Interview: Scoble expects more blogs to get acquired
Posted on April 21, 2011 by Budi Putra in People
Robert Scoble is one of a few Silicon Valley’s blogger celebrities. His blog, Scobleizer, came to spotlight during his tenure as a technology evangelist at Microsoft. He is currently working at Rackspace – and also “chief troublemaker” in the building43 community of Internet fanatics.
His book (with co-author Shel Israel), Naked Conversation: How blogs are changing the way businesses talk with customers, is considered as the “Bible of blogging”. And he is still blogging so far. “Because I want to share what I see and hear with other people and blogging is still a great way to do that,” he says.
I met him in person at one tech event in Barcelona three years ago, and recently trying to keep in touch with him again. He just answered my questions on the future of blogging:
Some people say blogging is dead. What do you think?
Nope, it just is changing form. Twitter and Facebook are great but the aren’t a great place to write a 2,000-word-long article with some depth. Blogs are great places to do just that. Most of the stats show that blogging is actually continuing to grow both in numbers produced and readers.
Curation is the new blogging. Do you agree? Why?
Curation, or finding of other interesting things on the Internet to share with your friends, has always been a part of blogging. I don’t see that it’s more or less important other than the quantity of content that’s flowing across our screens continues to go up so we need trusted people to filter that for us and find us the good items.
In the future, do you have idea how people will consume digital content?
There will be more and more ways to get and consume digital content in the future, whether with new kinds of mobile devices or new kinds of games like Empire Avenue. Heck, even my Sony alarm clock lets me see items from Facebook and blogs.
Some big media companies purchase some big blogs. Will this trend continue?
People who create media properties that aggregate audiences create very real value. So, yes, I expect more bloggers to get acquired in the future.
Why do you still blog right now?
Because I want to share what I see and hear with other people and blogging is still a great way to do that.
I met Scoble at the Nokia World 2008 in Barcelona, Spain
Like a blog post? Just tip, fund and donate it to the blogger!
Posted on November 23, 2010 by Budi Putra in Tech
THAT’S A BRILLIANT IDEA AND WAY to support high-quality online content. My friend Jimmi Kembaren tipped me a cool site: TipTheWeb. The new service lets you directly support your favorite web content by tipping, and funding it, then donating an amount of money — like 25 cents or more. “Think a bookmark + pocket change,” the site says. You can tip what you like: articles, blog posts, photos, video, cartoons, etc.
TipTheWeb keeps track of all your Tips. Later, you can sign in to your account and fund your Tips, by making a donation to TipTheWeb (we’re a non-profit organization). When you donate to TipTheWeb to fund your tips, we use that money to make monthly awards to the publishers of the web content that you (and other TipTheWeb users) tip.
As we know, the vast majority of web content is available for free. Since great content always requires time, effort, and resources, while publishers (particularly small publisher; individual publisher like blogger –which is the majority one) can’t sell it easily and advertising isn’t also fruitful for them, that’s why community-supported web publishing like TipTheWeb finds its momentum.
So, as a publisher or writer, if your blog posts or online contents get Tips through this approach, you can use this service’s simple verification processes, then you’ll be able to claim the tipped and funded content and get Awards!
When you get an award, you can choose how to receive it. The easiest option is to redeem your award as an Amazon Gift Card code, which you can use instantly at amazon.com. Other options (for amounts over $100) include receiving the money through your Paypal or Amazon Payments account.
Yeah. While browsing, you can use TipTheWeb’s bookmarklet to tip the content you’re enjoying. Let’s support your favorite stuff online!
Think social media; don’t worry about SEO
Posted on November 11, 2010 by Budi Putra in Tech
DEAR BLOGGERS, INVEST YOUR TIME ON SOCIAL MEDIA NOW. Blogger Gary Arndt suggests that, for the majority of bloggers, social media is better investment than SEO (search engine optimization) because “social media solves the authority dilemma” while search engine like “Google loves brands“. Besides coming up with good contents, bloggers could engage conversation across social media outlets, “something a faceless brand can never do.”
How about search-algorithms thing? Yeah, indeed, you don’t need to ignore it –because to some extent search engine still needs it– but also don’t need to worry. Just “make sure your permalinks make sense, create a site map, install the appropriate plugins … and then stop worrying about it.” That’s all!
Cool?
[via ProBlogger]
Rama, Indonesia’s next full-time blogger
Posted on November 1, 2010 by Budi Putra in People
As someone who once became full-time blogger almost four years ago, I am really happy to welcome another one: Rama Mamuaya (@rampok), the founder of tech blog Daily Social. He just started his new gig today!
Rama himself is one of most popular bloggers in the country. Not just a blogger, he is also a tech activist, start-ups enthusiast and actively conducted some off-line activities.
