing the same thing:-) maybe spammers were Twitter's Black Swan.
- Francine Hardaway
from BuddyFeed
Let's assume for a moment that you are, indeed, clueless. Since you follow the same methodologies as most other "social media experts", then they, themselves, are clueless, as well. Since most "experts" (like yourself, Pirillo, and Conn) are generally smart people, then all clueless people are geniuses. Therefor, you are a genius and are, beyond a shadow of a doubt, not clueless.
- Thomas Ward
Thomas: I like your thinking! :-)
- Robert Scoble
So Ashton Kutcher can have 3+ Million followers and only follows a few, so why can't you filter the noise too? Double standard...
- manielse (Mark Nielsen)
Robert: Glad you liked it. Hell, I'm glad you understood it! Even I began to believe I was only rambling!
- Thomas Ward
would you please change your green #Twavatar ? .. my baby cries .. Thx :)
- Marcel Bloingo
My favorite thing about you is that you do your own thing. Go with your gut.
- Ted Murphy
Marcel: that will also cost you $20. This is how I will monetize social media! :-)
- Robert Scoble
An 'auto-follow everyone regardless' is just nuts. I don't think you're clueless. I just think you *were* nuts :)
- 1x29
Ted: In this case his "own thing" is what many of us have been telling him he should be doing for months now ;-)
- Ken Sheppardson
It's your SM experience, so you get to do as you wish. Personally, I think it's great you're not chasing numbers so much anymore. But the next time I experiment and you tell me I'm doing it wrong, I'm gonna remind you of this and demand a one-time pass, OK?
- Chris Baskind
OneGear: my heart was in the right place. I was doing that so everyone could DM me. Of course that let in spammers and other bad actors. So, turns out you are right.
- Robert Scoble
Chris: we're all doing it wrong. :-)
- Robert Scoble
I think you did it right: the conversation is going again and everyone is thinking about things. Job done.
- WorldofHiglet
Surprised you lasted this long with that many users.
- Mark Chandler
Forget about them, Rob. Heck, I may even follow in your footsteps! Seems like all I'm getting anymore is links to products I don't want or sites I have no interest in visiting. Oh ... as far as the green avatar goes, you should have it say "Scoble Smash!" underneath you!
- Thomas Ward
I miss the Robert Scoble with long thoughtful blog posts and video interviews. I understand that it is not easy to find the balance between the conversations/interactions thingy and the content thingy.
- Edwin Khodabakchian
Edwin: I've been posting a LOT of video. But, yeah, need to get back to doing long blogs.
- Robert Scoble
I'll give you that $20 for your lists! *giggle*
- Arleen Anderson
We should remember Twitter is Sociability.
- Felipe Aneudi Campana
from fftogo
Hmm. Do you post all your videos on your blog? different content on blog, building43, somewhere else? I liked the Office 10 videos.
- Edwin Khodabakchian
you were telling people that they didn't "get it" for doing exactly what you are doing now
- Eber Irigoyen
Edwin: I post them all here. Pro videos at http://www.building43.com Videos shot with my Canon 5D on http://scobleizer.blip.tv Finally, live videos at http://www.kyte.tv/scobleizer -- but they all are aggregated here.
- Robert Scoble
lame, wrong, and awesome. Keep it up!
- motownmutt
Eber: yes, I told Loic that. Again, my heart was in the right place. I wanted to get DM's from everyone who wanted to follow me. Turned out that was a bad strategy because of spammers. So I was wrong. I'm often wrong. Keep that in mind when I tell you off. :-)
- Robert Scoble
Twitter is the one doing it wrong. They should just read our minds and learn what information we need and publish it to our home page. No need to follow anyone in that case.
- Sumanth Kolar
dont worry Sumanth, google will take care of that ;)
- Kashif Khan
There could come a time when I reverse strategy, in six months, as you did, and you can mock me then. But right now, I am keeping the door open to new contacts and not wiping them away. FriendFeed is my high quality network.
- Louis Gray
Thanks Robert! It just occurred to me one alternative to domain squatting is embarrassing Avatar adoption. Your $20-at-a-time strategy is more credible than most monetization schemes (scams?)
- Richard ¿digame? Walker
It would seem to me you did it "right" as it brought a strategic challenge to light. It's been the source of some great posts and conversation. It's not as though things are unsalvagable even if you made a miscalculation. As a strategist I don't think there is a generic right or wrong way. You have to align your social media activity to meet your goals. If your approach on Twitter wasn't working to meet your goals then you did the right thing.
- Jim Goldstein
There is no wrong way to use a resource that is infinitely customizable. Well, perhaps there are illegal or immoral ways, and thus "wrong." But not the case here.
- Justin Long
I've seen everywhere (it seems) that social media is all about the user's experience, that they should determine what's best for themselves. Yet, I constantly see posts and threads about how to do it right. I don't care what Robert is doing, because he has other reasons for using it than I do, and on down the line. Too much of social media "time" is spent discussing social media.
- Steve Lowe
One question, Robert: What would you guess is your reach in terms of unique users? (if you combine all the channels you are on?)
- Edwin Khodabakchian
Do your thing man. You know leaders are always jeered before they are applauded -- don't wait for the applause <grin>
- Pam Baker
Very much in agreement with what Steve Lowe just argued.
- Marcos
" Too much of social media "time" is spent discussing social media. - Steve Lowe " SOOO TRUE!!!
- cheapsuits
Robert I agree. The lists feature is one of the most valued.
- Drew Lucas
from iPhone
Robert, "right" or "wrong" is immaterial here. Each user gets something different out of their use of social media. So each user constantly adjusts their social media experience to fit what they want to receive. Your mass unfollowing is not wrong. Your user paradigm changed.
- Jack Wilson, K4SAC
Not clueless. You're simply learning more-and-more about web 2.0 and social media as you go. Trying different approaches. Ultimately it's your #Twitter account and you can do with it as you please.
- Eric D. Wilson
Robert: My heart was in the right place too when I followed back my first porn tweet follow from an email notification - I honestly didn't realise at the time ;-) Boy did that open up the flood gates! My main advice on twitter now is to stay away from any girl with three numbers as her surname :D I can only imagine the spam you got from auto-following to 106,000 follows. Each day we get older and wiser :)
- 1x29
Robert: can you write a blog post about how you setup your groups in friendfeed? I this it would make for an interesting read.
- Bryan Lee
When you were using auto-follow, it made the most sense to do so. Twitter changed, you examined what was working and what wasn't working, and made some adjustments. You are still doing it right. You also invested your time in FriendFeed pretty early on. That was also a good decision. (That will be $25, thank you.)
- Mark Davidson
from BuddyFeed
I'm no expert and I don't care how you handle your tweeples... I'm just curious how you were able to avoid being suspended for mass unfollowing. My account was suspended after I cleared out 20 or so folks I didn't want to follow any longer. It's against their latest TOS to mass unfollow or follow. Your celebrity in the tech world probably gets you the free pass on the TOS violation, yeah?
- Michelle
I'm not of that mindset, if all adopted that mindset and only followed very close knowns what would you have? A phone call
- JuneM
Tinym: He used one of the premium services on SocialToo.com You have the ability to either Unfollow everyone that isn't following you back or you can unfollow everyone.
- Bryan Lee
Thanks Bryan. I used a third party service to unfollow too - I still got suspended. I guess my third party service wasn't as good as SocialToo...
- Michelle
i dont really understand their argument...i had to mass unfollow some people as well, as I was getting spam and it was clogging up the stream.
- Crackle
I just joined FF today due to a few factors: 1) Twitter went down and a light bulb went off 2) I've been following you for quite awhile and you're not lame nor do I think you're doing it wrong and 3) I finally acted upon all the advice you've shared about FF. If you follow me back, fine. At any rate, I'm following you here. I do like the threaded message form, which trumps any Twitter app. I'm also looking for value, not noise.
- MR
It just signified your preference to communicate with high numbers on FriendFeed where everyone can be organized, searched and found- it is thus more meaningful. On Twitter it was chaos for you that way and everyone lost. Why lie?
- E-Advocate Network
MR:Welcome to FriendFeed.
- Bryan Lee
I thought you should've done it sooner.
- Ben Parr
agree w/ Ben
- michael sean wright
LOL. Just a theological point: God's following everyone (or not) is not a theological explanation for why bad things happen to good people. But I'm guessing you're speaking tongue-in-cheek?
- Justin Long
Change is natural. It's part of innovation. We adjust to new tools and technologies as they evolve, and because our methods of using them change, the tools evolve. Sometimes they (or us) take even a bigger leap and revolutionize. Then we get the next big thing, or take the next significant step in history. It's far better that you adapted, Robert, based on your findings, needs and experiences, than continued on with previous use patterns.
- Cathryn Hrudicka
People are haters. Ignore the idiots.
- Nile Flores
I second Nile even when I disagree with you Robert! (((pu liki))) spreading Aloha!
- Arleen Anderson
New blog post: you are SO unfollowed! http://scobleizer.com/2009... I'll follow on FriendFeed anyone who comments here:
Ozer Wrzl (EN), Jens Christian Freund, Harold Cabezas and 157 other people liked this
Follow me!
- TheHenry
TheHenry: I already am! :-)
- Robert Scoble
Please don't unfollow me!! :)
- Carlo Nasuti
Very interesting approach Robert. If it is working for you that is awesome though. Hope all is well. Give Roc a big hug for me.
- C.C. Chapman
Yo...
- MVB (Curmudgeon of FF)
Not too much unfollowing please.
- Tim
i'm in
- Tai Hsia
Can you follow me?
- Giorgio
ok I'll allow you
- Derry O Donnell
What's going on here?
- Andru Edwards
I think you're already following me Robert.
- Andrew Leahey
well ok )
- Denverken
Lead, follow, or get out of the way.
- Robert Kenney
[comments here]
- Nick Humphries
I will comment here! :)
- John Ptacek
Great blog appreciate all of your "likes" that I would not have noticed before. Thanks for all the time you spend educating us.
- Gary Prechtel
auto-follow always seemed like a bad idea. people can always msg you but your stream will get totally cluttered if you dont do a little bit of housekeeping.
- William Kapes
"baby I'm a star" -Prince (off purple rain)
- Michael J. Carrasquillo
novel approach, seems sound
- Danny Ayers
Consider me available for following. :-)
- Eric D. Wilson
Okay, I'll bite..
- Tanya
Bring it Scobleizer.
- Todd Pringle
I agree, Twitter is much better this way.
- Ryan W
I appreciate your work, and your passion for social media.
- Evan Travers
sounds simple...
- Mateo Yadarola
Scoble follow me baby
- Jadito
Oh you are getting quite a response here!!!! I'm commenting so you'll follow me but the thing is you're going to LIKE following me because you'll learn all about Sedona through tons of videos and you'll love it so much you'll want to pack your camera and head out here! =)
- SedonaTV
Thanks for the mentions, Robert (and you know I'm not commenting just for the follow - I just like to follow you, which is what counts!)
- Jesse Stay
Actually Robert, now I've seen you've tidied up your twitter, I'll probably follow you there again too. :-)
- Tim
hey follow me scoble
- Andy Jenks
joining the crowd - good move Robert.
- Adam
Meh, who cares really, not like you read everyone you followed. Plus unfollowed you anyways, not like you have to say that's interestined except friendfeed spam.
- Steve
follow me
- Tai Hsia
welcome to Boulder
- Andrew Hyde
@scobleizer just created the most important tech follow list on Twitter.
- Christian Anderson
aww shucks, and here I was thinking it was just me who you unfollowed.
- Jess Sloss
I underwent the same situation, Robert - I unfollowed almost everybody on Twitter who duplicated their accounts here on FrF. I got a tempest of fury for this action. web3 is too personal still ))
- massagin
Scoble in Boulder = Trouble.
- Jim Halligan @jim
I feel fortunate that you're still subbed to me on FF. I haven't even noticed whether you unfollowed me on Twitter. But you following me, still hasn't gotten me the chicks. :P Always fun seeing your posts, long as you don't block me, it doesn't matter if you follow me or not. :)
- Arlan Koizumi
I did the same thing some weeks ago after avoiding twitter because it got too noisy. It was instantly better. But in the mean time I started to use FF more and I like it better here so I hardly go near twitter now.
- Murray Barton
You already follow me here on ff, which i use more than twitter.
- dthree
What's up?
- Kevin Whalen
from iPhone
Hey Robert, so for following >1,600 is it that right way taken by Philtro and Filttr?
- Martin Adamek
I'm glad you mentioned Loic, he caught a lot of flack for doing this earlier.
- Steven Cains
Hey Robert - fight the tweetspam !
- Michael Neale
Don't think you are following me on Twitter anymore..please do and best regards
- Karma Martell
I'm still trying to figure out the following... so I'm watching how you do it scoble.
- Matthew Schrock
Good plan. I'm looking forward to your results. I'm trying to figure out all these social media elements. I would appreciate your Twitter follow.
- David Stanley
hope this new approach works for you!
- timepilot
Oh, so now you are only easy on FF.
- James Watters
Odd internal response, I don't follow everyone who follows me cuz of the very noise you talk about. And, there's no good reason for you to follow me since I'm unlikely to deliver news of interest to you. And yet, here I am, posting on FriendFeed so you have the OPTION of following me, a stranger who is not the same kind of SMART as you. Who'd have thought...
- Della Mauler
Interesting statement about original content value of FF independent of twitter. Twitter is where you keep your noise level down...
- James Watters
This seems like asking for trouble to me, Scoble. But, it's your time and bandwith to do with what you will. Since only a handful of people (by that I think I mean just one) follow me on Twitter, it's pretty easy for me to weed out the bots. The people I follow are my internet nerds (mostly the Rev 3 crew) so I know their interests are in line with mine. Hit me up for some edifying conversations about Lost and video games, Robert.
- Jeremiah Green
Here you go Robert! [also via twitter: @Scobleizer Therefore: only approx. 1.7 million "active" human @Twitter users contribute 50%+ of all activity, right? #engagement] Regards, @AAinslie
- Alexander Ainslie
The green avatar is so disturbing mate. :)
- Jordan Windebank
I'll lead, you follow. So where are we going?
- Tom Sheppard
I was sad to see you unfollowed me, but now you may follow me again, so all will be well in the world.
- Jodi
following the leader...
- John Munro
You're still following me - does that mean I'm a smart feller? ;)
- Brett Kelly
so glad I mail Robert a business card every month :)
- Christian Anderson
Della: the thing is here I can follow you and put you into a list and watch you less frequently than some of my other people. So everyone wins. But only here on FriendFeed. :-)
- Robert Scoble
Some of us have been doing this from our start. Kind of cool, eh? But our numbers don't grow quickly so we were tagged as "slow." Nice to see you catch up with us! Also, this may shock you, there sre folks who follow and communicate with only 3 folks on twitter and they are HAPPY! Imagine....
- lynda spangler
Yay. Now he will follow a librarian.
- joe is...
Follow this dot!!! .
- Bwana ☠
I've long thought the entire Twitter "etiquette" of always following who follows you to be a bit of a folly. I'm following 114 at the moment, and the stream still moves too fast for me to keep up with.
- Darren Landrum
Comment!
- anna sauce
ok
- Vasu Srinivasan
Good test, count me in... I don't follow tons of people, I follow a few prolific Scoble-types and the rest are more focused in areas I'm interested in.
- David Ziembicki
I'm not following tons of people, just a select few. More to follow on FB when facebook has completely integrated Friendfeed-funcionality. ;-)
- Wolfgang G. Wettach
I only follow people I know or have something interesting to say, did you really have 160000 people that said something worthwhile???
- Gerard van Schip
Well I commented via your Blog so instead of repeating myself I'll link to comment http://disq.us/1ms9
- Keith - @tsudo
Gerard: everyone says something worthwhile once in a while. The trick is to see it when it happens. Here on FriendFeed, by the way, you have a better shot because good stuff usually gets liked and commented on, so it pulls up higher into my view.
- Robert Scoble
come join us here folks http://ff.im/6dUHN xxx
- Mark
Okay. But will you read and comment on my stuff?
- Mellissa Claus
Robert, I posted this after Loic's decision and it looks like it will need another update. http://www.knowthenetwork.com/blog... I think there is value in stating your follow policy.
- Keith - @tsudo
cool
- Zach Cheatham
Hello?
- Vicky
following all the discussion of you unfollowing everyone on twitter has made me think about doing the same thing and starting fresh.
- (jeff)isageek
not unless we beat you in the Ashes
- Mark
Nice post Robert, and no surprise it's an improvement. ;o) I have seen it for me too.
- Rob Sellen :o)
1 thing I find Robert still worth following @Scobleizer when I am not on friendfeed & on my Hootsuite or PeopleBrowsr. therefore not much affected, not much 2 bother me, ego not gone at all. luv your post Robert it is a frank posting
- polou/indigo_bow
Follow me Robert, I promise I'm not annoying. :) @cluteman
- Greg Clute
from iPhone
You've piqued my curiosity.
- Kathy
Robert, thank you! I follow you and enjoy your "likes" and your energetic takes. I also enjoy your Building43 interviews! I am a constant FriendFeed user now. Thank you!
- Tobin Truog
This made me realise I must be more active on FF and comment/post more :-).
- Mats Pettersson
I think I'll give FriendFeed a go! Never tried it, but looks easy and I need to understand the interwebs better. @CodeSamurai_Com
- CodeSamurai
butt-kissing is not a prerequisite for being followed, he will follow you anyways :D
- Mark
Count me in! (Please??)
- Ricky Maveety
lol @mark. ;o)
- Rob Sellen :o)
You can follow me, but since you follow a lot of people, you probably can't pay attention to the stream of tweets.
- Alex Knight
Alex..that's the WHOLE point he did this... ;o)
- Rob Sellen :o)
IMHO 1,647 is still way too many people to follow.
- Alex Knight
I will NOT get baited into ... ah CRAP. I follow very few people on twitter, mainly only to find info from Android developers (my topic of choice). If you mention anything about the food you are currently eating, etc.. you will probably not be followed. If you post 80,000 times a day, you will not be followed, since Twitters interface sucks (not so for FF). Also, no offense to other social users, but if you resend your FF/FB/<insert other social site here> entries to twitter, I probably won't follow.
- Tim Hoeck
http://socialspark.com/blogs... Chris Pirillo is Scum.
- Mark
good move IMO
- Joanna Nicol
Love the post, love the response.
- Chris Rogers
from BuddyFeed
nice hanging out at with beach w/ you last week! follow moi!!!
- Raina Lee
I always feel like scoble's following me
- Rodney J Woodruff
from iPhone
Don't forget your Dunbar number, Scoble! There are only so many people you can have meaningfully connect with online.
- Steve Lynch
from twhirl
Mark is right. No butt kissing. Ew.
- Robert Scoble
"I always feel like, somebody's watching me..."
- Wizetux
Comment!!!! Ohh wait but you already follow me...
- Amit Nangare
Follow me, if you aren't already....please. Thanks,
- Steve de Mena
here is my comment ZOL
- Shane Gibson
Comment? What kind of coomment, Robert? :-)
- Mitch Featherston
Whoop there it is! On Twitter @jimgoldstein
- Jim Goldstein
from iPhone
Oh..Oh... Mr. Kotter...Mr Kotter..follow me!
- Scott Booher
Glad to see you're writing more than 140 characters on that blog. Doesn't that feel liberating? Maybe we should be allowed character# based on your metric for powerful/smart/newsmaker
- Noah Bloom
You already follow me here on FF, for which I thank you. So, I'll just say thanks for the phone call the other day. :)
- Jeff Harbert
I'll take a follow!
- Jeff Weber
@shaunhess
- Shaun Hess
Ok, so follow me again and I will follow you back. Thanks!
- Audrey
Robert - I fail on most of your criteria so I'm not expecting you to follow me. The thing is I don't care if you follow me back - this is social media and everyone has their own choice. I choose to follow you because you entertain and inform me. The relationship is 100% one way and I am more than happy with that!
- Pon
Robert - Last night at GDGT Party the person at the Blackberry booth said: 1) She had 'heard of Twitter, never friend feed' uses neither 2) Is SCOBLE is coming tonight 3) Wow, your Blackberry is really "archaic" and find out when contract lets you upgrade. F-D UP? Booth babes need primers.
- Liza
Interesting theory... people who comment more apt to contribute?
- Mark Philpot
I know someone else who tried this strategy last year, with similar results. I've been debating it. Once I got over 3K followers on Twitter life just got weird. Started to spend X amount of time every day blocking porn spam.
- Patricia F. Anderson
Liza: yeah, sorry for not coming to the party. I went and saw Obama's CTO instead.
- Robert Scoble
Steve Lynch: my Dunbar number is higher than yours is. :-)
- Robert Scoble
Nice summary Robert on the whole Unfollow thing, but would it be too repetitive if I re-post on my FF?
- Keith Rowland
What is the best friend feed aggregation strategy of non-friend streams (eg RSS, twitter, etc)? Imaginary friend per service, then add to lists? Multiple services per imaginary friend or 1 to 1? Or add the services to a group? What are the considerations?
- John Brown
Keith: you can repost anywhere you like, thanks!
- Robert Scoble
I'm in!
- Craig Shipp
still wondering how you are able to handle such a big load of subscribers here and e.g. so many followers with twitter o_0. I am already (sometimes) lost with the few i got till now. Lately with one sweep almost 40 to 50 contacts in twitter disappeard and i have no clue why ... boah, how are you handling the noise? Hell, with so many ppl in, you might have a terrific noise? Or you wear just good headphones ;)?
- Ronald
I very much agree that being choosy is the key to Twitter. I'm not nearly on the scale that you are, but in my experience, freely following people (whetther they follow me or not) and then mercilessly cutting back on them over and over again results in a kind of darwinianly better and better signal to noise ratio.
- Tim Maly
Touche!
- Steve Lynch
from twhirl
Count me in
- Johnny
Hi Robert
- Randy Allen Bishop
Liked the blog post and totally agree. I've been meaning to do something similar. What I do is occasionally prune and then add some "better" replacements, so my total is always 2000 follows.
- Bora Zivkovic
I don't see how anyone can manage so many users without groups. Then again, with groups you could just make an "ignore" group.
- Oscar M. Cantu
from iPhone
Great blog post. I totally agree on the noise level. I figure I have blocked a few hundred accounts on Twitter, and my noise level has dropped dramatically. Thanks for the follow!
- Tony "Frosty" Welch
Hello Hello!
- Sam Goldfield
Robert - I figured you were in DC from FF, but she had NO IDEA what a CTO is. Point is, she was eager to give you a Blackberry, but not me, and I wish I had a Scoble costume to pretend for 5 minutes.
- Liza
@Robert I think you are starting another mass follow again.
- Steve Chou
from fftogo
Steve: that's not the problem. As long as spam doesn't enter the system I can deal. Keep in mind here I can choose how I follow. I can put you all in a folder that I never look at, if I wanted to.
- Robert Scoble
my feelings were hurt that you unsubscribed to me on twitter, but i agree with your methods
- Brian Appleby
I'm in!
- Chris Rossini
Brian, yeah, but I follow you here. So there.
- Robert Scoble
really doesn't matter as long as i can follow you, that's the beauty of these services
- Brian Appleby
How did you come to follow so many to begin with? I get annoyed with ppl and unfollowing is easier than sifting through their garbage constantly.
- R1CC1
Autofollow was a horrible idea to begin with.
- David Chieng
I kind of tired to keep an eye on who follows me now,the ones I'm following is much more important.:-)
- Steve Chou
from fftogo
Whoa lots of comments I'm following you longtime lol
- Edgar Rodríguez
from iPhone
Robert: we need more intelligent spam-follower-filtering on Twitter! We need to fix this.
- Steve Lynch
from twhirl
@David +1 I think auto follow is such a bad idea to begin with,and people like Robert now even need to pay to unfollow these people.
- Steve Chou
from IM
How much did SocialToo charge for running the unfollow script?
- Shane
I'm in!
- rich brant
from iPhone
I heard its 25 dollars.
- Steve Chou
from IM
I've always been very picky in who I follow on twitter. I follow 40 people, and I can't guarantee that I see every single tweet. I don't scroll back usually, unless it's my "Real Life" column in Tweetdeck that couldn't fit on my screen.
- Tom Ribbens
My birthday is also January 18th, therefore you must follow me Robert! ;)
- Chris Luckhardt
from BuddyFeed
Thanks Steve! $25 is pretty reasonable. Wonder if anyone else will be jumping on the bandwagon
- Shane
Haha....I also threw the devil horns for Scobleizer...that should count for something. ;) http://www.flickr.com/photos...
- Chris Luckhardt
from BuddyFeed
OK, let's try it! And what about Twitter?
- Alexei Zheglov
Thanks for your post. Last time I checked you follow me here on FriendFeed. OK not to follow me on Twitter.
- Pilgrim Five
Smart way to clean house.
- Jeremy Chone
u have already subscribing me although i am just a-staying-at-home mum =)). thanx scoble. u are really a nice geek. haha!
- zʍıɔ
Let's do it.
- Kate
this is like an awesome commentfest
- Edgar Rodríguez
You can follow me, but I never say anything. Oh.. wait....
- James Macgill
follow me!
- Tate DA FF MVP
from BuddyFeed
Sometimes the tortoise beats the hare after all... building organically based on getting to know people and interactions tends to avoid the ghastly spammers, seo peeps and bots
- Sally Church
Tap, tap... is this thing on?
- Yanik Falardeau
This is the best place to follow you. On twitter you only see post headlines, but friendfeed is where the conversation takes place.
- Michael Fidler
Ah crap. You're already following me :)
- Jason Nunnelley
I'm outside your sphere, but bootstrapping is bootstrapping right?
- Travis Bedard
Tuesday night for the first time in 2 months I UNfollowed everyone on Twitter who wasn't following me. Since you had UNfollowed me, yup I unfollowed you. My Twitter account is so /FUBARed! It only goes to page 506 to show who I'm following and after that it is BLANK! I don't even know if they show in my Home stream. So Robert, I value what you say. Know I can tweet profusely - but it's as @replies to others with the occasional micro-blog thrown in. Question, what DID I do to cause you to UNfollow me?
- Arleen Anderson
I hope you'll follow me...
- Shane Tilton
Follow me, eh?
- Joey Gibson
Trying to fill out those dropped Twitter follows?
- Jamie Elgie
Scoble: Have you convinced Guy Kawasaki against his "follow everyone that follows you" mentality?
- Kevin Pruett
please do what you must to have the most effecient feed mr scoble, the random will still creep through the cracks, ;)
- chaz2b
I still haven't really adopted FriendFeed, but I will get interesting here in time if you follow me.
- Lance M. Brown
How are your cleanup efforts coming along?
- Jennifer Ruggiero
Oops - I also meant to ask, Robert: how are you managing to follow the couple thousand that you are now re-following on Twitter? You must be using groups, I guess...any other methods? I find ~500 people to be a near max in terms of how many folks I can fully read.
- Lance M. Brown
Following your inspiration, I unfollowed almost 100 people last night and blocked about 1000 spammers, cam girls, MLM marketers, and the like. Twitter is more like it was a year ago, its almost like I gave my Twitter account an enema and it worked. Thanks for the original idea.
- Mark Edwards
Excellent!
- Don Strickland
Robert, I started out only following those I know and those I am genuinely interested in. I've only followed back a few of the people who've followed me. I have a second account that I decided to experiment with. I followed about 700 people on there. It has had about double the followers of my main account consistently. I am about to try some new tricks there with an auto-follow script I'm writing but I think I will stay the course with my main account.
