Building43 – what is it?

In short, Building43 is designed to help people optimise the use of “social media” and new technology, for the development of their business.  With so many businesses and organisations using the Internet as if it was still the 1990′s, there’s definitely a real need for more high quality information.

Building43 encourages community involvement and people are asked to contribute; via Twitter, FriendFeed etc.  The site will also feature video interviews with leading Internet figures and ‘thought leaders.’  Scoble kicks things off with a bang, by interviewing FaceBook’s Mark Zuckerberg!

If you are in business and you want to learn how to leverage what the Internet and new media has to offer, you really should take a look at Building 43.

Here’s an in-depth summary of  what Building 43 is all about.

Scoble’s next gig?

All the time Scoble’s spent with his buddy, marketing legend Seth Godin, has really paid off!  If you want to know what Scoble’s planning next….. you’re going to have to wait until his announcement at SXSW!  This is a typical Scoble play – and part of the reason he can attract $1million contracts!

I have received a lot of flack in the past, for openly voicing my appreciation for Scoble’s work. I don’t always agree with him – but I respect his opinion and knowledge. As soon as I find out what’s next for Scoble, you will read it here!

In the past couple of weeks, Veronica’s follower numbers have almost doubled.  As Veronica fronts a number of tech shows, including Tekzilla and Qore (for Sony’s PS3 Network), these followers are potential viewers.  As such, they are of high value for advertisers / sponsors of her shows.

Here’s a selection of the very heated, very public row between Veronica and Robert on FriendFeed.

Veronica Belmont

I’m on the list, and I certainly don’t have $10,000 to give anyone. Do you think I somehow bribed them, Robert? Hmm?

Rober Scoble

I am not on the list. Neither is @leolaporte. We both had more followers than you did (and more than many on the list). Now I am wondering.

Veronica Belmont

HAH! This is the funniest thing I’ve heard all day. Are you really just that bored this afternoon to accuse people of spending money to be on a suggested users list? #1 As Chris says, who the frak cares. #2 Do you honestly think someone like me or iJustine have that kind of money? #3 Wow, man, I thought we were cool.

Robert Scoble

I do not know why Veronica is on the list and not @leolaporte so now I am wondering what is going on and no one can prove money and gifts did not get exchanged.

Veronica Belmont

Robert, your inflammatory remarks and accusations (and they are that, no matter how many times you tell us to READ CAREFULLY) come off as really childish and insulting. If you have an issue with a feature of Twitter, there are better ways of pointing it out than accusing people who considered you acquaintances, if not pals.

Robert Scoble

Veronica: you did receive a gift. Advertising is sold by 1,000 viewers. Ask Ryan how much 1,000 people are worth. You did NOT earn that gift by any objective measure.

Twitter needs to listen

Scoble makes a good point about the way Twitter has selected who gets onto that recommended list.  It’s not based on popularity; or he and Leo Laporte would indeed have been on the list as they were both ranked higher than her and are better known.

Whether anyone has paid money is (in my opinion) pretty unlikely, but the process is based too much on the buddy network.  This sucks and needs to be fixed.  Calling out Veronica Belmont in this very public way is GREAT for bringing the problem to people’s attention, but it’s not the kind of thing I would associate with Veronica. The reason she reacted like she did, is because she’s the last person who would do anything like that.

It’s not ‘just’ Scoble that’s annoyed.  The LA Times wrote this.

What do you think?

Should there even be a suggested follower list on Twitter and if so, should there be a better way to decide who gets listed there? Let us know!

Natali Del Conte – The comments

The negative comments about Natali Del Conte were pretty-much about two things.  Firstly, that Natali referred to clothing too much, for a tech news Journalist.  Secondly, some suggested Natali lacked ‘tech knowledge’ when speaking, unscripted, on shows like Buzz Out Loud..

If you are Natali, looks matter!

OK – it’s a sad fact that much of the way we are ‘judged’ these days is by how we look.  This is even more the case for people like Natali Del Conte; who appear in front of the cameras every week as part of her job.  With Natali’s appearance such an integral part of her work as a presenter / broadcaster – it’s obvious she is going to focus on how she looks and what she wears.

Natali Del Conte is what I call a ‘real person.’  She speaks her mind – and if she has been figuring out what to wear in front of the cameras that day – that’s what you will hear.  It really is that simple!.

Natali’s ‘tech industry knowledge

I have followed the tech industry since the late 1970′s.  The comments about Natali lacking ‘tech knowledge must have come from people who know nothing about Natali Del Conte’s work or professional background.

