Meta-Blogging: PajamasSpectrumMediaBloggers
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So I finally got around to checking out Pajamas Media, nee Open Source Media, nee Pajamas Media.
And it's the dumbest idea since the coffee bag.
As I understand it, the purpose of Pajamas Media is to bring together the bloggers that everyone already knows about so that people will, um, know about them.
Think about that.
What exactly does Pajamas Media accomplish that my aggregator, or Google, doesn't? I can tell you what my aggregator accomplishes that Pajamas Media doesn't. My aggregator lets me add or subtract bloggers that I do or do not find interesting. My aggregator lets me save clippings from blogs so I can read them later. My aggregator lets me easily filter through what topics I consider important or unimportant, rather than being told by some "compilation staff" what I should be reading (all the news that's fit to print, provided it comes from "important bloggers" and makes it past Pajama Media's "compilation staff" — yes, a vast improvement over the MSM).
And my aggregator lets me do this for free and without ads (unless the blogs themselves insert the ads into their RSS feeds — a filthy habit, incidentally).
So I ask again: how exactly does Pajamas Media create utility rather than destroy it? What does it provide that adds to, rather than detracts from, the blogreading experience?
The consensus seems to agree with me (one example here). The death of Pajamas Media looks like a question not of if, but when.
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Compare and contrast Pajamas Media with another new multi-blog site, Spectrum Bloggers. The idea is similar to, yet also radically different from, PajamasMedia. Rather than trying to agglomerate "major blogs" (an entirely subjective concept anyway), Spectrum Bloggers tries to gather together gay bloggers — not at all a subjective concept. As Spectrum Blogger's creator, Dolphin, explains:
Now that makes sense.
Spectrum Bloggers is about two weeks old, and already about 50 gay bloggers have signed up (including me). Hardly any of them were known to me before, and probably would never have been known to me but for their listing with Spectrum Bloggers.
To review: Pajamas Media gives me what I already have coupled with what I don't want. Spectrum Bloggers gives me what I don't have coupled with what I do want. Which project makes more sense to you?
Oh, one more thing:
--Start-up cost of Pajamas Media: $3.5 million
--Start-up cost of Spectrum Bloggers: $30
Who do you think understands the blogosphere better?
And it's the dumbest idea since the coffee bag.
As I understand it, the purpose of Pajamas Media is to bring together the bloggers that everyone already knows about so that people will, um, know about them.
Think about that.
What exactly does Pajamas Media accomplish that my aggregator, or Google, doesn't? I can tell you what my aggregator accomplishes that Pajamas Media doesn't. My aggregator lets me add or subtract bloggers that I do or do not find interesting. My aggregator lets me save clippings from blogs so I can read them later. My aggregator lets me easily filter through what topics I consider important or unimportant, rather than being told by some "compilation staff" what I should be reading (all the news that's fit to print, provided it comes from "important bloggers" and makes it past Pajama Media's "compilation staff" — yes, a vast improvement over the MSM).
And my aggregator lets me do this for free and without ads (unless the blogs themselves insert the ads into their RSS feeds — a filthy habit, incidentally).
So I ask again: how exactly does Pajamas Media create utility rather than destroy it? What does it provide that adds to, rather than detracts from, the blogreading experience?
The consensus seems to agree with me (one example here). The death of Pajamas Media looks like a question not of if, but when.
---
Compare and contrast Pajamas Media with another new multi-blog site, Spectrum Bloggers. The idea is similar to, yet also radically different from, PajamasMedia. Rather than trying to agglomerate "major blogs" (an entirely subjective concept anyway), Spectrum Bloggers tries to gather together gay bloggers — not at all a subjective concept. As Spectrum Blogger's creator, Dolphin, explains:
It seems that every possible category of bloggers have united themselves in one way or another. There are alliances of political bloggers from every ideology, alliances of women bloggers, topic specific bloggers, mommy bloggers, and the list goes on. That's why I was somewhat shocked when I went searching for a gay and lesbian blogger alliance and couldn't find one.Go back to Pajamas Media for a moment. Its purpose is to bring together the bloggers you already know about. Um, why, if I already know about them? Spectrum Bloggers, by contrast, brings together the blogs I might not know about but probably want to, given my particular interests.
Now that makes sense.
Spectrum Bloggers is about two weeks old, and already about 50 gay bloggers have signed up (including me). Hardly any of them were known to me before, and probably would never have been known to me but for their listing with Spectrum Bloggers.
To review: Pajamas Media gives me what I already have coupled with what I don't want. Spectrum Bloggers gives me what I don't have coupled with what I do want. Which project makes more sense to you?
Oh, one more thing:
--Start-up cost of Pajamas Media: $3.5 million
--Start-up cost of Spectrum Bloggers: $30
Who do you think understands the blogosphere better?
Posted by Kip on
30 November 2005
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