- Paul The Raven
Robert, I tried the "follow everyone" (almost) method for a short time - then I'd unfollow about once-a-week. Now I try to schedule a "follow new" once a week. TweetDeck's group feature makes following lots of folks bearable. So does FF, but you've been saying that for-ever!
- Kathy E Gill
I am just taking it slow.
- Rick Cogley
from iPhone
Hey.
- Kreg Steppe
I will follow you if you follow me (Genesis)
- Keith Barrett
I may not be smart, but I'm smart enough to follow you!
- John Pfaff
It occurred to me (and surely to someone before me), that different definitions of "following" might be a big factor here. If I'm following someone, it means I'm following along with their updates. But others might see themselves more as becoming part of a person's "following". Not that they are necessarily reading the person's stuff, but they are willing to be considered part of that person's inflated Twitter posse, as part of the influence-trading aspect of Twitter.
- Lance M. Brown
Robert, I think that the biggest thing that changed is not that you were "wrong" (to follow everyone) before but that the Twitter population has changed so much. A year ago, pretty much everyone on Twitter was real, and interesting - now there's so much automated gaming the system going on that the signal to noise ratio has gotten unbearable. So I think anyone who cares about more than...
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- Matthew Blaisdell
I can't imagine how it would happen technologically, but it would be great if there was a way to ditch followers who weren't actually reading your tweets.
- Lance M. Brown
Enjoyed recent posts and look forward to more from you! Keep it up.
- One Degree Connected
I don't want to be left out please!!
- Jannifer @wordsforliving
Your most active followers are on FF. No loss.If you really wanted to make a bold statement you ought to have blocked all of your followers and started from scratch.
- Benjamin Taylor
Been a while since I put you and Shel On the record...Online
- Eric Schwartzman
blah.
- imabonehead
Good article Robert. I honestly enjoyed the perspective. I found the same to be true, but on a much lower scale, of course ;-)
- Ken Stewart | ChangeForge
i'm in!
- Criz
I don't get it - so now you are using Twitter kinda like a normal person, and its some kind of miracle that it works better?
- Nick Lothian
I'm impressed you can keep up with 1600 people. I have trouble enough with the little amount I have. I did find that making FriendFeed imaginary friends and putting them in groups for those I'd like to read occasionally (but not on a regular basis) has helped a lot
- Tamara
Follow....how about some promotion!
- Bob DeMarco
i'm in
- Joshua Smith
from twhirl
9/11 Was an Inside Job
- bill giltner
Stop it, or I will have to get a restraining order.
- Sriks7
In my mind I'm important enough to follow ;-)
- Jonathan Callahan
Hello Robert....Whatever your favorite genre is...http://listen.grooveshark.com/#...
- Michele Lorito-Chase
Looks like you have a lot of work to do following everybody.
- Corbett Barr
now i'll have to write something interesting...
- Robert Littlejohn
me! i offer nothing but the warm feeling of having accepted a ff reject.
- Marco
ok. so how will you filter the noise now
- Kfir Pravda
Ooo, I've won the lottery. You'll follow me now. Wheeee! (how do you have the time to go through all of the names by hand? VA assistance?)
- Peggy Dolane
Great :)
- Baard @ Pixum
Interesting trend on twitter - I always wondered what sense it made to follow tens of thousands of people, too much noise. I'm finding it hard enough to follow 2900 (looking to cull even that down as I mostly tweet about 30 people!)
- Tia Singh, Life Coach
211th comment: WTF
- Geer
Good :)
- ★ Soner Gönül
I like your ability to influence so many people. I'm following you (mostly here - on FriendFeed) because it's one of the ways to learn how you do it (but, please, do not follow me if you do not see anything you could learn from me :-).
- Hanna Wiszniewska
I would come up w/ a better vetting process.
- Joe
why would you do that?
- james
got to get a pic up so i can fit the criteria, I only follow 45 people and some of them are on thin ice ( Im lookin at you Scoble)
- James Hunter
"Where in The Net is Robert San Diego?" (cit.) :-)
- Luca Perugini
from iPhone
I'm not kissing your arse,but i do learn a lot listening to you.
- Paul Downing
@scobleizer why would you randomly follow people who comment in this post when you just got done knocking FFollo and having to unfollow a gazillion people on Twitter?
- Bryan Zirkel
Bryan: because I'm following people one by one and putting them into lists on my screen. Autofollowing means you aren't doing ANY of that thinking. Also, autofollowing will get you spammers, if they ever show up (and they will).
- Robert Scoble
@Robert: Read your blogpost and that's indeed what I look at to follow people too. No autofollow and even close friends have to tell something interesting for me to (keep) following. Friends who are new to Twitter (no tweets yet) get the benefit of doubt.
- Patrick Mackaaij
If you follow me, great, but if you don't I'll understand. :) And I ought to do some pruning myself...
- Grant Bierman
Let's give it a try. :0)
- Toma Kazakov
I still don't understand how you want to follow someone who just writes a comment over here. Well, this is not the first time. I did not understand why and how you followed 100k people. I find it hard to properly follow 100 people.
- Sumanth Kolar
Sumanth: obviously there are degrees of "following." When you read the New York Times, do you read the entire paper word for word? I don't. Same when I'm following. I only get random slices of some of my lists. Others, which have 500 people on them, get 100% read.
- Robert Scoble
I'm still here . . . although tired after teaching all day. Louis Gray came to my PR class at SFSU and WOWED the 50 students [except for one who thinks we are making too much of social media] We won't be following him.
- Shari Weiss
I like cheese!
- Paul Puri
Shari: Louis wows me too. Glad to see the class is getting into it.
- Robert Scoble
He he :)
- Richard Holas
I still like the "stranger stream" of Twitter vs "friend feed" of other applications. I don't feel the need to read all tweets from everybody - and tools let me check my fave tweeples. I think mass unfollowing destroys some of the social contract - Robert you are lucky because you are well liked and can do some risky things but companies for example (not Brands of One) would be in...
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- Laurel Papworth
As @charleneli predicted back in January, 2009 will be the year of de-friending on social networks. It's here.
- Mark Evans
Laurel: yeah, you have to navigate these waters carefully if you are representing a brand, that's for sure!
- Robert Scoble
you can put me on your boring list...
- Charles Tanton
i will not get followed back: not powerful, don't have a brand, not a news maker... but i kinda understand the reasons
- Dani Martínez
I still think it all goes into how you use twitter. If your using it as a communication tool it depends on if you are looking for broadcast or 2 way. Its interesting to watch as some of the bigger names turn back from the broadcast and go back to the 2 way.
- Luke Kilpatrick
@Robert so when you're taking in information from FF do you have a feed of several dozen/hundred "key" people and then categorize the rest, or are you mainly searching? Do you utilize groups at all or mainly just rely on what comes across your feeds? I guess I'm curious as to how you're using FF to collect information.
- Bryan Zirkel
I have found Twitter becomes noise rather than a conversation once the following/follower thing gets over a certain mark. I think this is the dirty little secret of Twitter - if it just turns into white noise, rather than a filter, then it becomes less than useful.
- Michael Liss
I'm interested in how we'll all feel over the next few years as social networks continue to change and more people and organizations get on them. Obviously, many of us are getting fed up with spammers and are unfollowing them on Twitter and Facebook. I am also having a hard time keeping up with new subscribers on FriendFeed because I know less about them from their profiles and have to...
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- Cathryn Hrudicka
BTW, I feel like I'm finding lots of interesting new people to follow from these discussions that Robert and others are holding on FF. Cool!
- Cathryn Hrudicka
Am I too late to comment and get followed?
- Hichame Assi
I'm definitely around :)
- KyNam Doan
Aren't you following me already? If not, you should be! LoL
- Thomas Ward
I'm definitely late to be followed. :D
- Faraz Mullick
I don't get it but ok :)
- Parvez Halim
LOL! I follow those I find interesting and which can give me useful information. And hope someone follows me for the same reasons.
- Flavio
Very interesting post - I've always thought that you guys who follow loads of people must get completely swamped by noise! Like you, I've found it useful to follow companies I use that have interesting products like Zoho and Evernote as a way of keeping up to date with their latest innovations. Excellent idea spelling out your "follow criteria" - it needs to become standard etiquette for social networks so that people don't get offended when they aren't followed back :) .
- David Meredith
aren't you doing the same thing here, that you did in Twitter? Choose carefully who you follow, filling your brain with pollution doesn't make you smarter
- Allison
Just finished reading the Mashable post on your unfollow exercise. It's attracting attention from all the other big names now.
- George Hall (Australia)
Very interesting indeed, I only to unfollow a few, cause I just never had auto follow on.. So now I just unfollow the ones I'm bored of..
- Jaap Willem
Seems like a good idea. Although Louis Gray also has a few valid points on his latest blog post why it might be a mistake http://bit.ly/19UKxk
- Silver Hage
I've never understood the auto-follow procedure on any social network. Even on Facebook, where it is obligatory, one can still lower the noise by simply hiding the updates of those who want to follow you, but perhaps also have little personal connection and therefore can be hidden.
- Noah Gray
It seems like the unfollowing was the easy part. Choosing who to follow again must have been a chore. I think it is crucial in twitter (and FriendFeed for that matter) to have a clear out every six months or so otherwise you get bogged down in an information feed you don't really care about.
- Chris Nixon
I can totally understand why you had to do this. I'm following 2700-ish folks on Twitter and I need 3 groups to manage it (using TweetDeck). I feel I am keeping up with most of my local community and the general tech community at large though I'm sure I'm still missing quite a bit of stuff from people who are not in the 3 groups. I also wonder how much more I can actually handle.
- Ken Seto
Um... well, I made something of myself, but then I didn't like what I made, so now I'm doing it all over again. Not sure how that fits with your criteria! Plus, I really don't have a brand or any influence to speak of. I do look great in boxers, however.
- Mark Jepsen
OK, OK, changed my picture. Instead of a green clock (a clock is my personal brand) I put a picture of myself. A lot of people told me to do that....
- Bora Zivkovic
I am still looking for info on holographic technology being used for news delivery. Perhaps it's a technology that hasn't even been invented yet or is sitting on a shelf somewhere. What say you? http://specialdee.wordpress.com/2009...
- Denise
Hoping your new look account has had the desired effect. No need to follow me, I'm not the interesting type, I'll just be glad if your insights, links & content continues. Congrats & good luck
- JanLawrence
Here's what's interesting, Robert, I've noticed an uptick in followers even if you reply or RT or like someone's tweet, not just if you follow that person. Then again, perhaps that's the intent - if you like or RT someone's idea, that's a kind of stamp of approval.
- Aaman (Clone of FF)
Hej hej!
- Peter
The Scoble Pendulum.. How long till we go back to FOLLOW!! FOLLOW!!! FOLLOW!!!! ? :)
- Adrian Scicluna
I did a purge on Facebook for the same reasons a few months ago. It's under 300 and it's people I actually care about. I've come "this close" to running a purge on Twitter but haven't yet. Maybe this will spark me to do it. I've kept FF tight from the beginning.
- Rob Williams
moving from FB to FF ... fewer, longer, more meaningful threads. welcoming your follow. cheers
- marc calamia
ok, you´re following me already :-)
- Torsten Eckert
alright - follow me... - thx in advance Robert Scoble...
- Nilesh
All that commenting in the past counts for nothing?
- Kevin Gamble
Hey Robert... Great post... On FriendFeed, I increasingly put people without meaningful and valuable content on a separate feed that I rarely check... Its a more "sensible" way to unfollow, i think... I only unsubscribe if I get pissed at someone etc. I wish, FF gave users the option to only unsubscribe from comments and likes (but keep the main feed). This would be a good tool to control the noise...
- Onur Kabadayi
I agree with Robert (duh!). I very briefly made the effort of checking out the new follows and deciding whether to follow back. I think once I hit a thousand I shifted to a model of occasionally saying, "If you want me to follow you, talk to me." Hit two thousand and quit saying anything or checking followers. I don't care if they follow me as long as they either say useful things like real people or don't talk at all. I've never autofollowed back. This strategy works for me.
- Patricia F. Anderson
I have a large difference between people I follow (around 2000) and people who follow me (around 1800) - I choose people who are important sources of information. People choose me if they think I am an important source of information to them. I never thought it would have to be a one-to-one relationship as to who is useful to whom: some are informative, others are good listeners and learners. I learn from people I follow and I hope my followers learn from me.
- Bora Zivkovic
I also think that those of us who follow larger numbers of people don't use the stream in the same way. It is more dipping in and out of the stream, trusting that the important stuff will be repeated enough to float to the top, engaging with conversations of the moment. I wrote a blogpost on this earlier this year: http://etechlib.wordpress.com/2009...
- Patricia F. Anderson
Someone told me twitter can be separated into two types. (id say at least two)
- Kay Proskin
Scoble, I am beginning to think you are a cult leader :). Look at all these comments! I am using FF more and more these days... Useful for eGuiders.com that's for sure.
- Marc Ostrick
I'm not sure your following me.
- Amit Morson
Hey Scobie :D Follow me !
- paniaguai
I like Robert. He was one of the first people I followed on Twitter and brought me to FF. But I don't understand why people are desperate to have him follow them. Status? Some kind of virtual autograph?
- Tech Introvert
What the heck. Follow me if you like. I'll be as entertaining & informative as I can.
- Aaron Schaub
from iPod
Been considering doing the same. Your post just might be the flame that lights a fire you-know-where to get it done.
- Kate
Well done! Who need followers that aren't reading your tweets anyway.
- Sean Rasmussen
I just want a toaster!
- aTechDude
I'm considering doing same once I'm more confident in my use of FriendFeed. I RT'd this and it resonated with at least one of my followers.
- Tony Hollingsworth
'Hand-crafted personal network' is the meme of the moment, and whilst I can see the workmanship, where's the value going to be for you, Robert, in following this rag-tag (no offence people :) ) of folks from a gazillion different verticals. (OK, so they're mostly life scientists).
- Andrew Spong
I use to want to be Bob Dylan. Now I am not so sure.
- aTechDude
um.....
- Spencer
My take: you can't be an authentic, credible voice to your community if you let 'sex & dollars' spammers hang on to your coattails. Spam followers matter.... in a bad way. Allowing them to be associated with you diminishes your potential value to genuine followers. It's a pain. It takes time. It's worth doing. More on this, if interested: http://tr.im/vJwb
- Andrew Spong
I'll have mine to go.
- aTechDude
Hope to see more "old fashioned blogging", like it better than tweets. Tweets are bound to disappear into oblivion the moment they're posted.
- Willem (@wim66) ☠
"Spam followers matter.... in a bad way." - I certainly agree with this. I block pornbots just as quickly as they follow me. I'm less vigilant about the commercial follows, but usually they go away by themselves after a while.
- John Craft
You're already following me here (don't care about twitter tough), so i just hope you don't un-follow, even though you probably don't understand what i'm talking about most of the time, since it's in portuguese.
- Diego Sana
So what happened to the advantages to following so many people you always talked about?
- Bas
Thanks for connecting here, still learning all the advantages of FF
- carece
@Andrew Regarding spam followers and the idea that allowing them to follow you somehow dilutes your credibility, I just have to disagree. To me that places the burden on the wrong person. I don't have time to waste pruning those who follow me, unless they are overtly annoying.My stream is public, they can follow me anyway. What matters to me is that the spammers leave me alone. If they don't, I block them. If they keep quiet, I don't care.
- Patricia F. Anderson
What is important is not who follows me, but who *I* follow.
- Patricia F. Anderson
Follow me if you want, but I gotta warn ya, it's scintillating stuff!
- Pierce Presley
Funny my twitter feed is much noisier but I have been very selective on who I follow. I have tried to make the feed relevant and actionable. At times I post things that seem out of the norm on my twitter feed but that is mainly for the few people who follow me that don't get it but I am trying to keep up their interest level. I also control who follows me, yes this breaks the model but I think the follow everyone model was broken and reckless
- Richard Gallo
Am I interesting? Dunno. I'm often controversial, tho. ;) BTW, we met in person at a Pittsburgh Blogfest, but I really don't expect you to remember that.
- Eric Williams
Enjoyed the post. I just started Twitter a few days ago to get away from Facebook. I like friendfeed the best - can't wait until it becomes more mainstream.
- Robby Parker
Awesome move. Consider that my comment please :)
- Charlotte Barker
friendfeed is definitively more evolved that Twitter. Conversely, user bases of Twitter is still its real (and unique) point of strenght...
- Marco Castellani
Don't want you to follow me (unless you find my stream of interest) but it's quite interesting the number of people that comment to get you to follow!
- Ben Drury
Hey Robert! So, I would like to talk to you about a social media company I'm working with right now. They launched a few months ago and their trajectory and momentum is pretty amazing. Oh, and I started unfollowing the noise in my Twitter after I commented on your blog post.
- Gregg Le Blanc
I'm asking the same thing Bas asked... what about your video on the benefits of following so many people? I took a stab at that method of madness by starting to follow all kinds of people, and following anyone that followed me... but I always felt like I was missing good content from good people because of all the "spam". I started to use TweetDeck to create groups/columns for...
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- Timothy Federwitz
@Patricia - reminds me that I should probably review all my twitter followers and thin things down. :)
- JA Castillo
thanks
- Keith
I like conversing with interesting people. Sometimes that means commenting to get followed, @cogiva. ;)
- Eric Williams
Hi Scoble!
- Pete Gilbert
I did almost the same thing - unfollowed about 1000 from my 1500, no attention is way better
- Maarten den Braber
Couldn't agree more. It's about time we all grew up. BTW Don't follow me. :-)
- Gee Ranasinha
Robert what's the deal with Twitter?
- stockmanmarc
Your post makes good sense. I didn't auto-follow & still find folks to unfollow because their noise gets too loud.
- Debra Ellis
Very clever. I imagine the signal to noise is sooooo much better.
- Chris Brogan
I've been thinking about unfollowing a bunch twitter folks as well. I'll look at SocialToo again. My initial experience with SocialToo wasn't good. However, it was during their infancy.
- Ron Hudson
I don't blame you at all. Leo was all over that yesterday.
- Daniel B. Honigman
why would simply leaving a comment prompt you to follow me?
- David Wescott
You're not going to change your mind and mass unfollow us are you?
- walidmREALTOR
Sup! :-)
- Jon Winters
I suspect it identifies you as a real person interested in dialog, David.
- Eric Williams
Followers are currency and you have plenty to spend
- Lee Odden
Bob, did you do anything on Twitter recently ? Did you massively refollow people ? Seems like you screwed up Twitter : down for a while... ;-)
- Enikao
Follow me! @carloscomputers
- carloscomputers
very cool timing with just before twitter goes down hard! well done Robert! @crbrowning
- Colin
@davidorban
- David Orban
I've followed you and have really enjoyed your posts. I think I would miss that
- Tom
Good to hear that your experiment has stopped the spam @lindsaydavies
- Lindsay Davies
ciao Robert!
- alex
Your ego is amazing. You make it seem like it is a special deal to be followed by you. I'm glad there are many very bright, talented people here who follow others, regardless of class, education, social status and not based on some snobbish criteria.
- RuthNH
DON'T follow me! I write in Italian :-)
- Lorenzo Strambi
Here I be
- Robert
Wow, this is a lot of comments. And kudos for following Followable people who have something interesting to contribute to your day. I'm glad you did it, because that means you'll find AND share more interesting things. This, in turn, makes you more followable too. Thanks for seeing the light, so to speak.
- ax0n
You killed twitter.
- Melissa Pierce
and now with twitter down, many will flock to here!
- Mark V. Fusco
Did this take down Twitter this morning Robert?
- frank barry
That must of taken a long time :-) I've always been a fan of twitter, but I must say they have struggled in the last few weeks. We are working with their API on a project and their seems to be an issue every other day that causes problems. Do they have what it takes?
- Chris Nadeau
I follow under 200 people and it's great. I can't imagine 1k+ . I add about three or four a month.
- Mike Janicke
I unfollow people when I find I ignore their tweets/updates. After reading your blog, I think we ALL need to be more judicious.
- Janet Barker-Evans
Is this why Twitter is down? LOL! Can't check to see if you unfollowed me. Hope not. You, Shel Israel, and Jeremiah Owyang were some of the very first people I followed way back before Twitter even had 100,000 people on the service. -- It's been a fun ride but, of course, the spammers always show up to make things difficult.
- Brenda Young
How do you really know if you should be following someone until you follow them for a while? Sometimes I don't start talking to someone until I see a common interest, then I tweet back and we start talking, but that could be months later. I don't follow everyone back, but I follow back those that interact. I will unfollow once I see that won't happen, or I don't like their tweets.
- Nadine Gilden
Twitter is victime of it own success, they have to re learn how to scal better, but more important they have to learn to share better.
- abdellah
looks like you'll need to follow at least 343 people LOL
- Shari Weiss
Friendfeed takes over for twitter finally?
- Thomas Resing
@Patricia I don't want potential followers to be put off by who is following me. I wouldn't want them to think I care more about have n+1 followers than I do about what they're going to see if they review who I've allowed to follow me. Not to cull spammers suggests I care more about my experience than theirs. To a great extent, the quality of their experience will determine the quality...
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- Andrew Spong
1600 ... isn't that a big number too? It could be you'll think again before you follow every one here :)
- Mario Gastaldi
Hi... do I get a follow?
- Jason Mayoff
If you are already following me. Will you double follow me? :)
- Brady
Still waiting for my Building 43 t-shirt. Not that I'm bitter or anything. ;-)
- Donna Tuttle
Respect your opinion Robert but we'll have to agree to disagree. Yes I despise all the FakePornSpamBots who follow me. I block as many as I can, but can't keep up. Our views differ regarding what is important to SEE! I treasure home Home stream! I read it, refresh, read, refresh and in minutes I have the pulse of the world... at least MY world! EVERYONE has something of value to share at some point. If I UNfollow tens of thousands, I will miss so much worthy of consideration.
- Arleen Anderson
Just another reason why it's good to diversify, I can still read your posts here. :)
- Luis Sandoval
Cheers!
- Jeff Wiant
Funny. I was catching up on news on Friendfeed for some odd reason. Great post; plenty for new and long-time users alike to consider there.
- Alex Howard
I'm still waiting for the ultimate tool to manage my followings - I can only manage to keep up with about 1/3 of those following me. I'd love to see something that can tell me what friends of mine also follow those that I am or those that are following me. Maybe it's out there and I missed it?
- TheDiva Rockin
Anyone interested in assessing the quality of their followers should check http://tweetblocker.com. It's pretty chastening. I aim to improve on my C rating. http://www.buzzom.com is a fun, fast way of decoupling yourself from non-reciprocal followers. You can select individuals to purge, or flush 50 random non-reciprocal followers at a time.
- Andrew Spong
Robert, your timing could not be better. ;-)
- Dave Martin
Great post, with perfect timing! Dang it, Dave Martin just took it off my lips.
- Vadim Lavrusik
/me waves
- Kevin Johnson
from iPhone
I hereby rename this comment thread neoTwitter <waves at followers>
- Andrew Spong
Awww, you gotta admit, saturation, the level of influence that you have, because of your high follower, count, is a tool of mass destruction. Seriously, did you think if you recommend an online service that people would not try it out? Was this an asassination attempt
- Peter Murphy
I'm glad i'm not the only one who misses /me actions from IRC, Kevin. ;)
- Eric Williams
With today's Twitter outage your timing is pretty stinking good, Robert. :)
- Chris Cree
Now to get the rest of the world to follow that same logic when it comes to follow/unfollow! I only started being more selective as Twitter (and everyone else) started getting aggressive with spammers or anyone that even remotely did a single spammy tweet. Now if only there were the same contact management tools available for the other social networks as with Twitter. No matter what though, I'll continue updating my status when I eat a peanut butter sandwich! (With Fluff of course!).
- Paul Monaco
Twitter couldn't handle the mass unfollow load, blew up...
- manielse (Mark Nielsen)
I've been followed by Robert Scoble :-)
- David Finch
Follow iPolitics
- Jacob Kobi Gamliel
Now I think that it is time to think about a way to make money using Twitter.
- abdellah
@Mark, +1. When in doubt, the default delegation of blame goes to Robert.
- Dave Martin
what is critical mass for twitter? Too few and nobody interacts, Too many and spam bots overwhelm, Is it 1K or 2K needed to get a real experience?
- WarLord
Hmm can you unsubscribe from "comment notification via e-mail" in FF on a *specific* topic? This one :-)
- Patrick Mackaaij
Of course I thonk it is a different experience if you hand follow reading each bio from the beginning then these mass purges are unnecessary
- WarLord
I thought you already followed me. lol
- Duane-PreppyDude
Not sure if you do, but here I am...
- Aron Michalski
I am intrigued how RT addict will RT now?!! (ps: FF please don't post this to my twitter)
- abdellah
I have been keeping my twitter account private a majority of the time lately b/c I am going through a divorce, but I really kinda like it. Have been reducing followers as well as the number I follow.
- Jackson Miller
You should follow me here in FF and on Twitter too!
- Karthi
hopefully most of us have proven our worth beyond commenting on this single thread
- andy brudtkuhl
I like the way you operate, Scoble. Thanks in advance for the follow!
- Dr. Frank Ramblings, Ph.D
Nice way of doing it...
- Charles
No need to follow me unless you are actually going to engage in conversation with me.
- Jeff Hurt
If you're already following and we comment, will you unfollow? *wink Hoping all is well your way!
- Dayngr
4&5 are my favorite! Those are big reasons I decide to follow someone too.
- Kelly Mitton
I'm lucky. Have never had Twitter spam. But then again I'm no Scoble either :)
- Lori Reed
I am the peanut butter eating bot
- Benjamin Spector
If you are already following me on ff does that mean I get a cookie or something? ;-)
- Tomy Thomson
I'll add my name to the list. I came back to FF after the Twitter DoS outage. Maybe Scoble broke Twitter by all his unfollowing. He was the "glue" holding Twitter together. :-)
- Tom Newman
Robert: Here's the bit you missed off the end of your title here: .... and put them in that group I don't read :-)
- Jim Connolly
Hi Robert, greetings from germany.
- Flynn (Michael A. Volz)
add me for your social media and the practice of law news!
- Rex Gradeless
Great post. I'm sure that some people might say that this kind of mass unfollowing will hurt Twitter, but I think it's just the opposite. Users who are following people they have no interest in just to pad their own numbers are diminishing the meaning of "following."
- Mark Denton
@Ulrichmargarita
- Ulrichmargarita
To stave off being unfollowed we need to comment here ya say?
- Jason
you are already following me here... perhaps you'll consider re-following me on twitter too
- Michelle
I don't know how you ever did it the other way. I am not in the tech world near as much as I used to be, which wasn't a whole lot. I just followed some random people I saw on SMugMug-related people on here when I started. You were one of them. I had no idea who you were (and still don't :-), but you talked about Twitter a lot too, which got me on there as well. Both services have really...
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- James Schipper
Follow away!
- Ferdinand Perez
ok 400 jackpot
- abdellah
Quality over quantity in all things, including (perhaps especially) Twitter. Loved your friending methodology -- those are the same rules I've applied since being on Twitter. Posted them onto Posterous to share the love with credit to you: http://lorilaurentsmith.posterous.com/
- Lori Laurent Smith
it's not about unfollowing, it's about filtering...