He has good personality, too. No wonder everybody loves to work with him. Any prominent tech people, for instance, always reach him first before visiting Indonesia. So, for them, Rama is a kind a “password” to understand about Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago and most sexy emerging market.
Good luck Rama!
Indonesian blogger gathering Pesta Blogger 2010 started!
Posted on October 30, 2010 by Budi Putra in Tech
The 4th Indonesian blogger meet-ups called Pesta Blogger+ 2010 to be held today in Epicentrum Walk, Kuningan area, South Jakarta. More than 1,300 online communities including bloggers, microbloggers, Tweeps, Facebookers, Plurkers, Koprollers, podcasters who coming from across the archipelago will attend this annual blogging party.
This year’s Pesta Blogger’s tagline is ‘Merayakan Keragaman’ (Celebrating the diverse). The following is the previous tag-lines of the Pesta Blogger:
“ONE SPIRIT ONE NATION” menjadi tema Pesta Blogger tahun 2009 yang mengangkat semangat kebersamaan dengan merangkul seluruh entitas komunitas blogger dalam sebuah ide besar. Pesta Blogger 2009 adalah tentang keragaman yang berbungkus semangat persahabatan. Semangat ini juga akan membawa harapan baru negeri ini melalui budaya blog, yang akan memainkan peranan penting sebagai medium untuk berekspresi di masa depan.
Mengusung tema “Blogging for Society”, Pesta Blogger 2008 ingin membuktikan bahwa dunia blogger dapat dan telah memberikan kontribusi positif yang cukup besar untuk masyarakat Indonesia. Kembali didukung oleh Departemen Komunikasi dan Informatika, Kementerian Negara Riset dan Teknologi serta Departemen Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata, Pesta Blogger 2008 dihadiri setidaknya 1000 peserta yang terdiri dari blogger-blogger terkemuka dan perwakilan komunitas-komunitas daerah. Pesta Blogger 2008 juga dihadiri oleh 110 wartawan dari 71 media dan menghasilkan 123 liputan.
Menjadi tahun pertama kali Pesta Blogger digelar. Dengan mengusung tema “Suara Baru Indonesia” (New Voice of Indonesia), Pesta Blogger 2007 diikuti oleh lebih dari 500 blogeer ternama serta perwakilan komunitas blogger dari berbagai daerah di Indonesia. Diliput oleh lebih dari 60 media cetak dan elektronik, hari dilaksanakannya Pesta Blogger 2007 tersebut ditetapkan sebagai hari Blogger Nasional oleh Bapak M.Nuh, Menteri Komunikasi dan Informatika RI.
Unfortunately, I can’t attend this year’s Pesta Blogger, due to family matters. But as one of five judges for the event’s Blogging Competitions –called Apresiasi Blog — I am glad that I just got the judging process done! Yeah, the winner for each category will be announced today at the event!
Enjoy Pesta Blogger 2010, fellas!
Blogging has changed my life
Posted on April 16, 2010 by Budi Putra in Personal
“What does blogging mean for you?” That’s one of questions many people (even journalists) frequently asked me. For me, blogging means a lot. I will tell you why.
I left Tempo Daily on March 1, 2007, and started to be a full-time blogger: write tech posts for some established sites and blogs like CNET, SlashPhone and PhoneMag; and then run a Jakarta-based Asia Blogging Network. Two years and half later, I joined an Internet giant company, Yahoo!. As Country Editor for Yahoo! Indonesia, one of my tasks is working with bloggers and online communities.
Talking about the professional blogging’s opportunity, there are two models that you can choose if you really wanted to pick blogging as your main job: As a (1) publisher; or (2) freelancer. The first one requires knowledge and skills to monetize your blogs — you should be an expert on online advertising, referral programs, SEO and so on. Another one just need your skill as a writer– just write for some sites or blogs and you’ll get paid.
I preferred the second one –since writing is nothing new for me. But I need to know the nature of blogging’s tools and communities. That’s why I should start blogging. It’s a new world and we can’t understand it just by relying on our common-sense. I believe that blogging is a kind of “science” –that’s why we need to learn its methodology, theory, medium, community and so on.
I just started to blog [seriously] since the beginning of 2006 when I started to write for my own gadget site called 3GWeek. Written in English, the blog mostly discusses about telecommunications and mobile technology.
Why did I choose technology as a major topic for my blogging? It’s simple. I love everything about technology. I was also conducting a small research and noticed that even the big tech blogs were still fighting to seek good writers and bloggers for their publications. That’s a big opportunity, right? I became more convinced that my preferred topic (technology) and medium (blogs) is a good decision…
And blogging is not only about content, but also about community. I found that writing for blogs is a bit different than writing for printing media –in term of interacting with readers. I already wrote a bunch of newspaper’s articles for years but I don’t know whether the readers like it or not. On the other hand, with blogging, I could get readers’ response quickly. That’s amazing. I learned a lot from them. I try to talk with them, instead of to teach them.