- Barak Hachamov
I started out following everyone on Twitter.Then I got wise. When someone's stream becomes more noise than signal, that's when I consider unfollowing. I realize that threshhold is different for everyone, but I'll take "what I had for lunch" over a dozen bogus "marketing tips" any day.
- Julie Barrett
from twhirl
Well, I am trying to use FriendFeed more after watching Scoble's video on all those monitors he had up. I'm not a big consumer of information and don't own a TV but this online social stuff has been a perfect fit into my life because I can connect with people who are fountains of knowledge on a specific subject or are "human mashups". I like both!
- Adria Richards
Why !?
- Bertrand Soulier
from iPhone
I've been reading al of this unfollow bits, and this point of yours:
- Donna
Hey, I think that today you might make your point about FriendFeed being more interesting than Twitter. Hope you are well. Talked with @fransteps this morning and she is excited to work with you at Rackspace.
- Kami Huyse
hi
- George Desmyter
I would appreciate the follow, thanks!
- Jeff Reisdorfer
I've been reading all of this un-follow posts lately, and this point of yours in WHY you unfollowed: "#2 Because I personally care about everyone I am following their noise level is a LOT lower. ." Is exactly what I do. And now I am starting to understand Friendfeed more. and using posterous to do aggregate posts. So is this overload making more people sit up and think first? I think so. At least the intelligent ones.
- Donna
I love you Scoble! ;)
- Carol Levesque
with all due sycophantism :)
- jeff hammond
This is a great move, Robert. It's also a lot more human...I was almost convinced that you were the only person who could actually drink from the fire hose without choking.
- Steffan Antonas
That sounds fair. After this morning, I've renewed my love for FriendFeed and Tweetworks. Until the next DDos attacks, of course. I will miss the fake porn stars, but I did when I moved from L.A.
- Scott Pierce
Steffan; I agree...there is no way anyone else could do what Robert S. does. It's good to see him become human.
- Robert Jones
This has been my problem for about the past six months. I routinely go in and unfollow, get the noise level down to where I want it, and then end up following back a bunch of new people, some of whom I'm incredibly grateful to get to know. When I had track, it was a whole lot easier to manage the stream, but I suspect even that tool would now be out of hand. I have a set of rules for...
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- Karoli
hee hee. i am commenting not so much to beg your follow but what a clever pitch:)
- Tresha Thorsen
Robert - I have not read all 416 comments so if this was asked and you answered forgive me. What was the all of a sudden revelation that caused you to reverse stance on Twitter Followers?
- Jeff Vreeland
It's difficult to maintain and filter a list on all the social networking sites. I cannot even imagine maintaining the kinds of lists you must deal with, Robert.
- Jeremy Brooks
Dude, you broke Twitter! When you unfollowed all of your 100,000 the other day you pulled the rug right out from under it, so it fell down and now it can't reach its beer. :-)
- Robert Morrison
Actually I felt rather sad being fav'ed by you on FriendFeed then dumped.. But again. I get more from you from FriendFeed, so oh well, stop talking about Following and Get on more with Tech! :P
- Du Senyao Peter
Me Me! lol!
- Bill McGehee
i like the idea of importing favorite tweets into friendfeed. i haven't used that favorite feature much because i haven't seen any real use in it. thanks!
- Jonathan Blundell
When twitter is down I always wish I could tweet: checkout friendfeed. Nevertheless, how will following folk that leave a message here really improve the quality of your input? While I don't want to judge many of the fine folk on this thread, are they all that interesting? In other words, isn't this the start of the same problem you had on Twitter...
- Jon Mountjoy
what like here? this is a comment :)
- michelle harris
Barak - isn't filtering just unfollowing while pretending you're still following? ;)
- Matthew Blaisdell
Well to bounce back on your Twitter is down comment I think it is time to watch this video again http://www.youtube.com/watch... Hilarious!
- 77Agency
Robert, I'm glad you decided to stop auto-follow (finally). :)
- Veronica Sopher
I'm in
- Jeroen Sangers
from Nambu
works for mw
- Brendan Jackson
from twhirl
Robert, but why clutter your FriendFeed stream? This comment is not to get you to courtesy follow me on FriendFeed, think you've established you've changed your thinking. :)
- L.P. NEENZ FALEAFINE
OK, I have enough people to follow so I will close the comments on this thread. Thank you everyone, I will try to get to everyone today.
- Robert Scoble
Theme for today: how can I be helpful to others who want to make their businesses better?
claire Chang, LANjackal, Jason Pollock and 19 other people liked this
That is a question that businesses who have been helped by you in the past can answer
- Qbat
You help me the most when you focus on startups/other tools that actually HELP me in what I do each day. Lots of startups don't - they're amusing, but they're not a big help. What startups out there are building business support tools - from individuals/freelancers to larger businesses - that work well and do interesting things? The more of these you highlight, the more value you have (for me, anyway).
- Trent Hamm
You help businesses by keeping the video interviews of new stuff coming =) I have been introdused to many nice tools , like FriendFeed, through you Scoble.. keep up the good work
- Qbat
"Be excellent to each other." - Ted (Theodore) Logan
- Steve Rubel
Stay on the bleeding edge and set a course for the stars
- Aaman (Clone of FF)
On a serious note, though, what is the easiest/best way to document one's plan for a new web-based startup? Have the domain and the germ of the idea but not much more
- Aaman (Clone of FF)
@steve , esquire ;-)
- andy brudtkuhl
from iPhone
First off Robert you pin Dean Powers, Jason Cronkhite and myself into completing our plan for an emerging social media strategy meeting, where anyone interested from building43 can contribute (Dean has some excellent ideas how to crowd source it). Next up you let the community fill out a manifesto with some guidance from folks that have a vested interest in seeing it come alive...
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- Mark Essel
Tell them what you want to see from them! Be a responsive beta tester! Offer constructive criticism!
- Steve Lynch
from twhirl
Keep us and other competitors/colleagues on our toes with great products, fluid communication, and a healthy dose of occasional rants on the tech industry! ;-)
- ServInt
Keep talking about the little companies, the ones that don't have a lot of publicity even though they deserve it -- for example, FriendFeed.
- Val Klump
Highlight needs that can be filled
- MaryAnn Chick Whiteside
from iPhone
I second Val K's comment. Also, highlighting interesting uses for emerging technologies that weren't what the designers originally thought they would be used for.
- Danny F Santos
Thanks Robert you are already doing a great job! Personally all the web 2.0 and 2010 developments are a little overwhelming. How can a non-programmer utilize all these tools for a new online project. Is there a resource (other than say elance) to step a business owner through the steps and connecting them with application developers?
- ASKJDOG
pimp yourself and prostitute yo mind !! :)-
- Peter Dawson
Give feedback to each in terms of how you see them fit into your personal hopes for the future, your personal ideal. (I would keep myself to advising companies making things of use to me) You have more sense of the big picture than entrepreneurs because they must be focused on building a small piece of it.
- Meryn Stol
Also, with regard to their "businesses": Let them know how good "PR" works. I very much like how Edwin Khodabakchian engages with others on FriendFeed for example. @feedly account is good too, but I like a little more depth. :)
- Meryn Stol
When you come to a fork in the road… - http://www.hojohnlee.com/weblog...
Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins and John Furrier liked this
congrats my friend on a good gig..
- John Furrier
Today, Google engineers announced a technology called PubSubHubbub that makes RSS/Atom more real-time, and they deployed the technology on FeedBurner. FriendFeed also added support for the technology, so if you have a FeedBurner feed, your updates should show up in FriendFeed within seconds rather than minutes after the feed updates.
Danny Peck, Donald Townsend, ZSV and 244 other people liked this
To enable it for your FeedBurner feed: go to Feedburner, click on the "Publicize" tab, and then click on "PingShot" and enable the PingShot service. That will enable PubSubHubbub and send your feed to a number of ping services.
- Bret Taylor
what, right now? i mean immediately? From today?
- Zee.
Zee: yes, right now!
- Benjamin Golub
Zee: yes, from today, though the technology is very much "in beta," so I am sure there will be hiccups.
- Bret Taylor
Excellent, thank you Bret and FF, will switch this on now. :-)
- Kol Tregaskes
WOW.
- Zee.
Nice - thanks Bret!
- Jim Connolly
RSS is back in the game... then
- Yann Ropars
This is very cool
- Edwin Khodabakchian
Once step closer to being able to build an open distributed twitter like system!
- Edwin Khodabakchian
this has been done already by superfeedr.com - google's behind the game on this one, but def takes it mainstream.
- Scott Magdalein
I don't understand. Updates won't appear on Feedburner in realtime, so what's the point?
- Peter
Peter: most blogging platforms ping Feedburner when you post a new entry, Feedburner pulls down the feed, Feedburner then pings the hub, then the hub notifies FriendFeed :)
- Benjamin Golub
Thanks Benjamin. Alas, my feeds are not that sophisticated.
- Peter
We're still working out kinks so if you have any issues please send me a message!
- Brett Slatkin
You lost me at "Today" I shall now just smile and nod politely
- Steve C
Where's the spec?
- Dave Winer
Dave: http://pubsubhubbub.googlecode.com/svn.... Edit: Brett beat me by nanoseconds!
- Benjamin Golub
If I understand correctly this essentially turns any site with a feedburner feed into a real time publisher? But to read it in real time you need what?
- BryanSchuetz
Since this is a Google thingie, does it work on Google Reader already?
- Tarmo Aidantausta
FriendFeed can receive the pings *RIGHT NOW*
- Brett Slatkin
guys, how long are we really talking before it should appear here? Seconds or minutes?
- Zee.
The Reader integration is a prototype; more to come soon!
- Brett Slatkin
no way, so Google Reader could technically go real time??
- Zee.
That would be cool, wouldn't it? =)
- Brett Slatkin
I stopped reading here: "RSS isn't supported for simplicity." Laughing. Out. Loud.
- Dave Winer
I better make sure i get post titles right the first time round.....
- Zee.
Brett - any chance i could ask you a couple of questions via email or dm?
- Zee.
Hey Dave that's my mistake. We support RSS! http://code.google.com/p... I need to update the spec.
- Brett Slatkin
is that SUP's role take up by those rss accelerator? or SUP is losing a chance to propagate in this field?
- huixing
Huixing: we plan to support all widely adopted real-time standards to make FriendFeed better. We are not tied to SUP only.
- Bret Taylor
from iPhone
Brett, why didn't you use the weblogs.com ping protocol? Your comment there about RSS, right up front, really captures the whole philosophy -- right? Let's just reinvent stuff that already works, so... Why? To break everything that already works? It won't happen that way. It'll only make your adoption curve steeper.
- Dave Winer
Would you ping me (dave dot winer at gmail dot com) when I can use RSS with this system. I'll be happy to evaluate it and provide feedback if necessary, and endorse it if it works. Thanks in advance.
- Dave Winer
Alright we've fixed in the spec Dave. Sorry for the mistake. Followed up.
- Brett Slatkin
Dave you can use rss feeds http://code.google.com/p...
- Darren Stuart
I agree why didn't ff just implement a ping server and just let people add it to their blogs?
- Darren Stuart
Darren: you can use our public SUP in that way: http://friendfeed.com/api...
- Benjamin Golub
Zee- there are some debugging tools at the bottom of http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/, which I think is the hub you're using. For example, I don't see anything here: http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/topic-d...
- Casey Muller
Ping this, ping there. What's so great about it?
- Burcu Dogan
Benjamin: thanks that just saved me a little work. Should be linked on the api page I think. ;)
- Darren Stuart
Just enabled this myself, glad to be on the bleeding edge for once !
- Justin Long
Awesome. Just enabled it. Thanks for the details Brett.
- Mark Krynsky
Mark, can you let me know if it works for ya?
- Zee.
@Casey i can't seem to get it working
- Zee.
Darren: it's linked from http://code.google.com/p... but yeah we should do a better job of exposing it.
- Benjamin Golub
I had enabled from way before, let's see if the post I'm about to publish works. I'll DM you Zee if it does!
- Jorge Escobar
can someone please let me know if they've managed to get this working?
- Zee.
There's also a WP plugin I wrote that does the same thing. This might be a good option for anyone who's not using feedburner. http://wordpress.org/extend...
- Josh Fraser
Zee, I set this up for my Empoprise-BI blog, wrote a blog post (using Blogger), and six minutes after posting I haven't seen anything in Google Reader or FriendFeed yet. So if you're not getting advertised response, you're not the only one. I'll test again at a later time.
- John E. Bredehoft
cool...just want to be sure it isn't me alone
- Zee.
Update - seven minutes after posting, the post showed up on FriendFeed (both in my feed, and in a group that receives the blog feed). Nothing in Google Reader yet.
- John E. Bredehoft
Josh Fraser - nice!
- Micah Wittman
John: The Reader integration we demo'ed was a prototype; more to come in the future!
- Brett Slatkin
yeah, it seems 7 minutes is about how long its taking me for too (to arrive in friendfeed)
- Zee.
Could you DM me the feed URL? I'll look into the details and figure out the issue. Like I said before, we're still working out a few kinks (the FeedBurner integration is initial support right now). So thanks in advance for your help in making it super fast!
- Brett Slatkin
Ready? Go!
- Jorge Escobar
Nope, nothing... published at 4:34pm EST
- Jorge Escobar
Brett, the one i'm testing it on is http://zee.me/blog and the feedburner url is http://feeds2.feedburner.com/zblog1
- Zee.
4:42pm, 8 minutes after I published and the article still doesn't show. My blog is at http://jungleg.com and the feed is http://feeds.feedburner.com/jungleg
- Jorge Escobar
Looking into it now, thanks!
- Brett Slatkin
Thanks Brett!
- Jorge Escobar
Cheers Brett - i'm itching here... :)
- Zee.
If you're looking for another implementation of PubSubHubbub, I'd suggest you give a look to our http://superfeedr.com ;) Thanks for your time and feedback!
- Julien
Heh, what's the idea behind the crazy name? ;)
- Tyson Key
does self hosted wordpress natively ping feedburner?
- Tyler Gillies
Try it for yourself! http://friendfeed.com/pubsubh.... My test took only 8 seconds. Amazing (via http://friendfeed.com/brett)
- Jérôme Flipo
Nice to see XMPP more and more used on the web! It's a nice environment, also for cloud computing!
- Egon Willighagen
Nice tech, strange name though. Wonder if Google has a projectname generator, feeds it some foundation words, and then watches it spew out 1,835391 suggestions in 20-sized chunks? Too bad they didn't pick up PubSubBuzz instead, rhymes better. Also, what was EVER WRONG with PubSubHubris? (fresh and full of promise).
- ianf ⌘
This tech has been around for ages. It's getting much needed promotion right now, but it's not new. The name comes from XMPP's pubsub mechanism, with hubbub on the end. The option for PingShot has also been in Feedburner for months.
- Marlin Forbes
I think that unless you have installed the pubsubhubbub plugin for wordpress, that feedburner still polls your content. It pushes your content out to other interested parties using the new mechanism, but it will still poll your feed. Correct?
- Marlin Forbes
you can have wordpress ping feedburner under settings->writing add http://ping.feedburner.com
- Tyler Gillies
great to see you talk today bret, thanks
- sean percival
appreciate that
- Hans Kainz
My feedburner feed updated in real-time but the blog post is still not published here on friendfeed?
- Svartling
didn't work for me on last post....and i have the ping shot on
- Bob DeMarco
Just wanted to let you know it worked for me yesterday. Almost a minutes after I posted on my blog it was up in FriendFeed
- Jorge Escobar
Great!
- Brett Slatkin
Mike Arrington is leading the mob. Read his anti-FriendFeed rant here and tell us whether he is wrong or right. Oh, and welcome to the mob:
Mitchell Tsai, Tyson Key, andy brudtkuhl and 132 other people liked this
He'll be back...he's just going to milk this for all it's worth first.
- Garin Kilpatrick
Do not feed the trolls.
- monkeystick
I think he is looking for page views and a way to get the mob to come to his real time event on July 10th. Brilliantly played Mr. Arrington!
- Robert Scoble
Maybe it will bring some more people to FF who haven't been on it which is a good thing.
- Mike Bracco
"FriendFeed today is like Syphilis in 1495." -Arrington. I'd say that's taking this a bit too far.
- Garin Kilpatrick
I understand objectively there's strengths and weaknesses, but I also find that this discussion is teetering of the verge of irrelevance. Can you make it clear to me (in seriousness) the value from this friendfeed versus anti friendfeed arguement? Are we looking forward to the next tool? Or to making improvements to friendfeed?
- Malcolm Bastien
Mike: I doubt it.
- Robert Scoble
Wow. Maybe I should go burn the TC shirt that LG and I liberated from TC headquarters a few months back in protest. Reminds me of his other recent rant about Facebook (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009...). Mike definitely doesn't hold back in how he expresses his opinion through his blog posts. Regardless of whether he's...
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- Brian Daniel Eisenberg
Do you think it was specifically an anti-Friendfeed rant, Robert? Some of the comments that poured in after the "Laporte Incident" were pretty horrible. If I was on the receiving end of that, I'd think I'd be feeling like a mob was after my head. Also, don't you think that his point about people feeling more comfortable to "talk hate" using their own/real names is a good one?
- Andrew Terry
Wow that's kinda harsh, I wonder what brought that on...
- J. Abdul-Qahhar
I don't understand why Mike is wasting time and effort on those death threat comments from the idiots that posted them. Why is he giving them any real credit? They should be dismissed. They should be ignored. They're the grown up versions of youtube commenters.
- Lise
The thread with Aaron last week demonstrates that the FF community is reasonable and self-correcting. FF also provides fine grained controls so that you DON'T see what you don't want. Mobs are simply human nature. Dissapointingly so. Mike may as well call for the abolition of Town Halls, Community Clubs and the like.
- Roberto Bonini
As long as Mob leaders like Laporte keep it together no trolls get hurt.
- Garin Kilpatrick
Arrington should go crawl back into his cave
- Daniel Lazarides
I have a feeling Arrington is developing a relationship with FF analogous to Dvorak's with Apple. ie. piss off the faithful (get traffic), blog about the nasty community members attacking you (more traffic), eventually reverse yourself and please the community (more traffic again). Lather-rinse-repeat.
- Michael R. Bernstein
If Mike doesn't like mobs he should open a private room here on friendfeed.
- Robert Scoble
that was some badly strained argumentation by Arrington - FAIL
- William Harryman
I feel the same way about this argument that I do about people who complain about television. Stop whining. If you don't like what's on, change the channel or turn the TV off. FF, like any online community, is based on elective participation. If you don't like what's happening, move on to something else. Also, people take what's written in these forums WAY too seriously. If you can't take the occasional insult, get off the web and go find something else to do with your time.
- Kevin Pedraja
And last i checked, Leo is NOT a mob leader. Or a Troll leader.
- Roberto Bonini
Andrew: mobs have always formed online. FriendFeed does allow them to form faster but Arrington should go read Digg and YouTube comments for a while. The stuff I have seen here is pretty easy going compared to those.
- Robert Scoble
Go to a forum with lots of members and ask a noobish question and watch the mob flame you into the middle of next week.
- Mark
Michael: bing! Arrington is the best at whiping up crowds. Anyone remember when he called France lazy?
- Robert Scoble
"We're going back to reruns. F**k you guys I'm throwing you all off. Mike Arrington is the most trollish person ever." - Leo Laporte
- Danny Minick
Andrew: I think everyone here generally agrees with Mike that those types of comments are out of line. Can't blame Mike for feeling touchy about them.
- Roberto Bonini
Danny that's the irony in all this. Arrington is the King of The Trolls! Leo called him the biggest troll "in the world" a few times.
- Mark
I used to read techcrunch and even comment once in a while. Mike Arrington has been consistently losing credibility with me these past few months, and now has forfeited the last bit. I was going to comment over there, but it really has ceased to be worth my time. I'm even sorry I clicked over to his article. Interesting that I wouldn't even have known for it if not for this post on...which service is this again, oh yes, ...friendfeed.
- Jim Hearts FF
It seems to me that Mike wants the attention or he wouldn't have post this. He just doesn't like it if it doesn't go his way. He sort of like the guy who finds a bees nest and pokes a stick in it. They finally calm down and they poke it again and are surprised by the results
- Kim Landwehr
Jim: welcome to MobFeed. :-)
- Robert Scoble
I'm in my Godfather.
- Thomas Chai
He's got some points, and I give him credit for a heck-of-a 'creative' post, but this is fairly typical human behavior stuff. I think it's funny that the he says, "the system is breaking under it’s own weight. It is not sustainable." because he got flamed out by some people with the chutzpa (or stupidity) to do it from an account that identified them personally.
- Chris Duffy
Kim: Arrington is smarter than that. He knows there are a lot of people here and he is about to monetize the real time web with a conference.
- Robert Scoble
Whats this conference you are refering to Rob ? x
- Mark
Yep a online service that accounts for a small percentage of internet users will destroy everything Arrington holds dear. Syphilis?
- Andy Foster
Kim: this is all about Arrington setting his conference up well. I will be a part of it from London.
- Robert Scoble
[sigh] i guess Arrington just can't stop himself.
- MikeAmundsen
"I’m going to pick on" - words say it all
- Paul Rawlings
Anyone have a link to this real time conference he is doing?
- Mark
Speaking of realtime, why hasn't Arrington or O'Reilly grabbed the title "Realtime Web" for a series of conferences ala Web 2.0?--maybe you should first Robert!
- Michael Metz
I guess it's working
- Ken Morley
Mike: Arrington is taking advantage of the fact that WE can't stop ourselves.
- Robert Scoble
Exactly, Robert.
- Ken Morley
Well, that explains a lot Robert
- Kim Landwehr
What was that link again? Lol!
- Ken Morley
is buddyfeed realtime?
- Tyler Gillies
from BuddyFeed
so he's not calling for technical solution to a (potential) behavior problem...he's just stirring the pot and setting the table for conference...No, we can't stop ourselves can we. Effective troll is effective
- Chris Duffy
Arrington is @replying you on twitter robby
- Mark
a) learn to use Block b) like twitter is sooo much better :/ c) waste of a read.. I thought Techcrunch did actual stories on stuff, not rants. Guess I was wrong.
- Tim Hoeck
Well, the worst thing we as the FF community could do is prove him right by "attacking" back and name-calling for what he's said. Fanning the flames justifies his opinion. Hey, if it makes people wonder what going on with this "FriendFeed" thing and they come check it and realize it's not at all like what he was saying...all the better. So, let him have his opinion and spotlight.
- CAJ, somewhere else
here is the link http://www.techcrunch.com/real-ti...
- Johni Fisher
@Robert: IMO, Arrington is doing the same thing he always does: setting himself up for some abuse from others. it's so sad to watch. in this case, he'll likely get what we is asking for, too. *again*
- MikeAmundsen
Probably should have said fein surprise
- Kim Landwehr
thx Johni,
- Mark
IMO, He's wrong. And, as mentioned, tossing gasoline on the fire by pretending to be outraged by such supposed mobs while deliberately inciting them.
- Bob Morris (polizeros)
@arrington just wrote that I should propose tools to slow down the mob. Yes, we have those in Iran and China. I would rather have the mob.
- Robert Scoble
I think Arrington just wants to destroy a medium that he can't control.
- Nathan Cooprider
I really thing that this was more about online mobs with FriendFeed as an example rather than specifically about FriendFeed. Yes he uses FriendFeed as the example, but I don't think the points he makes are related solely to FriendFeed. You could easily replace FriendFeed with Digg or Huffingtonpost. Some place where people gather in mass and you can easily see a mob mentality grow.
- Michael Koby
Robert!!!!!!! :)
- Myrna
Of course he is right. When the wrong people come together than everything can happen. Same is true if good people. Even a revolution (specially Wednesday). People on FF and similar services have lots of power. Can be used to change the world!
- bishoph
seeing the link to that conference that he's hosting next week and seeing this post give me a new level of respect for his craftiness, although he couldn't have done it w/o you Robert.
- Chris Duffy
Yes Chris, he is a sly old dog isn't he? Tickets might be going too slow or something
- Mark
The association with Syphilis is kind of weird. I think any public figure gets hate mail, electronically or otherwise.
- Ace
I think so.
- Chris Duffy
@Michael Koby, I'd agree with you (to a certain extent), if the article wasn't...specifically about FriendFeed. And about an event that occurred to Arrington personally, no less. I'd have a lot more respect for his argument if he'd spend the time to find more examples. This just looks like someone who's had a flamewar turn on him that's fighting back with his own bullhorn.
- Ken Kennedy
Bishoph: or a mob can break glass and burn buildings and hurt people. What do you want to use your mob for?
- Robert Scoble
He probably just read a book on syphilis. When I read a book on something I like to make links to the topic to make me appear well-read and smart.
- Mark
He (as usual) has some valid points. FF is a great conversation tool but when it becomes a chat room, it's not up to the task. Just as in public, I tend to avoid these mobs here on FF. 58 comments on this right now is fine but 1000 is useless. I know you don't agree, but IRC is much more useful for that.
- John Rubier
It would help if Mike actually understood how he could shape his FriendFeed experience. There are such things as blocking and hiding. It also seems like those who can dish it out but not take it run screaming from FriendFeed - which invites *real* interaction and conversation. Yeah, it's sometimes unruly, but that's reality folks! If you want the *dated* version of arm's length, yell...
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- AJ Kohn
I can't make it to Arrington's event on July 10th (I live in Boston..and the event is in SF), but I hope it gets a lot of coverage online so that the rest of us can learn from what is shared :)
- Sam Houston
Look what services like Twitter and FF did for Iran. Just a medium to share and discuss (real time) information. Of course the used words in the blog are misleading and obviously rant (a troll post to start a discussion in real time :-).
- bishoph
(Robert Scoble) -- "this is all about Arrington setting his conference up well. I will be a part of it from London. " -- next time, put this at the beginning of your post, Robert. I'm NOT interested in being a part of this childish crap. If you have actually have a problem with the post, you shouldn't either. If this thread is to help TC drum up word-of-mouth about a conference, that's...
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- Ken Kennedy
Could argue that MobFeed was more useful because it had private rooms and things.
- Mark
@AJ: Arrington knows how to use FF. this thread is evidence of that. his willingness to pimp himself out - to invite this kind of negative talk - just to promote his own interests is what is so disappointing.
- MikeAmundsen
Lazily, i'll c&p my post from TC..Yeah, this is Arrington taking a personal incident and trying REALLY hard to universalize it. And the syphilis analogy only makes this look needier and less applicable. FriendFeed aggregates conversations and connects sub-streams of the cloud more efficiently than any other current service. Once you try it, you like it. I works. It's efficient. The...
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- Thom Kennon
@Mike: Perhaps he understands that he can drum up talk, but I don't think he's been here enough to actually understand it's true power. So, yes, Arrington essentially is a FriendFeed spammer or Social Media Lout.
- AJ Kohn
Ken: it isn't my strategy and I am not profiting from it.
- Robert Scoble
"Mobs" have collapsed police states, authoritarian regimes, and given rise to countries like are's that even allow us to have this conversation today. To suppress them is like revoking the right to assemble and petition, removing the peoples voice, and is not a sign of a free and open society. Turn on the news and remember 99% of the world haven't a clue who Mike Arrington is.
- Shaun Hess
@Robert: do you think Arrington is using you to promote is own agenda?
- MikeAmundsen
Mr. Arrington is just too young. This online behavior will not subside soon. AOL Chatrooms, Usenet discussions, Compuserve bulletin boards, listserv flame wars.... The more things change, the more they stay the same. 15 years of Law and Order and broadcasting reruns on other Channels. For a Technology News guy it's pretty pathetic. What's the news? Where is the new idea?
- Birgit Pauli-Haack
Mike: he is using our mob behaviors, yes. Do I feel used? No more so than when Aaron and Steven did the same thing.
- Robert Scoble
@Robert: yep.
- MikeAmundsen
I think there are many factors working here: 1)rapidly changing community norms 2) expansion of these services from small homogeneous groups who create them 3)poor communications skills 4)poor social skills 5) a lack of inhibition due to the virtual environment.
- Francine Hardaway
from BuddyFeed
If there was ever any doubt that Arrington seeds the controversies that surround him, let this post put that doubt to rest. His goal is to incite passions because he knows that anger drives engagement more than agreement does. He's merely the Ann Coulter of the nerd world -- nothing more, nothing less.
- Sprague D
Mike knows that we cannot help ourselves, we simply must talk about his post and send him lots of hits and maybe sell a ticket or two for him.
- Mark
@Sprague: "He's merely the Anne Coulter of the nerd world..." LOL +1
- MikeAmundsen
Well put Francine!
- Bluejeanslady
from twhirl
Most of what Arrington does stings of a boy trying to look like a big boy in an adult world. Maybe when he grows up he'll be better. I think the Blue's Traveler song Hook was about him.
- Matthew DeVries
I'll probably get beat up over this but this is a huge case of the Tech Crunch pot calling the Friendfeed kettle black. I've notice that Arrington and the normal Tech Crunch crowd are really hard on people. More than once someone will ask a question that most people know the answer too and its like blood in the water. Posters come out and blast them and take delight in it. I thought that TechCrunch was trying to be a community?
- Matt Martin
Is he the Anne Coulter of tech or the Perez Hilton of tech? I'd say the later, because like Perez, he doesn't make a dime unless someone else gets hurt, he has a hissy when the camera looks back at him, he over-reacts to perceived "danger" against him.
- Matthew DeVries
@Robert: your response is far too similar to what you used AGAINST Tim O'Reilly and other members of the SUL, IMO. If you know/suspect that Arrington is using this to promote a conference that you're going to attend; a conference focused on a technology realm that you make your living off of...then of course this helps you, just like being on the SUL helps Tim O'Reilly, even if he's "not changing what he says based on it". You didn't find that answer from Tim satifying, and I feel the same way about yours.
- Ken Kennedy
Robert: Didn't you say above that, "this is about his conference. and *I will be part of it from London*" but later that "this isn't by strategy or for profit" I feel kinda duped, man. I think everyone else does/knows too, but like lemmings we'll continue to play. This is my take: http://twitter.com/Spincha...
- Chris Duffy
It is difficult to take Michael Arrington seriously as a tech analyst -- he's inflated his self-created brouhaha into a mentally disorganized blast at Friendfeed. A very emotional guy. Friendfeed is a self-organizing platform. One shouldn't complain about getting mired down in nasty exchanges that are easily avoided with unsubscriptions and blocks. Arrington's mess was self-inflicted.
- Sean McBride
Chris: I am an unpaid speaker at the TechCrunch Real Time event.
- Robert Scoble
How are Mike's passive aggressive "op-ed" blogs on TechCrunch also not a form of e-mobs? In other news: welcome to the mob *grin*
- Rene Wirtz
Tim O'Reilly doesn't pay to be on the SUL, Robert.
- Ken Kennedy
::glances and moves along::
- Geoff Schultz
And Arrington seems to read a book, declare himself an expert, and then fire off a blog post about how his "enemy" du jour is like the thing in that book. Next week we're going to hear about how Friendfeed is like the cancer killing his mentor that he visits on Tuesdays.
- Matthew DeVries
Ken: WTF?
- Robert Scoble
As a matter of fact, I think Twitter is much more suited to mob creation than FriendFeed.
- Miguel Caetano
I work on my mob behavior. I engage, but try to be civil, helpful, or educational:-) this is a learned behavior after I got my butt handed to me a few times.
- Francine Hardaway
from BuddyFeed
Yes Matthew, alot of people (myself included) read a book on something and feel we must reference it to make us appear smart. I did the same thing with a book on the black death. its all nonsense of course
- Mark
@Sean: from my POV, not only was Arrington's mess self-inflicted, it was a purposeful act on his part. as is this one.
- MikeAmundsen
Miguel: yeah, over on Twitter I saw hundreds of people saying Jeff Goldbloom was dead when he wasn't.
- Robert Scoble
arrington: @Scobleizer perhaps someday when you are sitting in your house with a police car parked out front to protect you you'll think differently.
- Mark
C'mon Robert...do you seriously not grok the similarities between this argument and your complaint about O'Reilly/SUL? This is free publicity for a conference that you're speaking at that will help make your name more notable in your area of expertise.
- Ken Kennedy
Mark: perhaps I will.
- Robert Scoble
I need to read up a little more on the other parties involved. The only person I follow of this group with any real regularity is Leo LaPorte. However, from a listeners point of view, Leo grossly over-reacted to a legitimate question ( and I love Leo's work ). Would Larry King shut down the show just because he was asked something he was apparently sensitive about? ( I realize this...
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- Sean E Brown
Must have been a serious thread if the police give you personal protection
- Mark
Remember a couple weeks back when Twitter convinced the world the California supreme court reversed their non-reversal of Prop 8?
- Matthew DeVries
No robert, what I pasted was Arringtons reply to you on twitter
- Mark
Mark: I know.
- Robert Scoble
Robert, please don't pay attention to M.A. He does not deserve it
- Luca Conti
Robert: It's all good, man. Regardless if paid or not, you knew up front what this was about and helped get the ball rolling. I don't fault you for it, but in an ironic sort of way, the lack of up front knowledge, that came out later about this being for the conf, can produce the exact kind of behavior Arrington is decrying and citing the "need" for new tools to address. It's all claptrap, but digress. I'm going outside.
- Chris Duffy
Arrington is just ticked off at the response he was getting after he attacked Leo .. yeah I really think he attacked him personally. Attacking a man's credibility and integrity is a personal attack in my opinion. Then he removed the techcrunch feed from friendfeed ..so what let him .. I agree with the other commenters..He is an attention whore plain and simple then compares Friendfeed...
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- John Blanton
from twhirl
I really think Arrington has a skewed view of FriendFeed. Most of the venom against him on FriendFeed has happened during Gillmor Gang podcasts, which were most recently running on Leo Laporte's TWiT network. For whatever reason, a large percentage of Leo's TWiT fan base hates Arrington. Not just disagree. Hate. They've also said pretty awful things about Steve Gillmor, Dave Winer, etc....
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- Mike Doeff
Notice how Mike is totally absent on this thread. He should be here defending his article, defending his analogy to syphilis and letting us all know how dumb we are for not seeing things is way. Mike obiously sees no point to having this discussion. I count 2 tweets from him on this subject.
- Roberto Bonini
@Mike Doeff If he did see the civility of FriendFeed he wouldn't have compared it to syphilis.
- John Blanton
Please note, Robert...I don't think you're being all devious or anything. I'm just pointing this out to give you another angle on the O'Reilly thing. I actually think Tim probably thought "WTF" as well. And while I DO think that both of you are being a teeny bit naive thinking that the attention doesn't affect what you say or do...that's the case with pretty much all attention. I don't...
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- Ken Kennedy
Scoble: I see what you did here. :-)
- Mark Davidson
from BuddyFeed
I'd put a witty comment here, but Arrington isn't worth the requisite brain power that would consume.
- Steven Perez
Arrington is a douch.
- Peter Kruit
Can Mike read this thread without a FF account?
- Mark
Ken: Arrington is on the Suggested User List and he did not disclose that. Jason Calacanis says that is worth $250,000. I guarantee you that speaking at a conference won't get you $250,000 worth of followers.
- Robert Scoble
Anybody remember Usenet newsgroups? They still exist, and lots o' tech people still use them (i still answer questions there). There have been some remarkable flame wars there, and they are all threaded. I don't see how different that is from FF except FF has a prettier interface.
- RobinDotNet
Mark: yes
- Robert Scoble
Peter: so are you.
- Robert Scoble
Robert: Thank you ;) Don't get me wrong. We also need people like that. They make for interesting discussions.
- Peter Kruit
Hah! Arrington removed my comment about him not disclosing that he is on Twitter's Suggested User list.
- Robert Scoble
Lets give 1 sec to the Arrington point at his last tweets ,cant we have some kind of control on the stream ?cant FF add better moderation tools ?
- Johni Fisher
Robert: You're stirring the pot yourself and why? Because Arrington comapred FF to Syphilis? I have nothing against a discussion about the issue at hand but you're lead-in to this was a bit on the point of the article.. It's just a session of Arrignton bashing, replace the keyboards with pitchforks and you're all on your was the TC headquarters to string up the guy.
- Sean E Brown
"on your way" rather
- Sean E Brown
And again I am comment on a Scoble thread, but to misquote Cassius " The fault, dear Friends, is not in Scoble or Arrington But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
- Kim Landwehr
oh I forgot IMHO
- Sean E Brown
Sean: you are right.
- Robert Scoble
Sean: the thing is I have seen mob suppression and I don't like it one bit.
- Robert Scoble
And I have had my car damaged and life threatened by a mob after the 49ers won the Super Bowl one year.
- Robert Scoble
Ah, the weekend dust-up. ;-)
- Chris Baskind
@Robert: gotcha. I think I understand where you're coming from. I disagree, but it's no big deal.
- Ken Kennedy
Robert: but who is suppressing it? An article isn't going to to stop mobs, not all mobs are good mobs (lol). I suppose we all have our quirks that get us up in arms, I am in no way innocent of that.
- Sean E Brown
I declare the Dead Horse to be Beaten sufficiently.
- Sean E Brown
@Johni Fisher: FriendFeed is a social network, not a community or a forum with administrators and the like. But I reckon that nested conversations could be useful ;-)
- Miguel Caetano
This inspired me to listen to the Mob Rules album by Black Sabbath :D
- Per
It's interesting to me that the very thing Arrington talks about happens here. Where did good taste and treating other people with respect get off the track? I mean seriously...have you looked at how many people are on this thread making nasty comments about Arrington? He isn't the only one that gets that treatment, we all do if we state our opinions publicly. Now, I'm not against...
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- Sheryl
Sheryl: yes, this is bloodsport. Same thing happens at baseball stadiums every day.
- Robert Scoble
If your able to get syphallus from FriendFeed then I'm clearly using it wrong
- Davis Freeberg
Sheryl: The nasty talk against Arrington is earned. Arrington frequently slams FriendFeed (which get under Robert Scoble's skin and compels him to do these sorts of posts, but that's another topic) and then cries whenever (a) no one pays him any attention or (b) people talk nasty about him.
- Steven Perez
Robert: I can't take things that seriously. Life is to be lived not destroyed. Why don't we talk about the value of the mob? Why don't we talk about how amazing social networks can be?
- Sheryl
Steven: I disagree with you :) That Arrington has an opinion and states it no more gives you or I a right to tear his person apart than my simply waking up every day. Argue against his opinion but name calling has no benefits.
- Sheryl
Sheryl: You're entitled to your viewpoint, but I've been here long enough to see how Arrington operates. And nothing I've seen from him lately has changed that opinion. He deserves every bit of scorn he gets, because he delights in these sort of poop fights.
- Steven Perez
Here are some features that might slow down mob-like participation: 1) move the comment link to after the last comment, rather than right under the item, to encourage reading the previous comments before commenting. 2) once a threshold has been reached, remove the comment link entirely, so you have to go to the item page (which displays all comments) before commenting, to discourage formation of instant pile-ons from within the live stream.
- Michael R. Bernstein
Steven: You don't have to change your opinion of Arrington. At no time have I suggested you aren't entitled to your opinion. But what benefit for you is there in calling him names? We all have opinions others disagree with. You didn't call me names and yet for all you know I'm a horrible person (I'm not) I think the world is better for opinions and different thoughts. It stretches us to...
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- Sheryl
Mike comparing FF to syphilis is pure, shameless analogy abuse. But say what you will about Mike, his arguments are interesting, and I do read them. And if anyone on this thread wants to organize a torch and pitchfork mob against him, let me be the first to say I've got a billion more interesting and important things to occupy my time.
- James Hernandez
Sheryl: I said it Zee's thread and I'll say it here - it's another Arrington poop fight. He throws enough of it on the wall to see what sticks, gets Robert Scoble riled up, and a mess of blog posts and forum fights ensue. SOP for Arrington. Meanwhile, he reaps the benefits of notoriety and links back to his site, all without ever setting foot in here, because we're all going over there to see what he wrote.
- Steven Perez
Neither of these are particularly innovative, BTW. I can suggest reading Derek Powazek's excellent book 'Design for Community':http://www.amazon.com/exec...
- Michael R. Bernstein
I know Arrington sometimes smears himself with blood and tosses himself into the feeding frenzy. I have no problem attacking his opinions when I disagree. Or attacking his ego when it's out there. I do find myself more and more put off by people who make every attack personal. It goes to excess. And I hate the specious argument that "I've seen him blah blah blah" and he deserves it....
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- Ken Camp
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't it go something like this: 1. Arrington dislikes Scoble. 2. Scoble likes FriendFeed. 3. Therefore, Arrington dislikes FriendFeed.
- Stephen Mack
Steven: I would only ask this, who is inciting who if Arrington squawks and people fluff their feathers? I don't know Mike Arrington, I know who he is and I have read enough to know he frequently says things that are inflammatory, but I don't call him names publicly. Where is the value in that? Can someone show me why that is useful because if you can, I may change my tune, though it's highly unlikely! ;-)
- Sheryl
Stephen: I don't think Arrington dislikes me.
- Robert Scoble
it's all entertainment in the end :D
- Joelle Nebbe (iphigenie)
Ken: ;-) Dork! LOL (I can call Ken names cause he's my SO) hehe
- Sheryl
And at the risk of encouraging flames in my direction, I pretty much agree with Arrington's post. I agree with him about 10-15% of the time.
- Ken Camp
Sheryl: I may be a dork, but I'm your dork. And I only engage in this petty crap to try to find some intelligence among the noise. Like always, there's some here. Filtering the noise within a thread isn't easy. I know Robert loves FF filtering, but this is an example of when NOTHING but the filtering can find any value.
- Ken Camp
Ken: even filtering can't help some threads! :-)
- Robert Scoble
Robert: shall I bop him on the head? hehe
- Sheryl
Robert: Agreed. There really needs to be a way to tag trash threads to be expunged. Terrible that this drivel will exist forever.
- Ken Camp
Ken: only if you search for it will it matter for long.
- Robert Scoble
Robert: True but wasting arguably infinite disk space to store it forever is still waste. I don't like waste in general.
- Ken Camp
Sheryl -- what kind of response do you think Arrington anticipated when he compared Friendfeed to syphillis -- *at length* (in case we missed the point)? Describing him as a jackass strikes me as a measured and rational response. But he is best ignored, to be sure.
- Sean McBride
Sheryl: there's a small bit of problem with your logic. By your logic, everything that Ann Coulter (thanks, Sprague D) says is not deserving of scorn, either.
- Steven Perez
Steven I don't say it's wrong to be scornful. I do still think it's wrong to call names. It feels wrong to me to validate that in any way. Defending position is a whole other thing. To enter the fray and retaliate has no good consequence.
- Sheryl
Steven: Scorn for stupid ideas is different than personal attacks. Although comparing Arrington to Coulter is an interesting and entertaining thought. ;-)
- Ken Camp
Sean: I don't think it matters what Arrington's goal was. In the end, even if Arrington calls FF names, to do so in return accomplishes what?
- Sheryl
Sean: If we take the passion and emotion out of the argument, Arrington's comparison to how syphillis evolved to survive, to the FF mob power, I think there's some good analogy inside there. Sure it's ugly, but I wouldn't say it's inaccurate. How many mobs have we seen called into play in the past few weeks over some perceived wrong. Yesterday it was someone's AT&T bill and the open...
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- Ken Camp
On that note, I am off for a break, out to run errands, and finished with this particular thread. Have a good afternoon all.
- Ken Camp
Sheryl -- sometimes it is healthy to call out a jackass as a jackass, and then move on to more productive topics. It puts a period on the nonsense. In general I agree with you: the more civil the conversation, the better.
- Sean McBride
This whole thing reminds me of the "How to tell someone they sounded racist video" http://www.youtube.com/watch... I think we can all learn something from that video. Keep to the subject, instead of calling names and generalizing from what a person did. If you want a good discussion on this subject don't call people names. Instead of wasting time in here where M.A says he...
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- Rasmus Lauridsen
Because, at the end of the day, Arrington is against mob mentality ... unless he can direct the mob's direction.
- Steven Perez
The real problem with herd mentality is that once understood, it can be effectively deployed to link bait, generate PR in the form of online discussions, and to promote social media sites and/or events, without people even being aware of it.
- Mark Davidson
I'm particularly baffled - better yet - amused by how the media gurus quickly turn into poor, weeping poopflinging angry things once they find themselves prodded by the pointy end of a mass of people (which they then call "a mob" elegantly skipping the "lynch" part). Groupthink - yes, sometimes - even herd mentality - but this has all to do with how people are, and nothing with technology, so I really don't get the hate on FF (Syphilis? gimme a f-in' break!).
- dario
also: the guy is obviously oblivious of the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory and has no clue about what goes on in "the mainstream", say on Reddit, /. or that cesspool that are youtube comments. FF is pretty much a small, happy place with tea, pastries and fancy embroidered cushions compared to those.
- dario
Dude, TC deleted my (constructively thoughtful albeit critical) comment in the article thread --- and it keeps eating my attempts to repost. wtf?!...
- Thom Kennon
Thom: Arrington did the same thing to me. Welcome to the mob.
- Robert Scoble
Ken Camp - I agree completely with your post - this whole thread went from a discussion on Mobfeed and into something similar to a 1990 BBS rant
- Kathleen Forden
This is really getting to be ridiculous. Arrington admits that people can be nasty at Twitter and other places, but says FriendFeed is worse, basically because all comments can be seen in one place. Blame FF? Why don't we start with blaming TechCrunch, because a lot of people started out disliking him due to what he writes there. I suspect that if Arrington didn't delete so much of what was posted there, we'd see a REAL mob.
- MiniMage TKDteacher of FF
Dario: If Arrington's blog post heightened your emotional state, then his mission was accomplished. If you clicked the link to Arrington's blog, then his mission was accomplished. If you commented on Arrington's blog, then his mission was accomplished. If Robert Scoble started a thread on FriendFeed about Arrington's blog post, then his mission was accomplished. If we are still...
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- Mark Davidson
Mark: that was my point, actually (sorry it didn't come through too well) - basically if you go prodding a hive with a stick sometimes you get stung - it doesn't reflect too well on you if you get all uppity afterwards. So, I agree with you 100% on the manipulative part.
- dario
The same thing happens on Digg, and it's been around for years. It's not a problem with the service(s), it's a cultural problem. We've all been desensitized to some level or another, some extremely.
- Blake
Dario: Don't feel bad. I got caught up in it too. It's human behavior. As human beings, we respond to stimuli. When executed properly, we just can't help ourselves. Our emotions get stirred, we take action in the form of a response, we become engaged because we've invested emotional energy, we talk amongst ourselves, etc. Politicians, public speakers, bloggers, television and radio...
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- Mark Davidson
What a bunch of echo chamber nonsense.
- Jason Nunnelley
I can't disagree with that Jason....... Except, it's only an echo chamber when it's good/self aggrandizing. When it's ugly and destructive like this, I think the more proper term is devouring our own young, but the sentiment is right on.
- Matthew DeVries
Skipping past the other discussion that's already happened on Arrington's post (I'll catch up in a minute), I just want to say that TechCrunch has officially joined my list of sites I won't visit anymore. Great job alienating a large group of readers, Mike.
- Jason Huebel
Matthew, I just expanded my opinion on Mike's post (linked by Scoble). I think it's calculated drama. Either that or really, really silly. I'm giving everyone the benefit of doubt here and assigning more intelligence than the latter opinion would allow.
- Jason Nunnelley
Why would anyone take anything that Arrington writes seriously after his complete bullshit stories about Last.fm - which had real, economic consequences for the company, and which are still being repeated as if they were true by people around the web? He's perfectly happy to whip up the mob when it suits him, but when it bites him back he suddenly becomes Mr Socially Concerned.
- Ian Betteridge
How many times was Arrington's name mentioned in this post, thus reinforcing his brand through repetition? How many people reading his name were in an emotionally heightened state? Hmmm. lol.
- Mark Davidson
When someone comes into your house and poops on your coffee table, it's a bit difficult to look at it rationally and ask what the merits of such an act was.
- Steven Perez
"It was windy in here, so I needed to weigh the papers down"
- Matthew DeVries
He actually removed my comment. No kidding. I didn't wish him ill, suggest he should died or anything of that nature. I just made a coherent and short comment about his tactic with as bland a set of language as possible. Wimp.
- Jason Nunnelley
THIS is why i fucking hate FF. "Read his anti-FriendFeed rant here" WHERE? damn it, friend feed always makes a monkey out of me. where's arrington's rant? i dunno. i'll seach for arrington's account and see if i can find it. i'll prolly be back in five minutes to say "oh, i'm so stupid... i found it at [INSERT FUCKING URL HERE]" thanks for exposing my FF ineptitude, Scoble.
- Mark Hartwell
Mark: it's the first comment on this thread. It's a link. Then come back here to read the 200 comments.
- Robert Scoble
Mark, what are you talking about? It's right there.
- Matthew DeVries
Mark: I've used this device hundreds of times. Most people figure it out pretty quickly.
- Robert Scoble
So he just wants to delete all counter comments? How very Supreme Leader of him....
- Matthew DeVries
He hasn't deleted mine yet
- Rasmus Lauridsen
Comment removal is standard practice at TechCrunch, and it really doesn't matter if the comments are polite. He'll leave a few counter-comments in (enough so it's not obvious he's blocking counter-opinions) and delete the rest. Perhaps his lack of control of the conversation is why he doesn't like FriendFeed much.
- Ian Betteridge
All I said was that he should thank Scoble for the link, but he shouldn't be surprised if these tactics result in trollish drama queens following his work only to bring a teen girl styled smack down to his next slumber party. It wasn't even that caustic, definitely not "mob" language.
- Jason Nunnelley
Matthew: he's probably deleting all comments he perceives as being from the "MobFeed." I think it's funny. Mike once told me he's an entertainer, and this is evidence of that.
- Robert Scoble
aha http://www.techcrunch.com/2009... got it ... second comment actually. i agree with jason calicanis ... you need a freaking masters degree to work friend feed. thanks, Robert, BTW .. the url gets shortened, so even though the title of the article is in that URL, one doesn't see it when scanning the comments.
- Mark Hartwell
Mark: no, it's the first comment. The first line are people who clicked "like" on this item.
- Robert Scoble
The problem, though, is that Arrington is an "entertainer" with the power to seriously hurt companies and careers in the web industry. And he does it, too.
- Ian Betteridge
Mark - Ff's interface is about as simple as it gets.... *rollseyes*
- Matthew DeVries
So, he deletes my comment about participating in adult conversation and leaves the guy's comment that calls him a douche? Mature. I'm starting to withdraw my prior benefit of doubt.
- Jason Nunnelley
Ian: he only can hurt you if you let him. If your marketing campaign relies on TechCrunch then your marketing campaign is bad and needs a major rethink. I've had Valleywag and Techcrunch aimed at me before and it never hurts.
- Robert Scoble
Robert - In the same way that Andy Kaufman was an "entertainer"?
- Matthew DeVries
To be totally fair, i dont think it is that bad. We have had quite a few articles on Techcrunch and on on a whole they seem to be a nice bunch, very accomodating and understanding.
- Paul Rawlings
Although it is unpleasant to go through.
- Robert Scoble
I thought it was quite a funny read, I don't think I can take it seriously... it is almost as if someone spat in his face or something.
- Paul Kinlan
Robert, he can't hurt me - but think of Last.fm, whose reputation was hurt and which lost subscribers because of a completely false series of articles that Arrington posted. And he's never really acknowledged that he got it totally wrong, preferring to hint that "there's no smoke without fire". That's what I mean about serious damage. He has the power of mainstream media, without the vaguest notion of a conscience.
- Ian Betteridge
FF interface: simple? perhaps. Intuitive? not so much. The FF fail is strong in me. (and scoble was right, the url IS in the first comment) what looked to me like the first comment was just a list of "likes" that's a Digg concept, right?
- Mark Hartwell
Ian: if Last.fm has value it will cruise right through a wrongful attack. I'm not saying it's right, or pleasant.
- Robert Scoble
Mark, go away, you're just making things up now..... It's simple, intuitive, and elegant. You're just not very bright. The fact you can't suss it out is a reflection on you, not the site.
- Matthew DeVries
Yeah, Last.fm will survive - think of the man-hours it took dealing with the mess that Arrington created. A lot of time and effort went into cleaning up a mess that Arrington gleefully made. And again, no acknowledgement from him that he was in the wrong.
- Ian Betteridge
Matthew: stay nice. It's not that easy sometimes for newbies.
- Robert Scoble
Or English isn't your first language. If that is the case, then yes, it can confuse, I apologize.
- Matthew DeVries
Matt, your comment on Arrington's post is funny dude. I give it ten minutes :)
- Jason Nunnelley
I just read this entire post. I'm so sorry I wasted my time. Maybe we should ban the use of cell phones and IM just in case. Like FriendFeed, they also make it too easy to talk to people.
- Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah
I'm not trying to show him up with it. Just a personal experiment for myself (my post on the TC thread)
- Matthew DeVries
This Last.fm thing, this is what drives my Perez Hilton comparison. He got to create a hurt, damage something, and while Last.fm will probably whether it, nothing bounces back to TC. In fact, it grew their market, and put more money in Arrington's pocket.
- Matthew DeVries
on such a beautiful sunday, how on earth could anybody be paying attention to arrington's opinion - he is a self serving dolt...
- mike "glemak" dunn
ok, i've read arrington's post. and most of this thread. the syphilis analogy was probably just something that mike has been wanting to paste and share since he read that book. the laporte / arrington "war" lasted all of 10 minutes. what that exchange DID expose was a lot of pent up anti-arrington hate. why do so many people think arrington is an asshole? simple, he IS an asshole. if i...
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- Mark Hartwell
ok Robert If you are going to remove mike's comment couldn't you at least remove my reply to him also? Now it stands out like a sore thumb of dumbness in a sea of irrelevance. :-P
- Rasmus Lauridsen
Well he was right about the Mob! I'd delete my FF account but what's the point? For delivery of content its great, but for hanging out, I don't have the skill or patience to go toe to toe with a Mob of spoiled intellectuals.
- aTechDude
Rasmus I haven't removed any replies on this thread!
- Robert Scoble
yay then he removed it himself. Mission accomplished :-)
- Rasmus Lauridsen
who cares.
- Stalyn☂
"...it [friendfeed] will be forced to evolve to something less dangerous or it’ll destroy itself." At the risk of inciting an insanely dangerous mob, what a freakin drama queen.
- Christopher A Carr
Glad to know you know me so well @Zudfunck, So I'm a "spoiled intellectual" from California... Not a 29 year old college dropout living in Randers, Denmark? Wow you know me so well almost better than I know myself. Thanks for the generalization, it totally helped my mood :-P
- Rasmus Lauridsen
What an odd post - I like Arrington, but it's posts like this that make him come off as a bully. The mob boss?