Just about a few months after I started blogging, CNET, the world’s leading tech news portal, invited me to blog for them about Indonesia’s technology scenes. Then a U.S. based online publications also offered me to write for SlashPhone, PhoneMag and iPhoneBuzz.
As a blogger, I was invited to some tech events and conferences in Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong, Stuttgart, Barcelona and Amsterdam. I was also invited to be a jury member for the Deutsche Welle Blog Awards in Berlin (November 2008) and April 2010 (yes, I am now here in Germany to attend the meeting).
So, if you again ask me, what does blogging mean for me? “It means a lot. Blogging has changed my life!”
Ushahidi.com wins Best Weblog Award 2010!
Posted on April 15, 2010 by Budi Putra in Tech
Of the eleven finalists in the Best Weblog category, Ushahidi was named the winner for this year’s Deutsche Welle Blog Awards. Blogombal‘s Antyo Rentjoko won the Best Weblog Indonesian! Check out the full list of the Jury’s winners here.
The Deutsche Welle Blog winners have been selected!
Posted on April 15, 2010 by Budi Putra in Tech
The sixth annual Deutsche Welle Blog Awards has now ended, check out the User Awards winners here.The winners for the Jury Award will be announced tonight at the Friedrichstadtpalast building in Berlin in conjunction with the re:publica conference.
re:publica 2010: the blogger and social media conference
Posted on April 14, 2010 by Budi Putra in People
This year’s Deutsche Welle Blog Awards was attached to the re:publica 2010, 14-16 April, at Friedrichstadtpalast, Berlin. The announcement of the DW’s blog winners also will be held at the event on Thursday’s evening. Yeah, since today’s the BOBS jury meeting has done, I decided to attend some conferences this afternoon. There are some cool sessions on blogging and social media.
The conference, focussed on blogs, social media und digital culture, is hosted by newthinking communications and Spreeblick Verlag. The event will take place simultaneously in the neighbouring locations Friedrichstadtpalast, Kalkscheune and Quatsch Comedy Club in Berlin-Mitte.
More than 150 hours of programme will be offered on 3 days on 8 different stages . The many facets of digital culture will be discussed in over 120 lectures, workshops, discussion rounds and events. For the first time within the framework of the re:publica the winner of the “Deutsche Welle BOBS” will be announced.
During the first re:publica in 2007, 700 participants came to the event in Berlin, by the year 2009 the number grew to more than 1600 attendees. This year over 2,500 participants are expected to attend re:publica 2010.
Deutsche Welle Blog Award 2010: the Jury Conference
Posted on April 13, 2010 by Budi Putra in Tech
Arrived at the Berlin-Tegel airport yesterday’s morning, I really like the city’s weather this time: a bit bright and warm. This is my second times visiting Berlin as part of the judging process for the Deutsche Welle Blog Award. Yeah, since Indonesian language blogs invited to participate on this international competition in 2008, it’s a honor for me to be one of the jury members.
Basically, my task is (1) selecting the short-list of Indonesian best blogs (based on blogs registered by readers and the blog’s owners) and then to be voted by online users; and (2) picking up the best blog for the Jury Award and presenting it on the Jury Conference.
The jury meeting will be held this morning at Deutsche Welle Berlin office, and Gabriel Gonzales, Project Manager of the competition, again, will chair the session. The jury meeting will be continued in the next day, at the re:publica conference Friedrichstadtpalast.
The Winner of The BOBs 2010 will be announced on Thursday evening.
Until then, take care! Will be having my breakfast :-D
Why people blog?
Posted on April 7, 2010 by Budi Putra in People
Dan Blank writes an interesting post on why people blog and what we can learn from it.
Even a busy editor still want to blog. Why? The reasons:
“It forces me to connect with others.”
“Readers provide helpful and interesting comments.”
“Enables me to better connect with my audience, and get a better understanding of their focuses and thinking.”
“Blog provides another vehicle for reaching readers.”
“I enjoy having conversations with people I wouldn’t otherwise connect with.”
“It opens a dialogue between me and the industry’s manufacturers.”
That’s true! The list really fits with my experience… :-D
Check-out the complete list here
Fake Steve Jobs blog likely to shut down
Posted on March 29, 2010 by Budi Putra in People
That’s too bad if it’s true! Like everyone, I really enjoyed this blog –thanks to Dan Lyons!
It took a year for anyone to figure out that Forbes (now Newsweek) writer Dan Lyons was the guy behind the Fake Steve Jobs blog. Now, a couple of years later, the blog is still going strong. And it remains very, very funny.
Now Lyons’ success in writing about Steve Jobs may lead directly to the blog being shut down, we’ve heard.
[via TechCrunch]