- Jesse Stay
Robert: "Nice mob you got here" ~ Kevin Costner in Wyatt Earp
- Sean E Brown
I think Mike is paranoid one of those startups he loves to put in the deadpool want HIM in the deadpool :p
- Mark
A salad? You see this is the Kevin Rose effect. All the young kids up and coming in tech are all skinny, and they rock climb, and drink fashionable teas from around the world. No more fat techies with these guys in charge. Crap.
- Mark
@mark dammit I need to work out then, thanks for not sending me that memo before now! :-P
- Rasmus Lauridsen
Lost me when he got to the pustules part.
- Oldengrey (Jay)
from fftogo
Mike Arrington's is not on the global radar, so his rant is useless. There are major social media shifts in developing countries, violent regime crack-downs, and tech developments leading human dignity campaigns.
- E-Advocate Network
Yawn, change a few words and it could be used by any class with power, religious, political. IE. Admin blog power, Green Dam, RIAA, Tehran, Bush. Read/Write culture is showing tremendous growth. There is no one person, power, group or nation that can change any of it. Call it Mob call it anything you want, but for 99.99999999999% of the population. His rant is a YAWN. It will change nothing and have no effect not now or ever. There is nothing to fear here move on.
- Robert Higgins
The biggest problem with Mike Arrington and MG Siegler's arguments is they only seeing this problem because of their position. I've said some pretty fierce, opinionated things on FriendFeed, Twitter, and elsewhere, but I'm not fearing for my life. Nor would I in the near future. Even though we're not anonymous on FriendFeed or Twitter, it doesn't matter for most because we're anonymous enough to where enough people are going to care enough to do something to us.
- Jared Mehle
+1 SpragueD, the difference being Ann Coulter has a pair of *cojones.* she wouldn't need months of seclusion and grief counseling after someone spat on her.
- Karim
Karim: I am no longer speaking at any TechCrunch event, according to an email I just received. Just so we can clear that part up of the conversation above.
- Robert Scoble
What a bone head move by TC.
- Mark
Sorry, I don't join mobs.
- xero
Wait. MA's issue is with Ff and it's people, not with Scobleizer. Why would he ban you Robert, and not us? You can't speak at TC, but the Ff mob is still welcome?
- Matthew DeVries
Matthew: I don't know, but he clearly was not happy with something I said above.
- Robert Scoble
Matthew: Mike considers Robert the leader of the FF movement for some odd reason. Cult leader. He evangelises the service so he must be the one getting people to threaten Mike, right.
- Mark
He is not even on any advisory boards or consulted on feature rollouts......IIRC Ff is ran buy Paul and some other dude.
- Matthew DeVries
I do see quite a few posts defending, or at least clarifying for the positive things about Arrington....*sigh*
- Matthew DeVries
Matthew: it might have been a comment he deleted over on TechCrunch too. I don't know. I'll talk with him when he's calmer and see what got him to use that stick on my legs.
- Robert Scoble
It's getting to the point that Wil Harris and Martin Sargent are the only TWiT panelists that will appear together. (hyperbole alert)
- Matthew DeVries
Does Wil Harris have a Ff?
- Matthew DeVries
Don't think so. We have work to do to get alot of the big twitter users over here.
- Mark
Friendfeed is ours. We own it, not the celebs who own twitter more and more :/ FF is for the geeks.
- Mark
The people I'd love to see over here, Scott @extralife Johnson, and Kevin Smith.
- Matthew DeVries
@MDV, love to see Scott Johnson here. I think he could benefit from the more media-rich capabilities of FF. Also wouldn't mind seeing Wil Wheaton here, too.
- Jason Huebel
@Jason: http://friendfeed.com/wilw
- MikeAmundsen
Robert... he *disinvited* you to London? lol. petty. perhaps not unexpected though, given his penchant for drama. http://dramabutton.com in the movies they call it a "plot point."
- Karim
Send him one of these, Robert: http://saydrah.files.wordpress.com/2008...
- Daniel J. Pritchett
Karim: I'm going to London, just not going to speak at any TechCrunch event I guess. I'm going as part of http://www.travelinggeeks.com
- Robert Scoble
No, he got your London credentials pulled. "We got a burn notice on you, you're black listed"
- Matthew DeVries
©Scoble, you said, "...he only can hurt you if you let him. If your marketing campaign relies on TechCrunch then your marketing campaign is bad and needs a major rethink." According to a rep from a huge tech corporation, even an unknown blogger can damage a company's ability to sell a product. When I asked for permission to review a new device, the response I received conveyed this warning. I never wrote the review. I'm not sure I ever wrote any others.
- MiniMage TKDteacher of FF
MiniMage: yes, any random person can hurt you, but only if that pain resonates with others. If you have a great product or service, it will go on. Look at Apple.
- Robert Scoble
Matthew: where did you read that?
- Robert Scoble
Matthew: Arrington isn't in charge of http://www.travelinggeeks.com so he can't pull my ticket from London. He can, however, keep me out of TechCrunch events.
- Robert Scoble
I'll read this thread, but why is Mike angry with you, Robert?
- Stephen Pickering
Stephen: I don't know. I guess he feels I turned the mob against him. Or something I did over on his blog bugged him (he deleted a comment where I wondered whether his attacks on FriendFeed were driven by his inclusion on the Twitter Suggested User List, which delivered to him $250,000 of value and that he never discloses when he talks about social networking). Funny if it's that because it's pretty much the same thing that he did to Leo Laporte that pissed off Leo so much.
- Robert Scoble
I didn't Robert, I was quoting the opening of Burn Notice eps.
- Matthew DeVries
from fftogo
Yeah, I was just thinking that's what Leo should have shot back with, and I was just thinking the same thing about the SUL and how dramatically that's a bigger deal to affect their coverage of Twitter than Leo's getting a pre for a week. I'll try to start being just positive like you suggested earlier, but it makes me wonder if TechCrunch got as many @replies attacking them as Mike...
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- Stephen Pickering
I guess I'm agnostic on this issue. I do feel, however, that when there's repeatedly smoke, there must be something that's overheating pretty damned often. I mean, Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh always blame "the receiver" if they disagree with anything "the annointed" have posited. (No, I'm not directly comparing Michael A. to those guys, but if he's claiming to be misinterpreted by so many so often, something doesn't add up. Isn't he a "professional" in communications, after all? Just sayin...
- Mark Jepsen
I thought friendfeed was the "coolest app nobody uses"... now we're the mob ;) guess we're moving up in the world guys.
- Frankie Warren
lol Matthew -- no, the "Burn Notice" intro goes like this: http://www.hulu.com/watch... My name is Robert Scoble. I used to be a social media expert. Until... [VOICE ON PHONE: "Arrington put out a burn notice on you. You're blacklisted."]
- Karim
"A former Cable TV host who used to inform on you to the FBI: [You know Web 2.0 bloggers, a bunch of BITCHY little girls]"
- Matthew DeVries
LEAVE MIKE ARRINGTON ALONE!!! *cries*
- Alejandro
If this has already been posted, I apologize, but the bad side of a mob can be seen here: http://hashtags.org/tag... When a twitter / ff user says he's going to commit suicide and a bunch of people encourage him to do so.... Not a good example of the "mob."
- Ben Hanten
Ben: so, a bunch of Twitter users flash a stupid hashtag, it shows up here on FF as being ported from Twitter (http://friendfeed.com/search... - note the point of origin and how many users here actually used that tag), and somehow that's the mob that Arrington is talking about?
- Steven Perez
I agree with Mike too, except for the syphilis comparison (could have used a better analogy).. Emotions + Real-Time communication with the rest of the world can blow matters out of proportions very quickly, and especially so when not everyone reads all 286++ comments..
- Winston Teo
::Glances over and walks on by....again::
- Geoff Schultz
Winston: the problem I have with is with the equating "social media" with "FriendFeed", Seriously, this place is worse than, say, 4chan? Or Digg? Or Stormfront? Really?
- Steven Perez
Because Arrington didn't note this as a general problem. He specifically targeted FriendFeed over some of the worst social media sites out there. For that reason alone, his article is laughable.
- Steven Perez
@steven Yup, I would say it's not only about FF. But his "theory" makes sense in a general way, IMO.
- Winston Teo
Winston - I see you're new to Arrington's "Victim Tool" it's one of most used and most skillfully wielded. It's a shame that there isn't penalties for diving in tech, like there is in hockey.
- Matthew DeVries
Well, welcome to 1997, Winston. Because "mob mentality" has manifested itself since comic book nerds were flaming each other on USENET over whether Hal Jordan or Kyle Rainer was the better Green Lantern. If general assholery was the issue, then not only did Arrington's point hit wildly off the mark, it didn't even land on the same planet. I've been here for a year, and while people do...
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- Steven Perez
Not enough page hits, or not enough fans to drown out the dissenting voices. Arrington et al can hide in their imaginary utopian internet hangouts (as if they exist) and shut out everyone who dares to suggest they're wrong, but they need to stop attacking FriendFeed. It's not the cesspool they pretend it is.
- MiniMage TKDteacher of FF
My take is that Arrington doesn't like FF because he can't control what goes on here or what is said about him here. He can't delete the comments on threads (unless they are his own), like he can on his own web site.
- Jeff P. Henderson
@Clark heck, "threads" on Twitter are so disorganized that you can barely call them that. *grin* (I realize some of the desktop apps make them easier to review, but still.)
- Ken Kennedy
Mr. Arrington has a good point there: aggregating opinions and discussion indeed create online mob. We just saw it in many real examples.
- darwin|1q84
it is always easier to lead a mob than a person.
- darwin|1q84
I concur, darwin|1q84, especially when no one moment can be the whole truth. Mobs form quickly and often without the *whole* story. real-time, while useful in many contexts as Louis pointed out, can lead to a quick-time mob mentality that gets out of control fast. Great discussion. Brings up a lot of things.
- chad calease
Forums can be every bit as nasty as FF.
- Christopher A Carr
It has nothing to do with the medium it has everything to do with people.
- Geoff Schultz
Surprise surprise, Arrington deleted my comment on his thread. As I said above, he really doesn't like it if people disagree with him in "his own territory", does he?
- Ian Betteridge
If this thread is too much to read through, just parse the comments for the word 'control' Those 7 items explain why Arrington can't handle FriendFeed. nuf said.
- Christopher Harley
I'm not sure where Mike Arrington was back in the late 90's, but I was smack dab in the middle of a vibrant CNN online community where discussions happened in real time with real names and yeah, there were mobs around certain issues. Anything to do with the Middle East, or Bill Clinton was guaranteed to be a 24/7 shift for the elves who scrubbed the spam and the flames. This isn't new. It's been around since the cave man days. It's only a question of how it's manifest.
- Karoli
LOL of my comments over there he removed the one where I argued against Sean MacDhai for calling Michael a Douche. Guess he just wants to continue being the victim. I actually liked MA's stuff and enjoyed the turds he threw out sometimes. But deleting comments supporting him so he can just look more like a victim is low... Guess I'm gone from there.. His comment moderation makes it impossible to carry on a conversation, self serving as it is...
- Rasmus Lauridsen
the bully pulpit worked. against the bully.
- Rick Cogley
I think it's time to give him the only response I deem to be effective - removing techcrunch from my feed lists. Bye bye, MA. You won't miss me, but I'm certainly not going to miss you and all the drama.
- Adrian Scicluna
Having stepped back and thought about it, I think that there's a serious point struggling to get out of Arrington's post. He's choosing to blame tools like FriendFeed for people being vitriolic, but real-time tools - like any tool - don't make people do anything. People *choose* to be vitriolic: it's part of their make up, their culture, their approach to life. The problem that I have...
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- Ian Betteridge
The fact that Mike is deleting comments that don't suit his needs and banned Robert S from Tech crunch events tends to prove my suspicion, and this is about control. He doesn't control the Ff conversation and that's what bothers him.
- Kim Landwehr
from BuddyFeed
@Kim And also the reason he chose to pull out from FF in the first place!
- Adrian Scicluna
It strikes me that Friendfeed tends to fuel invective out of partisanship or loyalty because threads like this one and the TWIT episode thread attract groupies. The bile comes from what the spewers must see as the most noble of motives -- sticking up for their Friend.
- Amyloo
the best analogy for friendfeed he could come up with was syphilis? Yeah that's not link bait. I'm sure the guys at friendfeed are just thrilled with Mike today.
- timepilot
I think Mike got used to shouting fire in a theater and he is now upset that the theater goers are organized and calling him on it. give me a break
- timepilot
Discussion of these questions is welcome with the understanding that the dialogue is invigorating.
- Mike Chelen
I would think Arrington's credibility is in question when bashing FF (or other social networks) when he is on Twitterr's SUL. No?
- Kevin Whalen
from email
That actually is a good and somewhat novel point in all of this Kevin.
- Matthew DeVries
Kevin: the praise for twitter is that it is less effective for communication, friendfeed should be thankful for the nice compliment ;)
- Mike Chelen
Andrew Terry: the post actually is much more insightful if taken to apply more generally, however it does single out friendfeed as somehow qualitatively worse than blogs or twitter :D
- Mike Chelen
It is rather silly that FF's supposed Achilles heel is that it's too effective at bringing crowds together. Mike's unspoken counterpoint benefit to Twitter is that megaphone-style broadcasting is still possible without too much interruption from the public.
- Daniel J. Pritchett
I prefer twitter because individuals are individuals on twitter and there is nothing meaningful to say in thirty seconds in a flame war or a thread with 322 replies
- Michele Costabile
Michele, you just have to go up 1 to find one, Daniel's post was probably the most meaningful thing said in this thread, it was post 320. Need another, go up 6 to Kevin Whalen. There's plenty of well thought out things still to be said on this subject, even if it's this big.
- Matthew DeVries
We could certainly use some threading options in the comments UI, maybe even some upvoting and other dynamic resorting. These big threads tend to buckle under their own weight.
- Daniel J. Pritchett
from IM
*shudder* no voting or per comment liking. Then we do become Digg. There's nothing wrong long with long tracts of prose. It requires participants to be literate and skilled readers, and pushes away the fools. If it needs distilling, do it second hand with blog posts.
- Matthew DeVries
Daniel, I like time sequencing on big threads. I'd like to see simpler respond identifiers so when someone says "Jason," I know which of us billion or so Jasons he's talking to. I much prefer this to seeing comments floating around based on up and down votes.
- Jason Nunnelley
I did throw in the qualifier "optional" to my feature suggestion. I guess y'all's vote cancels out mine :P (http://www.theonion.com/content...)
- Daniel J. Pritchett
from IM
Daniel, welcome to the democratic process. Facts and logic need not participate ;)
- Jason Nunnelley
Michele: individuals can be seen clearly in friendfeed once familiar with the interface, and followed or unfollowed similar to twitter
- Mike Chelen
Guys, Mike should remove the post from Techcrunch or else we will start a group to protest against him
- Michael_techie
Guys, please join this group http://friendfeed.com/hate-mi... to protest against Michael Arrington
- Michael_techie
You created a group called "Hate Mike Arrington?" Wow.
- Mark
Michael_techie - That was a stupid room to make, and it's not funny, or clever, or ironic. You're probably a psuedonym for Arrington trying to create a problem that doesn't exist.
- Matthew DeVries
Yep, we should show how big is Friendfeed
- Michael_techie
Um, no.
- Steven Perez
from IM
Sorry @Michael_techie that's a fail. I think its time to move on and think about more positive stuff. It's 22 hours since @scobleizer started this thread, its like years in realtime web. Seas have already flowed under the proverbial bridge on this one.
- Rasmus Lauridsen
Yes, you won't see threads like this any more. Scoble wants more positive threads and is trying to make up with Mike Arrington who has denounced their friendship after several years.
- Mark
Daniel's post was an appropriate end for it. For me anyway. But there's no way to silence the thread without deleting all my posts and hiding it. That's a brokeness of Ff. It will keep popping in my notifier and my discussions filter even if I hide it.
- Matthew DeVries
@Matthew hey we should pile up this conversation in separate room
- Michael_techie
As an aside, anyone know if Michael_techie has ever mattered? Can I block him without consequence?
- Matthew DeVries
@matthew Are you promoting Michael arrington
- Michael_techie
As a FF user, It really hurts when some one call us as mob
- Michael_techie
Yeah, He's a flawed guy like us all, and I've always said he never should have taken an ounce of flame the second Leo forgave him, and the community is better with him in it. I wish he hadn't left Ff. But he is wrong about some things. Many things. Like all of us.
- Matthew DeVries
@matthew, He shouldn't call the whole FF users as mob, coz he got some hatred messages
- Michael_techie
Black Sabbath said it best: When you listen to fools, the mob rules.
- Andy Dustman
Mobs will now be a fact of life. Here are the two choices we all must make online: - http://ourdoings.com/roberts...
 |
Yant, Jessica Wilzig Gottlieb, John Furrier and 42 other people liked this
Hurt. Or help. A mob that is helping is a good thing. I am donating $100 to #blamedrewscancer. That is good. What about if 1,000 did that? But some just want to hurt. They call names. Say people have zero value, or worse. I am sorry I have been part of mobs that do that. It is easy to become part of a cheering mob against other people. Too easy maybe, but I would rather have free speech than not. Go ahead and say I have zero value or that I, or my friends, are douchebags or should be dead. I will defend your right to say that. But we all do have a choice: are we hurting or helping other people? I do find that lately I haven't been on the right side of that choice. How about you?
- Robert Scoble
I'm gonna call you a name right now Robert. Cool.
- Tyler Gillies
from email
So it sums down to with great power comes great responsibility.
- Usman Bashir
It's easy to be in a mob doing good, just think of the actions of the mob from someone not in it. Trouble is, it's easier to be in a mob doing bad because it is easier not to think.
- ɹןʇnqן
Drew: what is the best use of the $100? #blamedrewscancer
- Robert Scoble
We used to call these Groundswells - why the "mob" mentality all of the sudden?
- Jesse Stay
I like the concept but I think you should choose a different name for a group doing positive work. Mob has negative connotations and dilutes the good message.
- Martha
Jesse: words that have fewer characters are better for Twitter.
- Robert Scoble
Robert, I think the word "mob" brings more traffic :-)
- Jesse Stay
Very good point, Jesse. Hit 'em with the sensational headline!
- Martha
Jesse: yes. Pageviews rule our language.
- Robert Scoble
I'm donating $25/mo to the American Cancer Society on behalf of #blamedrewscancer btw - I think it's a simple, cheap cause to participate in. (and so many of us are affected!)
- Jesse Stay
I called out some people who do mostly hurt other people online.
- Robert Scoble
I wonder if they will join the helpful movement?
- Robert Scoble
Hey Robert - (not for my benefit), you should see if Rackspace can offer a discount per month on those that set up monthly payments to American Cancer Society on behalf of #blamedrewscancer. Might be a great way to evangelize your brand and help out a good cause at the same time.
- Jesse Stay
Got my answers from http://twitter.com/dahowle...
- Robert Scoble
@dahowlett's comment is ridiculous - so I have to stick to Twitter to not be beaten up by the much larger mob? What is this - mob wars? The Twitter mob vs. the FriendFeed mob? Silly us - we're in the wrong mob!
- Jesse Stay
Jesse: dahowlett earlier said I have zero value. Really hurtful.
- Robert Scoble
Social networking is about building communities. A mob is just a community without responsible leadership. Keeping a community from becoming a mob requires leadership. Without that, anything can happen.
- Jack (a.k.a. Jeber)
mobs have always been a fact of life - through thousands of years of history. using mob mentality to do good is interesting; and beneficial. but is it a good idea? here's another idea. don't just try to use mobs for good, try to leave mobs that are bad. starve out mob mentality. mobs don't start as a group - they start as an individual. someone who usually understands mobs; how they...
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- MikeAmundsen
has all this come from the fact that Arringtons feelings were hurt the other week when everyone bashed him on FF and loved up to Leo ?
- Mark
I would rather not make this thread about Arrington. There are others who say FriendFeed isn't a helpful community.
- Robert Scoble
Please define 'mob.' Do you mean a violent, riotous leaderless group? "the mob overturned cars and smashed storefronts" Or a massive celebration of an exciting event? "the streets were filled with mobs of joyous supporters chanting 'Yes, we did!' as the final election results poured in"
- Andrew Feinberg
Ah, well Loren and Dennis answered on twitter
- Mark
Robert: you have extreme value. every single friendfeed post you make goes straight to my email inbox
- Tyler Gillies
"How am I serving the other person" is another way to phrase it ;)
- Nicholas Orr
Andrew: mobs online can be both helpful and hurtful, yes.
- Robert Scoble
I think twitterers get carrried away with all the "good" they are doing the planet with a $100 here or there. What is needed is CIVIC involvement. Electing people to SERVE that are not beholden or totally in the pocket of BigPharm, BigAg, Insurance companies and banks. Then--just maybe--if it is not too late, we will build a civil and engaged democracy where money is going into...
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- Meryl Steinberg
I saw another FF post earlier today from someone complaining of negative comments. I say screw them. Don't let the "mob" of negativity affect your own good work. If someone is complaining about you, there usually are other issue underneath that truly have nothing to do with you. You know you do good and that you have value. Leave the "mob" behind and the "group" of do-gooders will follow your call.
- Martha
Mark: yup. They are building their brands on top of being hurtful. Me? I am going the other way. Funny dahowlett just keeps running his mouth about things he knows nothing about.
- Robert Scoble
Quite frankly I'm getting tired of all the hurt. Maybe it's hypocritical of me to say so being that I'm part of the "Washington Establishment Journalism" scene. But then again I'm going to be evicted in a few months anyway because I can't find a paying outlet for positive, fair discussion or examination of things that people should find important. Maybe I should be in the hurt business...because pulling punches isn't paying right now (any exceptions?)
- Andrew Feinberg
Still going to blog about this Robert? http://friendfeed.com/scoblei...
- Mark
Mark: yup I am working on that.
- Robert Scoble
I am slowly learning to comment on FF, and not worry about the 'troll' or mob who will shoot down my comment. FF is a helpful community. I like it here.
- Mike Nencetti
mike: gtfo. just kidding ;)
- Tyler Gillies
I guess I'm missing something here. There seems to be an argument going around that FriendFeed breeds mobs because it's too good at bringing people together and getting them engaged - i.e. it's a very effective communications platform and the solution to the problems that stem from it is to move back to a less effective communications platform.
- Edward Coffey
edward: yep pretty much
- Tyler Gillies
Best way to control or destroy a mob is to cut off it's head.
- Stuart Tracte
Just getting caught up and saw this rucus - tyergillies...That's what it's about - Wow
- PXLated
Perhaps part of FriendFeed's power is that people -- for the most part -- aren't anonymous. It's hard to even hide behind a handle. And so contributors have an interest in building a reputation. The fastest way to build a reputation is to throw bombs.
- Andrew Feinberg
@Andrew if you want the reputation of being a firestarter, then yes, you're correct. I prefer to take the high road.
- Stuart Tracte
the fastest way to earn a block is by throwing bombs
- Tyler Gillies
Interesting one of the definitions of mob is the mass of common people or populace (edited for sp)
- Kim Landwehr
tylergillies: Glad I've got that more-or-less right. Now, call me crazy, but if just giving people a good way to communicate makes them form into a mob, then I think the problem lies with the people, not the platform.
- Edward Coffey
edward: reminds me of the tower of babel
- Tyler Gillies
The word mob has a negative connotation. How about the word bloc? There are plenty of likeminded people joining together for a positive, common cause.
- Stuart Tracte
I think FriendFeed is probably the best example to date of a platform that gets out of the way and lets a huge number of people communicate in a very direct and immediate manner with friends and strangers alike. My impression is that a lot of people struggle with that initially, and fail to understand that the basic consideration that you give to a real solid meat-person you're talking...
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- Edward Coffey
I mean obviously people, especially newbies, fail to understand that in all kinds of online fora, but FriendFeed allows a huge number of people to fail in a very direct, immediate and personal way, all at once.
- Edward Coffey
Arrington called me a cult leader now. Hah!
- Robert Scoble
robert: look who's talking
- Tyler Gillies
There are trolls on any forum, I've learned. I've seen them on Facebook, on Twitter, here on FF. And before that, I saw them in class, I've heard them on the radio, etc. Bottom line: there will always be trolls. The key is how you deal with them (or not deal with them.)
- Curt Mercadante
If I lead a cult it is one where very few listen to me. Oh, can you pass the Koolaide?
- Robert Scoble
define "very few"
- Tyler Gillies
Tyler: out of 97,000 how many take any action? Not many.
- Robert Scoble
it helps scoble to thank you on providing me the inspiration on who i wanted to be in my real life your presence helps scoble
- @runb@laj!
Nah: to have a cult you have to have followers who will drink the Kool Aide. I am far far from that.
- Robert Scoble
You actually meet some of the criteria for a cult leader:p one of the most important is to be "charasmatic"!!
- Mark
but robert isnt kool aide what the riddle is?
- @runb@laj!
I gotta read Mikes tweets, this is hilarious.
- Mark
RT Arrington "FF is actually getting scary. And scoble is sounding like a cult leader." - Welcome to the FriendFeed - donations accepted.
- Mark
do you guys take blood? ;)
- Tyler Gillies
mark that is the plan
- @runb@laj!
What a day. Time will tell if FF will descend into an open mob which society will rise up against. Time will tell if Arrington ever comes back to FF (his site is supposed to cover the hottest start-ups after all). And time will tell if Robert writes that blog post he promised tomorrow.
- Mark
Robert et al: Why must there be only bad connotations with the term 'mob'? Why is it assumed that if there is a mob they can only wreak havoc? I think largely because those sorts of mobs are the ones we get to see evidence of via media.Why don't we create a different sort of mob. One that provides value and doesn't tear down others? That is how you started this thread, right?
- Sheryl
Sheryl: right.
- Robert Scoble
mob n. # a disorderly crowd of people # syndicate: a loose affiliation of gangsters in charge of organized criminal activities # throng: press tightly together or cram; "The crowd packed the auditorium" # gang: an association of criminals; "police tried to break up the gang"; "a pack of thieves" wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
- xero
@Sheryl: i think @Robert is saying just what you suggest. my question to him and to you is this: "Is mob mentality, no matter the motives or outcomes, a good thing?" is that what we want to build, promote, and use to get things done?
- MikeAmundsen
The most powerful tool against trolls, and those who like to stir the pot (thereby inciting mobs), is silence. it will drive them crazy. goodnight everyone. great conversation. Thanks Robert! you rock.
- Mike Nencetti
It is extremely rare that mob mentality produces something useful. Generally, the actions of the mob are that of whoever speaks first or loudest, not the one that makes the most sense.
- xero
@xero: good point. i'd also point out that one of the key advantages of mob mentality is an anonymity that helps mask critical thinking and provide an absolution for any terrible outcomes from the action of the mob. i understand that @Robert and @Sheryl are not trying to create this kind of situation; that the word "mob" has been overloaded into something positive. but it's not clear to me that many of the aspects of mobs are being considered here.
- MikeAmundsen
I provided the definition of mob earlier, there are NO positive connotations to it. If they want to call it a mob, they're going to get mobbed. ;)
- xero
Mobs have always been a fact of life. They are an artifact of human social behavior, and the online world is no different at its root. Whether you walk to the city square to join the mob, or join it online, you make a choice. The digital world facilitates mob creation around different topics more rapidly, allows for mobs not constrained by geography, and supports anonymity where...
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- Ryan McCormack
Years ago I had an amazing professor of American history who gave a lecture "The importance of Mob Violence in Early American History." It was chock-full of interesting examples of wise and clever mob actions, from torching excess tobacco in Virginia colony the year of a surplus to the careful disassembly, transport, and rebuilding of a hospital that townsfolk believed had been built too close to a settlement for comfort. Mobs can be constructive, but are also indicative of a power or process vacuum.
- Richard W. DeVaul
@scoble as far as i'm concerned, your followers (myself included) are not a mob. We are a group of people looking to broaden our knowledge and interact with one another in a reasonable fashion. Those who disagree may call us a mob, but they are deeply mistaken.
- Stuart Tracte
@Richard: interesting perspective. i wonder if, by today's lexicon, these actions against the established authority might be considered asymmetric warfare or even acts of terrorism.
- MikeAmundsen
I've never seen any of these threads started by Scoble turn ugly. Look at this one. It seems like a pretty intelligent discussion, and I've read and participated in a lot of threads on FF
- Stephen Pickering
@Stephen: another good point. for the most part, i find FF an excellent place to carry on conversations.
- MikeAmundsen
online - maybe mobs (good or bad) will rule, but offline ? Under 30's seem to be able to 'mob up' quite effectively via SMS, but most activism (which may be illegal in the place where its occurring) requires face-to-face to establish bona-fides.
- martin english
xero: thanks for the reminder of the definition. I would like to remind, however, that words and their definitions can change over time. Many words in the English language have evolved their meanings. Slang is a good example. Think of 'Bad' and 'Dope' But there are so many others. They are case specific, occasionally, but there are other instances as well. We have the power to change...
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- Sheryl
friendfeed is a good place for conversations? oh.. i wonder if they designed it that way
- Tyler Gillies
like the picture
- wowfreeze.blogspot.com
Mobs, hysterias, and bubbles have been around forever. As Ryan (and others) noted, it's part of human nature. "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... is a great 19th century book on the subject: (obviously) pre-Depression, dot-com bubble, etc., but includes the South Sea bubble, the tulip bubble, witch mania, and lots of other fun historical examples. Good for perspective.
- Ken Kennedy
A great quote from the author of "Extraordinary Popular Delusions...", Charles Mackay: "Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one."
- Ken Kennedy
How Are Tech Bloggers are Leading the Marketing 2.0 Revolution? Find out here:
Paul Jacobson, Daniel Rowley, Mark Harai and 73 other people liked this
Jeremiah Owyang, Robert Scoble, Mark Silva and Kevin Marks are on a panel at the San Francisco American Marketing Association this evening, hosted by Mark Evans: http://www.friendfeed.com/markeva...
- Louis Gray
The focus: Businesses from restaurants, to retail, to service businesses all share the commonality of seeing their customer face-to-face. As this provides some of the best positioning to capitalize on social media opportunities, the question becomes how come so few are taking advantage of the Web 2.0 tools to help drive sales?
- Louis Gray
Mark Evans: We are going to change with the times and start to be more open source -- including the community in what we are doing, so we can be the hub of marketing in the Bay Area.
- Louis Gray
Mark Evans: In the next few months, there will be a lot of events around social media, and partner events/seminars.
- Louis Gray
Louis: Are you attending?
- Sheryl
Sheryl, I am hiding in the back where I quietly can type and go unnoticed. *Yes*
- Louis Gray
Now introducing the panelists... Kevin Marks first, Jeremiah Owyang, Mark Silva, and Scoble goes last.
- Louis Gray
good job louis keep it up
- Allen Stern
isnt mark evans in canada?
- Allen Stern
Robert moderating: When I started blogging 9 years ago, Dave Winer said we should blog from conferences. Google was new back then and I could only find two other blogs. Now there are conferences on Twitter, a form of blogging...
- Louis Gray
Robert: It used to be just friends talking to each other, and we would talk on our blogs about what we were doing in life and how disappointed we were that we were all laid off in the downturn, and now we are in another downturn.
- Louis Gray
Robert: Techmeme is where I go to find the hottest tech news that is happening. Now I find Google blog PR and now MG Siegler from TechCrunch - a news blog. (pulled up on his iPhone) and PR announcements from YouTube, etc. Over 9 years we have changed from a bunch of guys talking on the new system, laid off and tired of the world...
- Louis Gray
Robert: Now the geeks that were showing up at the blogger dinner (Mena Trott starting the software of Moveable Type) has a company... Brad Fitzgerald of LiveJournal was there and on and on. I think I got the opportunity to moderate the panel because blogging is changing. Now it is PR and news stuff - which isn't as useful.
- Louis Gray
FYI - Allen, this is Mark Evans in the Bay Area, not the Mark Evans of Canada.
- Louis Gray
Robert: Now we have linking rules. If you work for Mike Arrington, you can't link to Mashable. I notice a lot of corrosive effects. Bloggers aren't talking about how to do things, they are talking about the stuff of the day, or who died today. That wouldn't be talked about 8 or 9 years go. Blogging has changed and it has left a hole for a new kind of tech blogger.
- Louis Gray
Jeremiah: This is a natural evolution. The more mainstream social media gets, the more it looks like mainstream media. Robert is trying to use the new tools, always trying to find what's next. This is a natural evolution.
- Louis Gray
Robert: The early brands were not brand-averse, but they were averse to marketing. The voices are not being heard as much. The interesting insight and dirt isn't coming out. Apple is a great example of being secret, prepared and buttoned up. The system has conformed, and we are going to new places to tell each other what we think.
- Louis Gray
Kevin: Here we are going over and over again. I worked for Technorati so I can take the guilt for the Top 100 being there. It changes all the time. The long tail distribution that we have all seen and heard about... there have been changes. Watching the Technorati 100 you could see big changes but also a giant spread of hundreds of millions of blogs that talk about different stuff.
- Louis Gray
Kevin: Techmeme is an illusion of what's on the top.
- Louis Gray
Kevin: You had the idea of subscribing to feeds, but you couldn't do a keyword search to see what some people like. Now you follow a person and say they are interesting and I will follow them. Now social networks are letting you friend and follow. Some of it is heavy social make me feel good stuff. (Kevin is having dinner in SF), but half is following people who are interesting, and you build a sense of trust that draws on a human sense of trust of knowing a person.
- Louis Gray
Kevin: What we find is that we are moving from a world where advertising is a recommendation from someone trying to influence you who you don't trust. Celebrities are halfway fake friends people you think you know, but they can serve a purpose too.
- Louis Gray
Robert: In the early days of blogging, nobody paid me, and nobody sent me products. Now there are people being paid to blog, like by IZEA. Virgin America took people on a flight to write about the new flights. People see the value in this world, and 9 years ago, they didn't have a clue in this world. What do you think of this trend?
- Louis Gray
Robert: What do you think of the corrosive effect of trust?
- Louis Gray
Mark: Why you see so many press releases and other brands like Google, Apple - there is a reason why PR got into social media and blogs, because 100% of their compensation comes from agency fees, not non-working dollars.
- Louis Gray
Louis: So you're the unpaid stenographer? LOL Nice!
- Sheryl
Mark: Every time I create an agency that looks like it is working media, that looks like agency fees are creeping. People who own brands and marketers out there is we need to change how we look at social media in general. You have to act differently, categorically.
- Louis Gray
Mark: I disagree with Kevin directly in terms of an advertiser not being someone you want to hear from.
- Louis Gray
Mark: I think that brands are going to understand how to act in a trustworthy way. The best thing a brand can do is solve customers' problems - providing a solution to a problem. Part of paying bloggers to do things is old behavior.
- Louis Gray
Jeremiah: Robert is paid to do blogging. So if he feels it is bad behavior...
- Louis Gray
Jeremiah: He doesn't promote his employer as much as some other bloggers, and he doesn't do sponsored posts. (Robert)
- Louis Gray
Jeremiah: Often I will write to bloggers or bigger Tweeters and their assistant will respond.
- Louis Gray
Jeremiah: We did research and asked consumers who they trust. 90% said "people like them". Under 10% trusted corporate blogs.
- Louis Gray
Mark: That's because they are operating like corporate blogs.
- Louis Gray
Kevin: How do you push back on Robert's brand? He is a person.
- Louis Gray
(Jeremiah says Robert is a brand and points to the Building 43 shirt)
- Louis Gray
Kevin: To call it a personal brand is to take away that person. He is trustworthy.
- Louis Gray
Mark: The best brands act like people. If you take a look at corporate brands, a company like Foster Farms... how many of you know about Ron Foster? It is an amazing company with homespun, human values. I want to be part of that family. There is a personal side of the brand that a lot of companies have. People come in with passion for the brand, like JetBlue, Comcast, etc.
- Louis Gray
Mark: The more that brands can act like people on Twitter, it personalizes that.
- Louis Gray
Kevin: When you go to Google you are querying a machine and asking for a machine response. On Twitter, you want a human response. If you get an automated response...
- Louis Gray
Kevin: When you type something into Twitter it is a very different thing. You are expressing emotion, and you are joining a human conversation. If you speak in a tacky way, they will respond in a tacky way.
- Louis Gray
Kevin: It is the inversion of a call center - where people are turned into machines. Social sites like Twitter say to be human and respond to these people.
- Louis Gray
Kevin: A lot of this is rethinking it and can we make it more personal, a source of emotional signals for things that you care about.
- Louis Gray
Mark: An emotional thing where brands can live.
- Louis Gray
Jeremiah: How many of you paid a blogger or gave them a product, or took them on a trip or gave them money or a gift certificate? (Five hands in the room go up)
- Louis Gray
Jeremiah: This is happening all throughout media in the history of the industry. This is something that at Forrester, we think is okay to do, so long as it is transparent, and the editorial is authentic. However, most brands are insensitive to it.
- Louis Gray
Robert: I was at a HP event where they brought out a new printer, and they had a Twitter search, and they seeded PR people to add to the stream with positive tweets. We were pretty adept at finding the seeding.
- Louis Gray
Mark: did you call BS on it?
- Louis Gray
Robert: I just did. We also didn't quite figure it out until just after, when we were comparing notes.
- Louis Gray
Mark: It's a headfake. A lot of the time is to be found by the search engines. I agree there are a lot of social filters we are looking for because the algorithm is coming up short.
- Louis Gray
Kevin: The bloggers publish a lot and they link a lot, and it can be problematic. If you search for me, you will only find me. There are other Kevin Marks.
- Louis Gray
Robert: I am the #2 Robert in the world, higher than Robert DeNiro and Robert Kennedy. Google is our new reality.
- Louis Gray
Mark: That's the new reality. What's the oldest tool humans have ever used? An axe? If you search for Axe on Google, you will get the Axe brand and on images, it will be Axe imagery. They have taken over that world, by impacting social media, and redefining that word. That's their reality.
- Louis Gray
Audience member: Wikiality - the reality that we believe in. If enough of us make the suggestions in Google, it becomes the reality and it is an important concept.
- Louis Gray
Audience member 2: To Kevin - I don't hear your accent when you blog. But this doesn't work unless the average schlub is participating in this conversation. There is an asynchronous set of assumption of expectations. How do we balance that out because people engage enthusiastically for their own reasons, not to schill for their brand.
- Louis Gray
Kevin: By the way marketing guys, all this standard stuff like the press release is going to look old.
- Louis Gray
Kevin: When Michael Jackson dies, what you see is emotional outpouring of your friends, not the media's interpretation of that.
- Louis Gray
Robert: The person who took the best photo in Iran took that photo and was in FriendFeed a few hours later, talking about it. Now they are in jail. I have never had a conversation with a Pulitzer Prize award winner who was in an event like that.
- Louis Gray
Robert: There was somebody on Twitter who had a conversation with the doctor of Neda. We can participate in the news without having to go through filters and media.
- Louis Gray
Robert: Now the PR people can talk directly to us, like through Techmeme, instead of through Walt Mossberg.
- Louis Gray
Mark: There are a lot of things that marketing will do that won't have a compelling event. There's nothing like the brief that says, "make it viral". It's bad.
- Louis Gray
Mark: We are trying to take a potential for relevance. We know events will happen, like holidays and an election, which brands can anticipate.
- Louis Gray
Mark: Part of what we are doing is trying to gain potential for relevance.
- Louis Gray
Mark: Part of what we are doing with microformatting and social media spaces is the potential to become relevant, and be driven by demand.
- Louis Gray
(Jeremiah looking down at his cell phone)
- Louis Gray
Kevin: If you think of organic growth, and how that works, there are strategies to spread information in different ways. The plant has a seed that turns into something tasty that you can carry around and put somewhere else. What if you have a message that people will want to give to their friends?
- Louis Gray
Kevin: What kind of campaign am I doing. Am I trying to nurture something that will grow?
- Louis Gray
Audience Member: What about Verizon talking to the New York Times talking about customers? What about using real word of mouth conversations by consumers from forums?
- Louis Gray
Robert: One of my favorite bloggers, Steve Rubel, is getting out of blogging and will be doing lifestream.
- Louis Gray
Kevin: Back in 2001-02, blogs are what we had. I could post it to the Web and get comments.
- Louis Gray
Kevin: What happens is those practices have now spread out and are going to other places. The idea of activity streams is a unique one, and you can see that in Twitter.
- Louis Gray
Kevin: There is this idea of I am doing something, and I want it to flow somewhere else. It is the same practice as blogging, but it is now something else. The point is that if you want to think about network architecture, a lot of people assumed it was more download than upload, and they got it backwards.
- Louis Gray
Kevin: We are now shifting to where we upload more than we download. You can take photos with things in your pocket. You can send up more than you can download.
- Louis Gray
Robert: YouTube has said mobile uploads have increased 400% in the last 7 days, thanks to the new iPhone 3GS.
- Louis Gray
I've gotten approached a few times to do paid blog posts (haven't yet - will disclose if I ever do)
- Jesse Stay
Robert: The marketing of the future will have to create events that capture distribution. Obama's inauguration almost took down the Internet.
- Louis Gray
Robert: Obama's inauguration was a video event, where people were streaming live video over the Internet. In contrast, Twitter and Michael Jackson is only 10 Gigs a day.
- Louis Gray
Mark: When we set up Twitter accounts for our client, not all followers are equal. Some have super influence. If you do set up a Twitter and Facebook class, consider a concierge class, and shine light on someone who will speak passionately.
- Louis Gray
Mark: The @ Sign and DMs are very important for communication and a back channel.
- Louis Gray
Mark: With 10 people, we reached a million and got 1,000 responses, from fans that have super influence and a high affinity for you, who will come to your aid if a brand is under attack.
- Louis Gray
This whole blogging thing has gotten me thinking like a marketer quite often. Before I figured marketing was just a career I wasn't interested in and had little to do with. Now I know the rudiments of online marketing and actively use them to better engage my desired audience.
- Daniel J. Pritchett
Mark: We have a lot of brands on auto-follow, which is fine. We couldn't do it in e-mail before. We never knew what would happen, but now we can see that in real time.
- Louis Gray
So I see a post like this and I'm thinking "pfft, marketing" and then I remember "oh yeah, Marketing!" and so I'm still reading.
- Daniel J. Pritchett
Robert: You could see the spread with a Web bug in email, but you could never get the emotion in an e-mail.
- Louis Gray
Kevin: My job is not to be an evangelist, it's to be a product advocate. That was a very deliberate choice.
- Louis Gray
Kevin: I need to get a sense of what is going on, and gain a message to convey for a complex set of standards, and can I explain it.
- Louis Gray
(Audience member asks Mark about the social aspect of Foster Farms)
- Louis Gray
Mark: You'll see. The brand people, PR people, IT people are involved... everything takes longer as a result. We will be expressing the human side of the brand, and like Forrester said, how people go to people.
- Louis Gray
Mark: We heard from moms how that would change their perception. A brand is a premium between commodity, and through emotion, a fair price that a marketer needs to earn.
- Louis Gray
(Follow-up: How do you get conversations that are valid, not a stunt)
- Louis Gray
Mark: We came up with a communication strategy that will add value to the moms. We can create an impact that is significant that will happen right at grocery. They are trying to understand the effect, not just impression and buzz. How can they effect sales?
- Louis Gray
I'd imagine "valid" conversations involve some sort of threading or aggregation so individual commenters can see and respond to one another. In other words, FF threads over tweets flying past each other unknowingly.
- Daniel J. Pritchett
Robert: I just interviewed Gary V of WineLibrary TV. They were not going to grow their local market much more, so he started to do the video show. He creates the need in your head for a product that you didn't know you wanted. He has a social network, where you can argue, is he telling you the truth?
- Louis Gray
Mark: Most marketers should follow Gary just to learn about marketing. He can drive nuggets of what he does and why he does it.
- Louis Gray
Robert: TechCrunch is doing video with a lot of its posts now. Creating an experience that looks good on a flip cam is a different experience than creating text on a blog.
- Louis Gray
These are the perfect participants for this panel.
- Jesse Stay
(BTW - I am not getting every word and sentence. Call it live editing)
- Louis Gray
Audience Member: Social media has fundamentally changed marketing. But brands understand products and services, but they don't understand how products are used in the real world. Those companies that do social well use their own products.
- Louis Gray
Robert: The common thing I see between companies doing well in this space is that they have set up their whole system is to do something remarkable that is becoming social. You have the best service. (Examples: Zappos and Tiny Prints)
- Louis Gray
Robert: Zappos forces every new employee to Twitter. During your training period, you have to Twitter, so you can be empowered to represent your brand in public. The janitor is never ever going to talk about the company. Look at Apple! At Zappos, everybody can talk on behalf of the company.
- Louis Gray
Jeremiah: There is a danger at looking at what consumers say and having that drive your company, because that looks at the last three products - not the future. Tony at Zappos can do that with his company, but that's not going to happen at Hitachi.
- Louis Gray
Mark: I don't care if you have 10 people or 1,000 people, it is very hard to do that.
- Louis Gray
Jeremiah: If you build your product based on what Robert likes on his blog, then you make him happy, but it might not be smart.
- Louis Gray
Audience Member: If you look at FriendFeed, Robert is a very passionate user, but they cannot listen to him because he is different, and it hasn't yet crossed the chasm.
- Louis Gray
Audience Member: Sometimes the loudest user seems like the only user. We get a lot of mixed reviews, but there will be 200 reviews, and 1/3 are bad, not because it is a bad place, but because there aren't that many people reviewing. If you have a Google or YouTube, it is going to come out in the wash.
- Louis Gray
Mark: One of the big ideas we are bringing to our clients is to help facilitate our brand ambassadors. A lot of conversations can come to your Web site. How does a small company understand that in a world of hundreds of million dollar or billion dollar brands? In the long tail, somebody has built a blog post about it.
- Louis Gray
Robert: That's what I am doing with Building 43: Is trying to reach out to businesses that are not embedded in the social Web yet.
- Louis Gray
Kevin: There's also the problem of knowing somebody I can trust. The two paths that are coming are geographical filtering, and through friends. How can you get recommendations from people you actually trust?
- Louis Gray
Kevin: If you look at things that are easy for people to understand. (Example: FourSquare) You get points for saying you are at places. There is this idea of rewarding people for making social actions, to learn where their friends are.
- Louis Gray
Jeremiah: You should be searching for people who have a certain lifestyle. (Fish where the fish are)
- Louis Gray
Audience member: If you want to be relevant, your brand needs to provide value. The biggest mistake people are making is that they are pushing their brand and not adding value, but they are not engaging.
- Louis Gray
Jeremiah: If your restaurant set up all the events on Upcoming, you will be associated with it.
- Louis Gray
Mark: The best thing you can do is set yourself up to be the best friend of the user.
- Louis Gray
Robert: There is a taco truck in LA that tweets its location on Twitter and sells out every single day.
- Louis Gray
Audience member: I do my research on Twitter because I don't want to go to Google and find dead links or outdated links.
- Louis Gray
Robert: Have a sign in your store and say, "Are you a Twitter user?" Everybody is going to follow you who you tweet about. They are going to see that in their Twitter and their referral logs.
- Louis Gray
Mark: Your @ and Your /name is the new dotcom. I think you can do the @ and let the insiders know you are out there. Businesses have to learn how to do that.
- Louis Gray
Audience member: Do you know examples of B2B and partnering space that have had successes?
- Louis Gray
Jeremiah: Your trick at Cisco is to create marketing materials that are useful for your channel partners and sales force (interrupted by audience member)
- Louis Gray
Kevin: If you have a set of information, get people to respond to that. You need someone who can provide the expertise to the channel.
- Louis Gray
*Panel concludes*
- Louis Gray
Good work Louis!
- Daniel J. Pritchett
Mark Evans: The next event in August will be about why Marketing and PR suck with Guy Kawasaki, Scoble.... oh ... Louis Gray too. :)
- Louis Gray
Louis Gray? That name's familiar...
- Daniel J. Pritchett
Pretty hard to hide in the back of the room when the entire panel is on FriendFeed. :-)
- Jesse Stay
Thanks for covering this. It was an interesting read. Parts of the discussion reminded me of that Mark Zuckerberg interview by Sarah Lacy. That was the first moment I realized that we (the internet users that have been posting to forums, blogs, etc. for years) can no longer sit back and passively consume information. We expect the freedom to speak up and have been conditioned to believe...
more...
- Chip Ramsey
Louis: great notes! Thanks for doing that.
- Robert Scoble
Really great job live friendfeeding. that's the first time I've ever said that. "Live friendfeeding"
- Jeremiah Owyang
Thanks Robert and Jeremiah for participating in the panel and commenting here. FriendFeed is a great tool for live blogging, and very flexible. Note I took this thread and posted it to louisgray.com as well when completed.
- Louis Gray
Interesting thoughts - - I wrote about Marketing 2.0 some time ago here: http://www.societal-web.com/blog...
- William Buist
Louis - thank you for doing this "live friendfeeding." Great to finally meet you in person last night and look forward to you being on the panel in August.
- Bill Sanders
Thanks for doing these great notes, Louis - I should take Jeremiah's advice and blog more myself
- Kevin Marks
blogging as we know it is dying...it's evolving to be a bigger value chain of activities...
- John Furrier
Louis: Thank you so much for coming out last night! And, WOW! thank you for taking incredible event notes.
- Mark Evans
Great "FriendFeed Casting" thread by @Louis Gray of Am.Marketing Association event panel incl. @JOwyang @Scobleizer
- Alex Schleber
Who has the coolest job? I vote for @newmediajim because he is NBC's camera guy in the White House. More:
Scott Kingery, Rui Pereira, Jim Connolly and 20 other people liked this
@garyvee runs a huge wine store. Who else?
- Robert Scoble
Me, the Permit Guy - http://austincitypermits.com/blog...
- Gary Etie
Me, I sell happiness.
- Mike White
Pilots for the Google corporate jet?
- Gary Etie
Do we have Astronaut twitters?
- Esteban Panzeri Glas
My vote goes to @leolaporte. He gets to do all day what I can only do on the weekends... netcast. He also gets the cool product reviews that I can't quite manage yet.
- John Fox
Gary: no way. Jim Long's job is FAR cooler. He gets to go on Air Force One
- Robert Scoble
Mike: I gotta hear more about this happiness. It sounds like an Amsterdam tour guide.
- Robert Scoble
It's better than Amsterdam because it all occurs locally. No travel!
- Mike White
Robert, I think YOUR job is pretty cool :-)
- Pablo Melchor
John: sorry. Leo wasn't drinking Sake with @garyvee today. Unless he has supermodels sitting on his lap his job his isn't that cool. ;-)
- Robert Scoble
Robert Scoble has to be one of them. In geek heaven most of the time... :)
- Amit Nangare
Pablo: Agreed. Anyone who gets to deal with tech and social media all day is cool in my book.
- John Fox
Mike, you might have fun selling it, I'm a librarian who thinks it is even more fun to give it away.
- Carolyn Wood
Robert: Well, when you put it like that... ;-)
- John Fox
I gotta go with Leo Laporte as well
- Kashif Khan
Carolyn - I give it away as much as possible, but I have to pay the bills!
- Mike White
Pablo: I can't argue. Hanging out with @garyvee rocks!
- Robert Scoble
Mike, if you are feeling guilty you are always welcome to volunteer @ your library!
- Carolyn Wood
yes being a photo/videographer with great access to important events would be really cool, I had little tastes of it while freelancing for nyt, ap, national geo. but most importantly, you get to play with all the latest digi-toys :-)
- Brian Hendrickson
Carolyn - No guilt. I volunteer every week.
- Mike White
I am sitting next to the CEO of Intermec Pat Burn in UA 95.
- Robert Scoble
As I once told @karaswisher, anyone living in the Valley or on the West Coast is spoiled with being in tech's back yard. Nothing interesting ever happens here in Indy, except for BlogIndiana.
- John Fox
Sorry, take my job and multiply it by 100x and you have @newmediajim's job.
- Robert Scoble
There's no competition. Barrack Obama. Fancy plain, gets to call anyone in the world and get called back. Media exposure, travel, awesome house and the job comes with a private plain, helicopter and military force. He's the leader of the free world and when he speaks, everyone (even those that despise him) listen. That job rocks. Tough... but rocks.
- Jason Nunnelley
Leo, Patrick and Martin Sargent came to Houston once ... nothing techie really happens in Houston either
- Kashif Khan
I have 2 extremely cool jobs: I work in craft brewery 't IJ in Amsterdam. And I work in 1 of the best assorted beerstores in the world, de Bierkoning, with more than 900 different types of beer.
- Ton Zijp
Once heard a guy talking about his job as a professional whiskey taster. They provided him a driver. I'd work for any Islay whiskey producer in that position.
- Jason Nunnelley
@Ton, I will be moving to Amsterdam soon... where can I try those 900 beers?
- Gianfranco Chicco
I meant spoiled in a good way, of course!
- John Fox
Robert's job is long hours and hard work. I don't want it.
- Jason Nunnelley
Gianfranco: Well, I work in a beerstore. So you can't drink them there (although I am allowed to do that). You have to buy the bottles at de Bierkoning (just behind the Palace) to take them to your hotelroom & drink them there.
- Ton Zijp
how about this guy http://www.islandreefjob.com/ ?
- Kashif Khan
Jim's might not be the most exciting or adventurous job out there, but he certainly provides some very interesting insights and things to look in on.
- Dean Clark
Jason I haven't worked an hour in the last few years.
- Robert Scoble
Sorry guys, but this man has the coolest job in the world http://bit.ly/zd4nk.
- Nir Ben Yona
@AstroMike is the NASA astronaut Twitter-er. But my vote is with Nir Ben Yona. That's a killer job right there.
- Aaron Turpen
Nir: my friend Bill Storage has had naked super models in his house. I would still rather have Jim Long's job.
- Robert Scoble
I like my job, personally. I get to be home with my family all day and set my own schedule. Heck, I'm going to Boston in 2 weeks and don't need to request any time off work. I'll just work from out there!
- Jesse Stay
I think Paul Therotte has a pretty cool gig. I dont know what he makes but seems like a good gig.
- Spirit 2.0
I wouldn't take Barack Obama's job for all the tea in China. I love my own job: helping entrepreneurs get started and grow. As my kids used to say, "my mom thinks on the phone for a living." Now I think online:-) No complaints here.
- Francine Hardaway
It isn't new but a guy I know rode a boom camera for the Donnie and Marie Show (yeah I know) and said it was the most fun he ever had.
- Bob Calder
from twhirl
There is a guy who works for Sports Illustrated who's job is to brush off the sand from the backside of the swimsuit models. I saw it once on a documentary. That would be a pretty cool job.
- Andrew Leyden
We get to travel around the world filming the best organic food, eco-accommodations, exotic locations and some of the true top chefs on the planet...just saying.
- HippyGourmet
The person who loves what they do the most of course... or an eccentric rich guy with no formal responsibilities, that's my dream job.
- Mark Essel
Mythbusters crew. They get to do all the coolest things in the name of good tv.
- John Ford
John, I've got to admit the blowing stuff up (w.out hurting people, cause the pres gets to blow stuff up) is pretty cool. I'm voting on Mythbusters crew. Good one.
- Jason Nunnelley
l'd love to be an artist - musician/painter/cartoonist if only I had that much talent :(
- Krishna Gade
Sorry, the coolest job in the white house has to be Pete Souza's, Chief Official White House Photographer. One of my favorite Souza photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos... or google "obama haircut son"
- Steve Wilhelm
Photographers seem to have hell of a time. They meet new (even famous) people, travel constantly, and have a creative job. Win. Fashion Photographers have even /more/ fun, from the sounds of it ;)
- Ahsan Ali aka. Slick
Kevin, I couldn't agree more
- Arvind
Not *the* coolest, but mine ain't bad. Recently started driving cross-country in a 1986 RV meeting people and telling their stories on video. http://thehardestyear.com
- John
Robert: I have the collest job in the world, because it was designed by me, so that I get to spend every day, doing what I love the most. I'm just trying to figure out how to get paid to watch re-runs of The Big Bang Theory show too - then it will be perfect!
- Jim Connolly
Jim: anyone who has a job that they love is in a great place, I agree. We're very blessed there.
- Robert Scoble
To me right now, any job that pays enough for me to keep my house is the coolest one in the world. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any of those around here.
- Scott Ohlemacher
Leo's explosion was the universe tilting back to equilibrium.
Jonathan Langdale, , John Furrier and Roberto Bonini liked this
Live now: The Gillmor Gang with Steve Gillmor, Mike Arrington, Hugh McLeod, Andrew Keen, Kevin Marks, and Loren Feldman. http://live.twit.tv Discuss here...
ravi karandeekar, Mark Young, Mike Schmidt and 183 other people liked this
how did he die ?
- John Hillestad
legal herion ?
- John Hillestad
I don't wanna sound smushy but the world would be a worse place without Arrington, don't care if you guys love him or hate him xx
- David Lloyd
Oh, just found this chat... thanks
- Tina Chase Gillmor
wow
- Karoli
kevin's link into live.twit.tv breaks
- Karoli
my thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family. also wish long life and good health to all of TWiT Army
- Andrew Johnson
HI FROM GEORGIA GLAD YALL ARE OK
- daveccorey
wow
- David Lloyd
wow...
- Chris Heath
I know serious Leo, that's serious Leo.
- Mike Lewis
Holy Crap!
- Bill Heslin
this will be news [edit: and it was http://www.google.com/search... & http://news.google.com/news... and personally I think Gawker had pretty good coverage of the whole dust-up http://gawker.com/5282089... ]
- Chris Heath
no drama leo
- Chris Heath
by that logic every person who revierws a product would be biased
- David Lloyd
Techcrunch SUCKS!
- Jason Hansen
wow!
- John Hillestad
I'm so happy!
- Jason Hansen
wow - just wow
- Devin Baines
shortest gillmor gang ever
- Karoli
lol that was classic
- Chris Saad
Wow, social media drama!
- imabonehead
Wow, I never saw Leo get mad before. That's a first.
- Dave
/me applauds Leo for standing up to Arrington's crap
- Omar Egan
Leo blew his top!
- John Hillestad
It's about time someone put Arrington in his place. He is always so cocky!
- Jason Hansen
man i only just caught the end - what happened?
- h1ro
I missed it too
- Simon Wicks
about time
- Jim Posner
OMG
- Steven (optionshiftk)
arrington accused leo of being biased b/c he got a review Palm Pre
- Karoli
Props Leo
- Nick Rae
Arington said Leo was biased because he has a review unit, Leo is the ULTIMATE ethical tech journalist. FUCK YOU ARRINGTON
- David Lloyd
Leo got a review Pre & Arrington was giving Leo crap about it.
- Jason Hansen
Leo for President
- Matthew
what a shitty move from arrington - leo would never do that sort of a thing he is always so upfront
- h1ro
wow. missed arringtons part but saw leos reaction twit live is running reruns.
- Kiran Patchigolla
Kinda felt that one coming for a long, long time.
- Mike Lewis
Arrington should not disrespect Leo on his own network
- Steven (optionshiftk)
The problem with arringtons argument is that every single review unit in history must mean ervery reviewer was biased
- David Lloyd
wow
- Tina Chase Gillmor
Way to go Leo!!
- Andre Vautour
wow from condolences to troll in under 10 minutes. arrington needs to take his meds.You rock Leo
- Andrew Johnson
Arrington's an asshole
- Devin Baines
What jealousy can cause. +1 Leo
- David Schmidt
@Michael that was indeed quite an over-reaction
- Chris Saad
relax people... let's leave the name calling out of here
- decjr
Mike just proved his bottom feeder business model by attacking one of the most trusted people in tech
- Matthew
Sorry about that guys, but I've have enough of Arrington's trolling.
- Leo Laporte
michael arrington Leo always discloses that info
- Andrew Johnson
got funky hold music on calliflower
- Kevin Marks
Mike, I agree, that should be disclosed, but the tone indicated bias and it was disrespectful!
- Mike Lewis
You have nothing to apologize for Leo
- Matthew
Leo is not for sale, fuck you king of the trolls, you always think you are right
- David Lloyd
You did the right thing Leo!
- Omar Egan
as much as Leo maybe right... he really should be more professional....
- John Hillestad
@leo i don't think anyone that knows your work would *ever* think of you not being a stand up guy on disclosure
- h1ro
No need to apologize Leo.
- Bill Heslin
Totally out of line Arrington-if you did your research you would have seen that Leo gave a fair review of the pre-he didn't say it was 100% perfect
- Harvey Birdman
nothing like factions to spice up a 10-minute Gillmor Gang episode. ROFL
- Karoli
No need to apologize Leo How you feel and how you react id your right no worries
- Erle Stride
Seemed a little uncalled for, I think Arrington was justified in asking to get the facts out there, but then again, I don't know their relationship to each other, maybe Arrington was being rude, maybe there's a code you guys like to follow.
- Colin
did i miss something?
- Kevin Marks
I agree. Leo has a history of owning Palm products and he was happy to see the Pre possilby bringing Palm to life again. Never once was it a biased comment. It was him being honest. My friend has a Pre... I have an iPhone.... people that don't have an iPhone or don't want an iPhone, the Pre will be a great choice. Arrington is a jerk.
- Jason Hansen
yes Kevin
- Matthew
the audio should go viral soon
- Jim Posner
Kevin, yeah. A small nuclear implosion.
- Karoli
Why are you confused Arrington? Are you serious?
- Jason Hansen
Professional? It's his network!! He doesn't have to put up with Arrington's crap. In any event I think Arrington needs to be more profesional and stop all that thoughtless crap he says all the time.
- Omar Egan
well, that was interesting.
- Chris Pugh
Hehe - this the Real Time Web in action, that's fo sho
- Devin Baines
you exist only to cause conflict mike, thats your purpose in life
- David Lloyd
Mark, that's kind of harsh. Just sayin'.
- Karoli
You rock Leo - don't take that crap. Arrington is a troll and just trying to bait you. Stick to your guns on this one.
- Mike
Just like to say I love what all of you guys do, laying your opinions out there and getting into heated discussion, I wouldn't like it any other way.
- Colin
@Michael u do lots of dick things to amuse yourself - but this wasn't one of them heh - total over-reaction
- Chris Saad
thats the point ...its HIS network... storming off mad is not professional..... as much as Leo was right to be mad , he should have just cut him off....
- John Hillestad
michael arrington doesn't seem to be able to not be in provocative mode when talking about products and services - leo called him out when he said "what are you gonna do about it?" so leo did something about it... kinda sux cuz i was liking the gillmor gang, but i respect leo laporte for standing up for himself in this instance even if it was a big misunderstanding
- Chris Heath
apologies if i overeacted xxx
- David Lloyd
Jeez, I leave for 20 minutes and miss it? you have got to be kidding me. This live stream approach is pissing me off.
- Aron Michalski
It's his network, running Arrington's show... Leo did the right thing.
- Omar Egan
Leo would have disclosed it was a review model. There was no need to accuse him of being bias just because it was a review model. Leo might have over reacted a little but Arrington was questioning his honesty and Leo maybe over enthusiastic but he his not dishonest.
- Kim Landwehr
I'll be uploading the audio here: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/TheGill...
- Jack
as we are all effectively coming into leo's front room, anyone should be polite to our host
- h1ro
yeah, why would Mike say "What are you going to do about it"? is he really that caveman-ish?
- Matthew
kim they were talking about how it was a review model...
- Chris Heath
Any chance we can hire someone from the Zapruder family to document this stuff?
- Aron Michalski
Chris is right... Why would you ask, "What are you gonna do about it?" That was very childish.
- Jason Hansen
@jason who said that?
- h1ro
I have been so frustrated with many of the people on the Gilmor Gang, but someone needs to be talking about this stuff... [edited/retracted part of this comment] ... I don't think Leo should to take over, I just think something needs to happen to get the show refocused on the content and not the personalities.
- Joel Asaro
Guys, Leo is human as is everyone. I'm not familiar with the previous relationship that he had with Michael, but he's probably having a bad day and got annoyed to be mistreated by Michael just like he did. I also dislike when people have prejudices against others. Furthermore, Leo was planning to buy his Pre a long long time ago. The fact that he got a review unit in does not make him biased.
- Paulius G
Its kind of funny I turned on Twit Tv and all I got of the show was that last minute.
- zephyrlily
If the Mike Arrington supporters ever bothered to watch Leo's shows, they would have seen he has stated it was a review model and even stated he will probably stay with his iPhone. So get a clue
- Harvey Birdman
Joel, I love Leo, but he should absolutely NOT take over Steve Gillmor's show.
- Karoli
cliff - please call me if you can
- Tina Chase Gillmor
the thing i was most excited about leo hosting the gillmor gang is that there might be some decent production values!
- h1ro
I agree with Kim Landwehr. I have never been able to find a moment in which Leo has been dishonest .. keep workin' it Leo!
- John Blanton
tina - which #? d msg me.
- Cliff Gerrish
Waiting for the TC post :)
- Chris Saad
im sure mike will make a post out of this yes :) he will have a provocative title and claim he did nothing wrong
- David Lloyd
Joel, that's TWiT (on sundays)
- Chris Heath
Arrington - Leo said it was a review unit. To start spinning it that he may be "influenced" on a guy who's spent his entire career being an ethical journalist was unnecessary... especially when your hosting your show on his network. I know its in your nature but bro, that's not what the show is about - get a pause button. Stop burning bridges.
- Thusenth
I'll miss Mike Arrington =(
- Colin
just wild to hear Leo Laporte say "Fuck you"...he must've been brewing for awhile.
- Karoli
Karoli - i was shocked too!
- Chris Heath
yes, it was brewing for months
- David Lloyd
Went downstairs just as everyone was signing on - came back up and it's over - :p
- LPH™ and his dog P™
I think that's the first time I've seen angry leo
- Chris Pugh
Mike Arrington, has a way to trip peoples trigger, he seems to get a kick out of it. Like it makes him a big man.
- Kim Landwehr
Well, come on.... Arrington has been an ass for how long?
- Jason Hansen
What's next a 5 minute NGL @ 3am PDT?
- Aron Michalski
Wondering if somebody minds if we put the recording of this, shortest ever Gilmor Gang onto YouTube?
- Mike Hellers
I won't miss him.. The show is always better when Arrington's not on the show anyways.
- Omar Egan
years no doubt :p
- David Lloyd
I agree with Leo 100% here. I would have said this in the IRC chat, but would have been booted.
- Jason Hansen
I feel bad for Steve and Mrs gillmor tho
- David Lloyd
Go Leo! :-)
- Moobie
Is Tina Gillmor still in here?
- Jason Hansen
Aron, a 5-minute NGL at any time of day would be more than what it is now. LOL
- Karoli
Leo spends a lot of his own money on products to be sure that he doesn't "owe" manufacturers anything. Even his advertisements are only for products he uses and likes himself. He only requested this unit because he records today, the day the Pre goes on sale, so he couldn't go out and buy one. If Leo is biased about a product or a company it's because he genuinely likes it. It's something Leo takes very seriously, and he had every right to be upset at someone impugning his honor, rightly or wrongly.
- invariant - farewell FF
hello
- Tina Chase Gillmor
Kind of like telling a friend his kids are ugly while crashing at their house for the weekend...don't be surprised if you are shown the door.
- Jim Posner
very true, invariant
- Eric Florenzano
good point invariant
- Chris Heath
hey Tina - sorry this happened
- Hilary Talbot
Tina, I have a good feeling this will work itself out :) I think that boiling point just needed to happen and cooler heads will prevail :)
- Mike Lewis
Did the show start at the top of the hour?
- zephyrlily
Incredible: Someone already updated Arrington's wikipedia page with a short description of the incident http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...
- Steven (optionshiftk)
The Mike: Arrington will never change.
- Jason Hansen
Iunno invariant, I still think the question wasn't that crazy, and I was interested in the answer until I realized it really upset Leo.
- Colin
I would be upset at having my integrity challenged too.
- Karoli
love you tina, you are a top chick xxx
- David Lloyd
I JUST POSTED TO YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/watch...
- Mike Bracco
Jason, agree, which is why you won't hear Leo and Mike together on GG anymore.
- Mike Lewis
Tina.... MWAH. I'm coming your way next week...
- Karoli
thanks @Mike Bracco
- detorn
I think Leo is officially in the Gillmor Gang!
- Wo
RETWEET: http://www.youtube.com/watch...
- David Lloyd
Karoli - let's get together when you do
- Tina Chase Gillmor
Colin - I'm not necessarily saying Mike was wrong to ask, I'm just saying that I could understand Leo's reaction.
- invariant - farewell FF
In my best cartman voice "I'm taking my network and going home."
- Paul E. Ester
I'm very shocked... for the record
- Tina Chase Gillmor
crazy that this happened just signed up on ff to participate in the show
- Will Fifer
What happened? - J. Gilbert
- Joe Gilbert
I'm sad my GG was cut short. It's my favorite show of the week.
- Wo
Hmm, I just re-watched the Youtube video, Arrington saying, "What are you going to do about it?" was childish heh, Leo called his bluff.
- Colin
yeah the "what are you going to do about it" from arrington probably not a great move
- h1ro
Just watched the video again - Seriously, Mike did nothing wrong heh
- Chris Saad
re what happened Arington said Leo was biased because he has a review unit, Leo is the ULTIMATE ethical tech journalist
- David Lloyd
If I was not there to see it live I would guess it was staged.
- Steven (optionshiftk)
He never said he was biased - listen carefully - he just said let's get the disclosures out of the way and mentioned that Leo was one of the few to get a demo unit - that's it
- Chris Saad
it was not staged, the anger was real
- David Lloyd
Leo always seemed to be above the GG shenanigans but it's nice he's now down to the GG level. I respect that.
- Wo
I thought Leo was being facetious
- Steven (optionshiftk)
If things didn't get broken once in a while I might not think you guys were actually fighting, so keep it up! lol ;)
- Colin
I think the "what are you going to do about it" was the kicker
- Chris Pugh
So I take it there isn't going to be a Gillmor Gang this week?
- Dave
I really hope it's not the end of TGG on TWiT.
- Wo
GG is not dead, it will be back
- David Lloyd
just not on twit
- David Lloyd
realtime web ladies and gentlemen, friendfeeded, twittered and youtubed within ten minutes of the incident.
- russtbarnacle
@chris i think the "what are you going to do about it" wasn't exactly a calming move - more a troll move
- h1ro
well Paul, Mike did ask Leo what he would do about it. He did something. He cut his ass off
- russellcoleman
Chris, remember Mike was not watching the video, so he though Leo was being facetious
- Steven (optionshiftk)
Damn, I slept through the Gillmor Gang, sorry Steve (I flew back from Virginia this morning and was dead tired.
- Robert Scoble
yes russelcoleman haha
- David Lloyd
got it on facebook too @russtbarnacle
- detorn
Leo took his ball and is going home.
- Wo
arrington has been a complete assclown on the show before
- Moose
you missed a classic Scoble
- David Lloyd
lol
- detorn
it takes alot to upset Leo, i mean REALLY pset Leo
- David Lloyd
Now this is really getting Web 2.0, even the Robert Scoble is here!
- Paulius G
@Robert you can re-watch the whole 5 second show here http://www.youtube.com/watch...
- Chris Saad
@scoble http://www.youtube.com/watch... action replay
- h1ro
This had been brewing for a while.... It was only a matter of time.... Leo defended himself and was correct in doing so, It`s his network and his credibility which was questioned.
- David Peralta
russtbarnacle - do you see any irony in the claim of the real-time web youtubed, friendfeeded, twittered and archived? LOL
- Karoli
Maybe Scoble could have calmed Leo down.
- Steven (optionshiftk)
GG will still be on Twit as long as Mike isn't on it
- zephyrlily
Dan is censoring the irc chat room...
- John Hillestad
I was looking forward to the Pre discussion.
- Wo
Before Thursday, Leo had said that he intended to buy a Palm Pre as soon as it came out, but that he'd like to get one a bit early, if possible. His radio show is on Saturday and he wanted to have one to review during that show. I don't think he gets review units very often; this one was something of an unexpected surprise. I think he only got it on Thursday.
- Troy McConaghy
Robert Scoble - call Steve in 10 minutes or when you're alert
- Tina Chase Gillmor
hundreds of peopel are watching this thread btw in real time
- David Lloyd
I suppose it's just me, but seriously, half the time this show is "real time real time" and Scoble screaming FreidnFeed, power to Leo
- Chris
NO MORE GILMORE GANG NOT ENOUGH RESPECT TO THE MAN PROVIDING THE SERVICE
- Daryl Brown
think Leo was beyond calming down, it was weeks of little snide commentsb y arrington that exploded
- David Lloyd
was great a few weeks ago when Loren made Arrington cry and go home
- Moose
Leo really is doing a tremendous favor donating his time to broadcast the GG. After a 3 hour radio show, who could help but be cranky.
- Steven (optionshiftk)
the incident : http://www.youtube.com/watch...
- John Hillestad
Gillmor Gang continues. It has been around for years before twit
- Tina Chase Gillmor
HAHA, awesome, Leo put the Pre unboxing video on!
- invariant - farewell FF
Tina, wasn't it supposed to record on Friday at 3?
- Karoli
Mike will apologize and that will be that. Leo felt insulted and it seemed to be a misunderstanding. Arrington respects Laporte and Laporte respects Arrington.
- Wo
I just watched the video. GG will survive, but without Arrington. - Gilbert
- Joe Gilbert
Thanks to whomever posed the incident; some things never change.
- Aron Michalski
Sounds reasonable Mark, and I remember that Moose. To be honest, it's Leo's network and he can do as he wishes, and if you throw torches in his house, he's bound to crack eventually. Glad to see this up again, I missed it.
- Chris
not angry at you or Steve, you are first class professionals tina xx
- David Lloyd
"Arrington respects Laporte and Laporte respects Arrington." I have no idea about arrington but leo has called him a troll several times
- jccalhoun
they shut the IRC down. FF is just as good
- Mike
Why is Dan muting the IRC chat? Just because he doesn't like to see people talking about what just happened?
- tollie williams
Just hope Arrington does not publish a defamatory post about Leo.
- Steven (optionshiftk)
Yes...Karoli... but we had a family problem yesterday
- Tina Chase Gillmor
Dan is a tool
- David Lloyd
Tina, sorry to hear that. :( I nearly missed the fun.
- Karoli
its funny everyone in California is a liberal until they CENSOR their own irc chat room.... very ' bush ' thing to do Dan....
- John Hillestad
There's a dictator in the IRC chat? Not cool.
- Colin
There was use in shutting down the chat. People will use FF to discuss the incident.
- Steven (optionshiftk)
that irc chat has more drama and BS going on.. i swear it needs to get a Daytime Emmy
- Moose
I'd love to see Arrington go after Leo - Leo has waaaaaay more ethical clout than Arrington and the respect of the whole community / industry
- Mike
you can't censor something if you aren't the government
- jccalhoun
FF just gained a lot of points.
- Colin
I am behind you leo
- Theodore Grabow
Leo can do whatever he wishes with the IRC chat, it is on his server. Let's respect his authority.
- Steven (optionshiftk)
Leo's rant > Christian Bale's
- Chris
twit irc has never been a free speech zone. go in there and say the f word and see how long you last
- jccalhoun
if Leo told Dan to shut down the IRC that's one thing, but I think Dan just made an executive decision which is only going to fuel the fire
- Mike
jccalhoun after today that may be changing. LOL
- Karoli
yeah the irc server is a bit odd, i dont think leos audience is children, who need protecting from big naughty words
- David Lloyd
Been there jccalhoun, that's why I try to spend more time here.
- Colin
Whoa. Not sure what to think about all that, but "Whaddya gonna do about it" is a pretty bullying -- even thuggish -- thing to say...
- Amyloo
Oh please, if there's any time to moderate a chat room, it's now.
- Bwana ☠
there is/was an adult irc channel
- Moose
And our point Bwana, is that there is never a time to moderate.
- Colin
mark, actually there are a fair number of tweens in there.
- jccalhoun
hey Amy
- Hilary Talbot
Leo had a right to be angry but I wish he hadn't gotten so angry as to close the show, would have been better to see them fight it out as to the Pre, a few fuck yous and then go on with the show
- Stephen Pickering
facebook real time chat is better to be honest, we can speak our minds without being banned by those power hungry mods
- David Lloyd
Never a time to moderate eh? Well have fun
- Bwana ☠
hey hil, did you catch that?
- Amyloo
My 2 cents, I'm behind Leo 100%, there is no need to give assholes like that airtime.
- Robert Hafer
yes, it was all over in minutes...
- Hilary Talbot
Yes.. Gillmor Gang is off ... Arrington out line .... for third time ....
- Michael Holzinger
yes cos preteens have never heard curse words, their lives will be destroyed!
- David Lloyd
Chris - don't be silly. Leo's rant was nothing. Is everyone so bored today that they have to get off on this nonsense?
- LPH™ and his dog P™
I think Dan did not like people posting the youtube links to the F bomb so he censored the room like he would Gitmo
- John Hillestad
I think leo felt slighted from steve when he wasn't introduced in the beginning. During the arrington exchange Steve is laughing away.
- Paul E. Ester
Besides, Bwana, it just sends the conversation here... until this thread gets deleted (if it does).
- tollie williams
i'm guessing the people talking about "power hungry mods" are people who pissed off the mods...
- jccalhoun
Dan runs a tight ship
- russellcoleman
When someone is typing the letter "a" 600 times a minute and actually ruining the service, sure, use the system to fix that, but other than that, this current mute is silly.
- Colin
Yeah, because IRC is a right, not a privilege
- Bwana ☠
I would assume Leo will delete this conversation
- Steven (optionshiftk)
oh, I love it when people are called 'power hungry mods'. It usually means they've done something right.
- Karoli
Tina: I will call Steve. Wow, sounds like I missed a something.
- Robert Scoble
the biggest thing to happen in the TWITverse in like...forever...and Dan shuts down the chat? weak!
- zefyr
If this thread gets deleted by anyone it'll re-start somewhere else... You just can't stop it.
- Holger Eilhard
Arrington abuses Scoble all the time, but Scoble just laughs
- Stephen Pickering
I wonder if killing the show was what Arrington had in mind as a response when he asked "Whaddya gonna do about it?"
- Thusenth
Robert - you certainly did
- Devin Baines
OK Robert... yeah, you missed somethiing
- Tina Chase Gillmor
Can they just do the show today without Leo. They have a great panel and I want my GG this week.
- Wo
Of course not Bwana, but if you want to facilitate open discussion, keep your channel open.
- Colin
cut & paste this thread to prove it ' existed '
- John Hillestad
LOL @ Scobles understatement
- Moose
"What are you going to do about it?" *initiating shutdown sequence*
- zephyrlily
google indexes this stuff fast anyway
- Karoli
Steve says GG will resume as soon as we can make new arrangements
- Tina Chase Gillmor
resume as in today.. somewhere else?
- Moose
good old steve, another one of the good guys
- David Lloyd
today Tina?
- Wo
thanks for the update @tina
- h1ro
any one with firefox could have downloaded it already for "posterity"...
- Aron Michalski
Will Steve try and stream it over ustream?
- Steven (optionshiftk)
not today maybe tomorrow or Monday after WWDC
- Tina Chase Gillmor
Here's a similar incident that happened in the past: http://www.techcult.com/wired-v...
- invariant - farewell FF
@Bwana Moderation certainly helps in many cases, but it's also nice to have an unmoderated place to chat for those that want it.
- 321
TWiT is much more than just the Gillmor Gang though.
- Jason Hansen
Aron, Theatre of the Absurd is an excellent description. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...
- Karoli
I'm not sure why it pushed my buttons so hard - closing down the show was overreacting for sure and I apologize for the disrespect it showed the other panelists. Arrington is a piece of work. I can think of one time when he stimulated the conversation in a very positive manner (his question about how to respond to an invitation to talk from a guy he was slamming) but most of the time he...
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- Leo Laporte
Well Tina, if we can help by being an audience, just let us know when and if it's happening...
- Aron Michalski
This is absolutely asinine. Leo Laporte has done nothing but good for his audience and viewers in the past. Leo deserves better than to work with some boldfaced idiot like Arrington. Leo was NOT in the wrong by any means necessary. I couldn't care less if I ever heard from Arrington again.
- David Ford
And Mike really wonders why people "do things" to him...?
- Holger Eilhard
good statement Leo
- David Lloyd
I would have to say that Arrington was the straw that broke the camel's back. It was a BIG straw, but Leo has been under a lot of stress as of late. Hang in there Leo!
- Patrick Hall
Why isn't the Gilmore Gang part of the whole TWiT feed in iTunes?
- Michael Kaiser
Well done Leo, he really is a troll and I applaud you for not putting up with his shit.
- Simon Tracey
WTG Leo
- Moose
he is a troll, the king of the trolls, but he is just so damn powerful and influential :(
- David Lloyd
Leo: Let Gillmor Gang do their own thing.
- Jason Hansen
Jason is coming to the TWiT network btw, as a sindicate
- David Lloyd
It's all fun and games until you get kicked off TWiT
- Bwana ☠
Does Gillmor Gang get posted somewhere after the fact? http://gillmorgang.techcrunch.com/ hasn't been updated since April.
- Thusenth
@Leo Thanks to you sir for standing up for us. I for one have NEVER liked Arrington. I don't think the GG should continue on TWiT.
- David Ford
You called his bluff Leo, I say continue without Arrington, if that's possible.
- Colin
Wow. Leo's response to what happened was very honorable. That shows the difference between Leo and Arrington. Arrington would never have the decency to respond in such a reasonable way on FF. That's why we love Leo.
- Steven (optionshiftk)
Oh No, ARRINGTONS POST is up oN TC
- David Lloyd
doesnt mention leo tho
- David Lloyd
lmao Bwana
- Moose
@leo i don't think anything that happened today has even slightly damaged my opinion of you or the Twit network. it seemed like arrington was deliberately trying to push your buttons for whatever reason. i think you made the move that was right for you at the time. keep up the great work and go have a nice cup of peppermint tea
- h1ro
What an interesting political dilemma. Leo won't do anything with Arrington, Steve edits TechcrunchIT
- Karoli
I would never kick you off Bwana!
- Leo Laporte
Leo: The only people you didn't disrespect was Steve Gillmor, he laughed through the whole thing, & Arrington.
- Jason Hansen
GG Never felt like the right vibe for TWiT. Don't blame you for how you feel Leo. No worries. Please come back on and we can do something fun.
- Libertine
Yeah Karoli. Therein lies the difficulty.
- Leo Laporte
Looks like Leo does have some weight behind him - Earthquake just felt in the Bay Area.
- Mike
Wow, I missed a lot. Leo, keep Gillmor Gang off of TWiT. You did the right thing, and I thank you for it.
- TeraDyne Azurepaw
Leo :)
- Bwana ☠
I think they're saving up so that catching up on back episodes will fill your hard drive...
- Aron Michalski
Stick to your guns Leo. Integrity is everything.
- Chuck
Leo, in response to your question of whether to cancel the GG, I personally like it on TWIT Live.
- Steven (optionshiftk)
"Dan if all the chat is going to be for the next half hour is people obsessing about it - i think it's best not to have open chat." WTF? lol
- Erle Stride
Wow, never seen Leo like that. Gotta defend yourself if someone thinks your being bought out.
- Adam Windisch
Let's go back to broadcasting GG the old way... I want to throw Mike off the show.
- Jerry Schuman
wow can't believe I missed it give em hell Leo. Please don't cancel the gilmore gang though, I love to hate those guys
- BryanSchuetz
MP3 of the whole show: http://www.archive.org/downloa...
- Jack
The thing about Leo, he wouldnt even advertise a product he doesnt love! he has to ADORE A PRODUCT to endorse it
- David Lloyd
I think Dan is out of line cutting off IRC, if Leo didn't want conversation about this he would have deleted this thread.
- Mike Saraf
Well, my vote is that the Gillmor Gang continue without restriction. If restrictions mean not working with you, Leo, then I guess that's my vote.
- Karoli
I could do without GG on Twit Live personally, never felt like a good fit compared to the rest of your shows. Would personally rather see your time/energy on more interesting things (the new Google Show, for example).
- Patrick Sullivan
@mark link for arringtons post on tc?
- h1ro
Erie - I don't blame Dan...I would have just moderated the channel for voiced users though. But he runs it, and there's always other places to chat.
- Bwana ☠
Leo, I enjoy the Gillmor Gang on TWiT Live but don't think you should stand for being bated and trolled.
- Chris Pugh
I love GG with Loren .. Arrington is a distraction at best
- Moose
Just get rid of Mike, everyone else seems to play nice, he's the common denominator in every incident.
- Colin
@Mark That post has nothing to do with what happend on Gillmor Gang though.
- 321
Bwana Who's Erie?
- Erle Stride
I didn't "cut off irc".. i decided to mute it for a few minutes to qwell the constant gossip. It will be back in a few minutes.
- Dan Hendricks
it was a mistake h1ro, it said it came from arringtons twitter, but its not about leo but about engineers they poached
- David Lloyd
Steve laughed because surely he thought this was a joke
- Tina Chase Gillmor
With htat said, I'm no fan of Mike Arrington's. I am a GG fan and a Leo fan.
- Karoli
Leo , look at it this way you had your ball meme the other week and now you've got this video that could meme,your on a roll your the meme machine!
- russtbarnacle
Erle - Erie is you when I'm reading without my glasses
- Bwana ☠
i think many of us thought it was a joke for the first few seconds
- David Lloyd
:)
- Bwana ☠
Leo is going on techmeme?
- David Lloyd
I imagine Gilmore and Arrington may be a package deal
- zefyr
Bwana I know just breaking balls
- Erle Stride
I agree that Dan should unmute IRC. @Bwana, he didn't filter it for trolls. He personally didn't like the TWiT community discussing the current event. IMHO - not the best use of censorship.
- tollie williams
I deserved it :)
- Bwana ☠
irc has a gossip filter?
- Moose
Would be a bit politically touchy for Steve to toss Mike off GG to stay on Twit network...just sayin'.
- Karoli
Isn't this all Marc Canters fault? He usually brings the sunshine to the gang.
- Paul E. Ester
So did anyone happen to record video of the show? I missed it
- BryanSchuetz
IRC is back for anyone interested
- Mike
Dan - do your thing. I have an inkling of an idea of what you're going through.
- Bwana ☠
Maybe they can alternate Mike and Leo each week?
- Dave
So lets see Huge issue happens in Twit And the way Dan feels to deal with it is to NOT allow Leos' Army to discuss it? WOW
- Erle Stride
FF > IRC
- David Lloyd
Dan, good thing tomorrow is a slow tech news day, huh? :P
- Mike Lewis
until they add custom formatting here? Lo
- David Lloyd
Wow I've only seen two episodes of GG so far. Gotta say last weeks show was better. Hang in there Leo.
- John Brazel
you got that one right Professor.
- John Blanton
from twhirl
Some people are calling this set up...i don't believe it, but i guess its possible.
- Zee.
Full show here, it was good at the beginning: http://www.archive.org/downloa...
- Jack
RT Jason Calicanus "This is what happens when I resign from the Gillmor Gang... everyone loses it! :-)"
- David Lloyd
Doing set ups is not Leo's style, which is the reason I absolutely don't believe the theories of this being intentional.
- Paulius G
Yeah, for a moment I thought it was staged, like all this Bruno Eminem thing, but I guess it's NOT.
- Nir Ben Yona
If this was a setup then Bruno's balls in Eminems face was real
- Chris Pugh
well Leo can act, but that would be an oscar performance
- David Lloyd
Zee: it's not setup. Boy, this has kicked off a whole debate in the scoble household with Maryam and Halley Suitt. I sure missed a humdinger to sleep through!
- Robert Scoble
Just to be clear, I almost always buy the products I review, mostly because I don't like "owing" the PR folks and I hate the "when are you planning on covering it" phone calls, but also to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest. My policy when I accept a review unit is to return the unit and buy one at full retail if I want to keep using it. I don't even do "friends and family...
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- Leo Laporte
Well said Leo!
- Harvey Birdman
I wonder if the show notes are on the twit wiki yet
- David Lloyd
Leo has 30 year history of integrity
- David Lloyd
@Leo Mike never accused you of otherwise
- Chris Saad
Leo: I just received a Palm Pre unit that I have to return in seven days, too.
- Robert Scoble
He was just getting the disclosures out of the way
- Chris Saad
Leo, as someone who occasionally reviews products too, I totally get where you're coming from. Questioning your integrity was out of line and yes, trollish.
- Karoli
Leo you are beyond reproach.
- BryanSchuetz
right on - and that's why we all respect your opinion
- h1ro
Chris, there was more than that to it
- Karoli
We know, Leo, and we trust your reviews as a result
- Devin Baines
Not so Chris - he very clearly was implying that there was some quid pro quo for the review unit.
- Leo Laporte
Thank you Leo. Now, to those of you who said otherwise about Leo, I have the same thing to say to you as he said to Arrington.
- David Ford
What Mike asked was fine, and how Leo responded was fine, what was not fine was the comment, "What are you going to do about it?"
- Colin
You don`t have to explain yourself Leo, your integrity is well recognized and we don`t pay attention to trolls. We are behind you 100%. I say the show takes a hike
- David Peralta
No he really wasn't - listen to the youtube recording - he stopped you before you even reviewed the thing and just wanted to get the disclosure out of the way
- Chris Saad
re colin, flame baiting?
- David Lloyd
Sorry guys, but all I can think of right now is : Man I love friendFeed
- TunisianGuy
It was snarky, and the reiteration of the "free pre" thing was just the extra stab.
- Karoli
We love you Leo! Hang in there!
- Head Ov Metal
can you call tina please Leo xx
- David Lloyd
@tunisianguy i just wish that friendfeed would autoscroll to the bottom of this page when there is new content
- h1ro
Awesome statement Leo, I just reblogged it so people are clear
- Bwana ☠
@Leo as I said above - Mike does lots of crazy things - this wasn't one of them - his point was "did u get a free one, wow most of us didn't"
- Chris Saad
I'm really bummed out because I like both Leo and Mike and now I feel a bit caught in between. Sort of like having two divorcing parents, I guess.
- Robert Scoble
Mark, am I flame-baiting do you mean, or Mike's comment?
- Colin
Everyone is on your side Leo! you did the right thing, don't doubt that for a second!
- Jack
Gilmor Gang should continue on TWiT, with Steve in charge of the guests he wants to bring on. Michael Arrington can cause friction but there has been plenty of outrageous comments on GG. Arrington is too much of a force in the digital universe to simply ignore. I very much admire Leo for what he is doing with TWiT and understand losing his temper. But, if Leo doesn't want to do the show, then have someone else "moderate" it. We need to hear all sides and opinions presented on shows like GG.
- Michael Ritter
Leo got Pwned lol.
- Matt Ruiz
friendfeed needs to either put a margin at the bottom of the page or else stop scrolling when i'm typing. it's distracting to type while messages push it down. grrrrr.
- Karoli
RT Scoble---pick the better parent then---Leo
- Harvey Birdman
Remember when RSS was dead? Those were the days. Ok, last week.
- Professor Messer
Leo, we know better, despite what arrington says. I hope you don't think we'd believe him over you.
- Lise
We love you Leo!
- Moobie
that means two Christmas's Scoble = Win
- BryanSchuetz
Harvey: I will stay with both. My friends don't force me to choose.
- Robert Scoble
Professer Messer, LOL. Ah, for the good ole' days when RSS died.
- Karoli
@Robert choose life :)
- Chris Saad
Well said, Robert.
- David Ford
Chris Saad that name rings a bell, doesnt he own apml.org?
- David Lloyd
Canter was on GG via TWiT.. showing everyone his stash of weed....Steve forgave hime for that and he was back on a few weeks later
- Moose
Chris: it's interesting how things like these cause conversations big time.
- Robert Scoble
@Mark yes I do
- Chris Saad
:25 in the youtube video trying to figure out what Arrington says...
- Thomas McGivern
Robert, not so interesting. Conflict always draws observers and opinions.
- Karoli
@Robert of course they do - this is one big highschool replay :)
- Chris Saad
Leo was very clear it was a review unit. Had Arrington stopped there things might have continued fine. He continued saying "Free Pre"and then said "What are you going to do about it". It was classic bully antics ....
- Jason Beck
Chris: life is one big highschool replay. ;-)
- Robert Scoble
Hey ProfesorMesser loving the aplus course-you are a great podcaster.(will this get me an A)
- earl wallace
Yet another reason for me to continue my personal Boycott of TC. Just as I was starting to read them again, :(
- Jimminy
@Robert lol true I guess
- Chris Saad
Agreed, this is life.
- Colin
@Scoble -- lol, wish you'd been there.. might have diffused the situation!
- Adnan
Free Pre which yo8u can keep for 7 days? Thats hardly a game changetr
- David Lloyd
Leo, I have total respect for you, your approach and network. You had every right to respond as you did. We all know you are a gadget freak and have always appeared to operate with forthright integrity. My own run ins with Arrington for holding a non-Arrington opinion (read popular) probably don't even register with him. It left me feeling as if I had been played and with a very bad taste in my mouth. Success is measured in different ways.
- Aron Michalski
In other news, I'm still not getting a Pre, but it's a cool piece of hardware!
- Mike Lewis
Jason: Arrington is a bully sometimes, but that's what makes him interesting. Not everyone likes that approach, though.
- Robert Scoble
Its not late to bring some peace back
- Johni Fisher
You don't bully leo though scoble
- Jack
...and the pug barks, life goes on. GG will find a new home, which we may or may not find because it will be real-time only, and we will have to rely on reading our tea leaves or gluing ourselves to Twitter and/or Friendfeed to find it. Ah, the power of the gesture.
- Karoli
I feel that Mike is losing 'street Cred" in the tech world.....
- Stanley Suan
Just finished watching Apocalypse Now for the first time - crazy film - almost as weird as the @leolaporte @arrington freakout :)
- Chris Saad
Adnan: I doubt I could have diffused this one. I would have been forced to be on Leo's side because I have a review unit now from Palm too.
- Robert Scoble
You have a "free pre" then in Mikes eyes
- David Lloyd
It's on the reddits now - http://bit.ly/u0Ilr
- James
"what are you going to do about it?" is never anything but a dick move in my book
- jccalhoun
Karoli lol
- russtbarnacle
Arrington maybe interesting to the people watching the conversation, infuriating those who are part of the conversation..
- Kim Landwehr
was the google show suposed to be sat and gg on fri?
- Steve Ford
Tina I pinged you yesterday about getting together with Karoli.
- Francine Hardaway
from BuddyFeed
No reason Leo need suffer fools gladly on the network he created. Rock on Mr. Laporte!
- John Brazel
Actually Canter is infuriating - Mike is fun :)
- Chris Saad
Steve: yes, but the Gillmors had a family issue they had to take care of yesterday.
- Robert Scoble
Francine - sorry didn't get it .. Yesterday was a mess for me/us
- Tina Chase Gillmor
whats arringtons take on all this?
- Dano Hart
he hasnt commented publically, he is with his dog
- David Lloyd
Don't you Think the GG meltdown was really about Rajeev's death and raw feelings?
- Francine Hardaway
from BuddyFeed
I like cheese.
- Benjamin Grelle
Who really cares what arrington's take is on anything?
- Harvey Birdman
@ right, but it seemed to me that there was lots of stuff going on backstage getting it together and onto youtube and so on, and this will likely disrupt that effort. As well as the political concerns you mentioned before.
- Hilary Talbot
I like John Cheese
- David Lloyd
Ok! Is there any other show please. I'm all set up. Bulleit Bourbon and everything! Damn you Palm
- TunisianGuy
that was @karoli, sorry
- Hilary Talbot
Yes, they needed you there Robert. I think you could have diffused it, like you did when Jason and Cantor were getting into it, but I have to admit I've never seen Leo get that angry
- Stephen Pickering
Dano - I don't think arrington understands what happened, he said earlier he went for a walk
- Moobie
@Harvey lol err... everyone cares - that's why he runs one of the biggest Tech news & events companies in the valley
- Chris Saad
Stephen: I agree, I've never seen Leo lose it like that. Arrington makes me feel like that once in a while too.
- Robert Scoble
There's just something about the Gillmor Gang that seems to engender flame-ups. It's not the direction I want to take TWiT, frankly.
- Leo Laporte
Hard to have a decent conversation when someone is poking you with a shark stick, don't care who it is...
- Aron Michalski
I agree with Harvey, no one cares
- David Peralta
@Chris-that's funny, I've only heard about him because of Leo.
- Harvey Birdman
Leo I've watched you from all the way back since ZDTV. Even helped out in the chats as a ZDTV chat host. Still watch you today. I have deeply respected you from those days and after what I've seen today I still hold very high respect for you. It's not cool to see anyone question anyone about their integrity over any product or anything for that matter. Just sounds more like this Mike...
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- Grady Joslin
has gillmore commented
- Steve Ford
I think most of us would agree leo
- Jack
@Grady Joslin - Well said, and seconded, sir.
- David Ford
I agree with you Leo
- Theodore Grabow
Updated the bootleg feed: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/TheGill...
- Jack
Agreed Leo
- Moobie
@Frank TGG won't be airing today.. based on earlier responses on the thread.
- Divya Mistry
Well, at least I didn't have to miss the Belmont Stakes!
- Stephen Pickering
Leo I'm with you. You don't need a show like GG on your network
- russellcoleman
Waffles are also delicious.
- Benjamin Grelle
Halley says "your sleeping was brilliant strategically." Ahh, my nap wasn't planned. Heheh
- Robert Scoble
i'm glad to know friendfeed can handle all this.hehe
- Dano Hart
arrington posts on techcrunch http://www.techcrunch.com/2009...
- jccalhoun
RT ARRINGTON http://www.techcrunch.com/2009...
- David Lloyd
Dano: there's a reason why I have been so excited about friendfeed.
- Robert Scoble
Decent post by Arrington with some gracious comments
- David Lloyd
He respects Leo I think
- David Lloyd
Looks like we need president Obama to mediate between the sides and straighten the difficulties, otherwise the gang will be out of its sting.
- Nir Ben Yona
@robertscoble yeah I like this better than twitter, but everyones on twitter. That TC post is what I wanted to read was mikes side, just cause I'm curious
- Dano Hart
anyway to get the latest post at the top?
- detorn
obama is too busy going on ' date night '
- John Hillestad
Good post from Mike.
- invariant - farewell FF
Good post form Mike. with an apology
- David Lloyd
Mike apologizes to Leo
- David Peralta
if Leo was 99% of any other tech journos, he wouldnt have gotten that apology
- David Lloyd
Respect exists.
- David Lloyd
Do a twitter search on leo laporte and you see thousands of people agreeing with leo. sometimes people just need to be told what they are doing is wrong and leo did exactly that. thumbs up leo
- Austin Garrod
yes ive been monitoring a number of comment places and its 95% support Leo across platforms
- David Lloyd
Arrington apologizes, the nukes are put away.
- Karoli
if most people weren't supporting Leo I don't see arrington apologizing. doesn't arrington have some place besides the front page of techcrunch to apologize? Some place that won't get him more publicity and make him out to look like a big man for apologizing?
- jccalhoun
well I am sure this might make techmeme, what do you think?
- David Lloyd
Good post by Mike Arrington on Tech Crunch, He obviously spoke before he thought and now is sorry.
- Kim Landwehr
In some strange way, I think Palm is the winner here
- Bwana ☠
the Arrington apology doesn't sound like an apology... he's saying he is sorry leo was offended by the question, not that he asked it...
- detorn
finally got to the end of this thing.... friendfeed conversations are getting way way too long.. guess that's kinda the worry leo has had about 'spam' on ff
- Christopher Harris
whats that tech site which has the gutter news?
- David Lloyd
I now have a headache
- Bwana ☠
he did apologize : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009...
- John Hillestad
James: for arrington, thats a gracious apology, as close as will ever be
- David Lloyd
To quote Arrington's "apology" - "Comment moderation is going to be tight on this post, so keep it constructive." Unlike here where we can actually speak out minds and exercise our opinions without moderation. Arrington has lost a lot of credibility here I think.
- Simon Tracey
Weakest. Apology. Ever.
- Eric Florenzano
The full show! http://www.archive.org/downloa...
- Chris
Well that was a very nice apology. I might have to reconsider.
- Leo Laporte
Leo-don't, he's not worth it.
- Harvey Birdman
"And I don’t consider asking a journalist to disclose if a device he says he loves was given to him for free or not as being a particularly trollish thing to do." Arrington see not an apology, an explanation. Not taking sides either way, but call this what it is
- detorn
Not one of the finest moments on TWiT but very understandable. Leo's built a great career out of his knowledge and integrity and Arrington seems to be the type to push anyone's buttons he can.... That's what has made them both successful in their own right. Cooler heads will always prevail, and I think this is won't be an exception
- Kyle
@bwana I agree on both statements. It is good for palm and I do have a headache from catching up on all this.hehe
- Dano Hart
Leo be the better man and accept his apology and keep the show running...
- John Hillestad
Whoa. I was just gonna question if Leo was going to reconsider. I think respects you, Leo. Mike is who he is, but I think he realized he screwed up.
- Lise
I kind of figure from Mike Arrington, this is about as big of apology as he is going to give.
- Kim Landwehr
Make peace not war Leo.
- Willem (@wim66) ☠
Leo, my friend, for Arrington, that was as close to getting down and kissing your feet he will ever do to anyone. He respects you.
- David Lloyd
Leo, even though I am a fan of the Gillmor Gang, I completely understand if you decide it would be best if they find another host.
- Dave
Peace may be the best solution here; although I do agree the GG stands out as having a different tone than other TWiT shows, not one I'm particularly fond of. Maybe a peaceful parting is the best solution?
- Jason Beck
You are all friends ....we cant change the past go for a better future
- Johni Fisher
Nice, I post a reasonable comment on TechCrunch, and it gets rejected. Now who's biased? ;)
- David Ford
Let the show go, Leo. Bitter, yammering tech-challenged guests aren't part of TWIT's future.
- Robert Kenney
The best trolls always say just kidding at the last second. Kudos to Arrington for being an epic troll with that techcrunch "nonpology"
- Dan Hendricks
Yeah, what an apology. Arrington is just butt-hurt that Palm knows he's not a journalist and his "publication" is something to be avoided.
- Adam Turetzky
Don't piss off the geeks they love Leo. DOS maybe?
- Randy Green
Leo - I would sleep on it over a fine wine and a Palm Pre
- Bwana ☠
Wow! Just heard it. I don't know who Mike Arrington is, but Leo has kept me up to speed on all things tech for at least a decade now. I'm sticking with Leo.
- Michael Kaiser
In the words of Admiral Ackbar, "It's a trap!" The apology was strategy not sincerity.
- Benjamin Grelle
I say let Arrington go play in his own sandbox hardly a loss to the tech community if he never appears on another show with Leo.
- John Brazel
It just isn't TWiT's style to be honest Leo, plus some of us are really missing Munchcast, even if that probably wouldn't land in place of it. Either way, I'm really tempted to get a Pre at some point, looks like a reallly nice phone.
- Chris
It would be nice if this came to a peaceful conclusion, but it would be a mistake to continue GG on Twit, the show is too trollish and I suspect Gilmore encourages it.
- Moobie
No. Arrington is STILL being a douche in his post, 'The fact that few people ever return them is rarely brought up.' (Heavily implicit thuggery.) Leo is above question. No forgiveness.
- Libertine
Let it go Leo, they deserve themselves.
- Richard Coppen
he should dump Gilmore and his gang. what a bunch of yo yos.
- John Merrill
I just love in Mike's apology where he says "I didn't think..." Yeah Mike, apparently you didn't think. And look what you stepped into. It's shame people are still like that these days. Leo I just say part ways with him. Its not worth supporting such... crap.
- Grady Joslin
just told my parents about what happend and the first thing my dad said was, good for leo, i know airengton, he deserves it
- Austin Garrod
Leo, as I don't care for the language, I believe you did the right thing, you don't need that type of show, keep up the good work.
- Robert Lee
Let Gilmore and his people go. Not what your network needs.
- Steve
keep GG on TWiT if possible, it's been good
- Christopher Harris
I like Leo on GG. A different vibe from the actual Twit show. I listen to most of the shows on the network, GG was/is really cool for what it was/is.
- detorn
Disclosure: when I got back from Virginia this morning a Palm Pre was waiting for me. I didn't ask for it, I didn't know it was coming. It is only for seven days (I have to send it back). Now, that said, I think it's a valid question to wonder what Mike is wondering. It's something I always ask myself when I get goodies from the industry. Did I get these because I'm too nice? I used to...
more...
- Robert Scoble
What was the idea behind having GG on TWiT in the first place? Because of Leo's relationship w/ Gilmour?
- Kyle
I left that comment over on TechCrunch.
- Robert Scoble
You know, I've been a fan of TWIT and Gillmor Gang since the first time I heard both podcasts. I know Steve and Tina, and have a great deal of respect for what Steve does with the Gillmor Gang. It's pretty aggravating to read all these nasty barbs aimed at Steve. It's a different show. It's a great show. It's not TWIT. But why is it that everyone wants to draw a line between them?
- Karoli
I like Leo being direct, admire men that are like that. Also Leo has always been honest.GG had always negative karma. Shut down show and do something better with valuable time.
- Heiti Kruusmaa
Well! That was a nice 90 minutes of high drama. Kinda like a made-for-TV movie. Steve did say he thinks it's a video show
- Amyloo
wait, has tech crunch never received a test unit?
- Austin Garrod
Leo any idea when a real review is going to come, I've caught bits and pieces of your "ongoing" review since the unboxing. The fact that most recently I had heard you'll stick with your iphone, but respect the tech in the pre.
- Steve Ford
I can see the Leo Versus Arrington mashups on youtube now?
- Randy Green
Leo, although I find the GG to be informative and entertaining in it's own way, I never thought it could be done in a style or format in line with the production quality you regularly offer on the TWiT Network.
- Craig Durling
Karoli: people want to choose sides in fights like this. I don't know why that's a human reaction, but it is. Leo has a lot of very loyal fans. I'm among them. We all ourselves Laporteans, even. I'm also a major fan of Mike Arrington, but Mike often gets people to have a quite different relationship with him. People often see him as rude or worse. That's because Mike often says stuff...
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- Robert Scoble
I thought this thread would be the one with the highest amount of comments on FriendFeed. But here's one with over 6,000: http://friendfeed.com/ideali...
- David Schmidt
Robert: Well, having been the butt of Mike Arrington's need to say incendiary stuff, I understand that. However, Steve Gillmor is not Mike Arrington. GG is not Mike Arrington. There is much, much more to GG than Mike Arrington. would be nice to see them judged separately.
- Karoli
in ealier conversations with david pogue leo proved his lack of any bias.
- Tobias Lewsadder
I hope the gang ( excluding Arrington) from GG will be back on Twit individually at some point. They are all great guests each with strong personallities but much character. It can be hard for so many strong personallities to be in the same room or discussion sometimes but they have done a better job than I could do on the show, so props to them. I think arrington becomes a troll when in the mix, he can't hang with the big boys. JMHO&2C
- Andrew Johnson
Leo, GG does nothing to help the TWiT family of shows. Looking across the shows, it should hold no place in your schedule. I'd rather hear something else.
- Rob Blatt
Get Mike Arrington on TWiT tomorrow! That = ratings!
- Chris
I want The Gillmor Gang on TWiT. It's not consistent in it's quality but often times can be the best show on the web. TWiT will give it the kind of audience it deserves. I hope Leo can work with the Gillmor Gang including Arrington and help them produce and distribute thought provoking content.
- Wo
@david wow, wish I knew what that thread was all about
- BryanSchuetz
Rob: I think Leo is trying to build a network with a variety of styles and topics. That's key to having a strong network. I know a radio station owner who has both liberal and conservative talk show hosts who hate each other. But by doing that he has a far bigger audience than if he just went all one way where everyone got along nicely. Plus the station looks far more professional and objective than if it were all run by Rush Limbaugh wannabes. Same for Leo's network.
- Robert Scoble
I enjoyed GG on TWiT when I was able to see it. It is a group of people with strong opinions and that is not necessarily a bad thing. I didn'
- kenneth glenn
The Gillmor Gang is my favorite show on the network, call me shallow and entertainment-hungry, but I really do like when people discuss things with this much passion, especially technology!
- Colin
Leo: I think you should reconsider, not because you were wrong to get upset, but because it probably isn't worth cutting all ties. That is too absolute and despite his serious faults Arrington does have things to contribute. That said I totally agree there is just something about GG that causes flame ups and unless that can change you shouldn't have it be a part of TWIT.
- Joel Asaro
Colin: we are passionate, aren't we?
- Robert Scoble
@bryan: Haha, I thought Google would be assisting. Check this: http://tinyurl.com/qnugbz
- David Schmidt
Robert: You are, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
- Colin