For example, many people don’t know that before fronting the insanely popular Textra and Loaded, Natali was a highly respected ‘Tech Journalist at Techcrunch.  Natali has ALSO written for respected publications like MarketWatch.  If you want to know about the quality of her work, ask yourself how come she has risen so far, so quick!  There’s no magic here – it’s just hard work and talent!

I have been reading Natali’s stuff for years and can assure you she knows her subject REALLY well.  More than this, Natali allows her personality to come through her writing AND her comments when appearing on podcasts / videocasts etc.  This brings me on to my final point….

Natali Del Conte – 100% ‘real’

Natali appears on the Internet and your TV screens, doing something that NO OTHER ‘tech profesisonal I know does; other than perhaps Robert Scoble..

I have either spoken to or corresponded with most of the best known people in tech news.  Most are a total waste of space – real ass-holes!  They have an on-screen persona that’s often funny or down-to-earth, but in reality, most are total dicks!

I know from emails I have received from Natali, that she often works 16 hours a day.  Fortunatly for her, she can use all this time ‘perfecting her craft’; because she has no need to waste time perfecting ‘the role of Natali Del Conte.’

With Natali Del Conte; what you see, hear and read is very much what you get!  If you like that – great – if you don’t like it – at least respect the fact that you are not being fooled.

On a personal note, I would like to thank Natali for her emails and for being ‘real’ enough to get in touch with me BEFORE this blog started getting any coverage..

Photo credit: Natali Del Conte – natalidelconte.wordpress.com

By @thetechnewsblog.com
I am a well documented fan of Twitter.  One of the things people often ask me, is a version of the following question;

“What’s the point of Twitter if all you do is tell people what you are having for dinner or what radio station you are listening to?”

I have posted previously on what I love about Twitter, but in this post, I would like to highlight how useful Twitter can be to you as a way to get feedback, answers, recommendations etc.

Twitter now has a massive and diverse user base. This means it has GREAT POTENTIAL as a tool to get feedback on just about anything!

With millions of active users now using Twitter, from just about everywhere on the planet, it’s no surprise to me when I see journalists and people from major news outlets using Twitter for their research.

Earlier this week, Rory Cellen-Jones from the BBC wanted some help and called on Twitter;

“planning to blog about scrabulous but need some apt seven letter words. Suggestions?“

I used Twitter this week to get some feedback on the new design of this blog and got some comments from some really helpful web designers, web users, podcasters and even a few well-known tech celebrities!.

Other uses for Twitter?

Robert Scoble is one of the smartest users of Twitter. He uses it for everything from; PR, communication and marketing – to research, information gathering and even a little micro-blogging!

Twitter can either be extremely useful or a total waste of time.  In the end, what YOU get from it is always going to be a reflection of what you put into it.

If you are a Twitter user or you are thinking about joining, give me a shout or follow me: - my username is @thetechnewsblog.com

Twitter: Love it or hate it, everyone seems to be on Twitter right now.  One of the things people often come to this blog for, is to find the Twitter name of someone I mention in an article.  So, if you would like to follow Patrick Norton, Leo Laporte or Robert Scoble etc on Twitter, their Twitter names are listed below.

Here they are (in no particular order):

Om Malik – Twitter @Om
Garnett Lee – Twitter @garnettlee
Lance Ulanoff – Twitter @lanceulanoff
John C Dvorak – Twitter @therealdvorak
Loyd Case – Twitter @loydcase
Scott Asnault – Twitter @scottmode
Patrick Norton – Twitter @patricknorton
Jason Cross – Twitter @jasoncross00
Veronica Belmont – Twitter @veronica
Cali Lewis – Twitter @calilewis
Robert Scoble – Twitter @scobleizer
Leo Laporte – Twitter @leolaporte
And me – Twitter @thetechnewsblog

Hope that helps!

“Go away – go back to Digg!”
Robert Scoble’s message to those who are ruining blogs

So, The Scobleizer wants us to go back to the way things were in 2003; when there were only intelligent, decent people commenting in blogs and when blogs were filled with intelligent debate…

HANG ON!
I have only been writing thetechnewsblog for a few months, but I have been a blog contributor for many years and I have no recollection of the ‘perfect past’ Robert is referring to.  I have a massive amount of respect for Robert Scoble and I LOVE his work – but in my opinion, he’s wrong on that one!

For as long as there have been online forums and before that, news groups, there have been ‘comment trolls’.  The flame wars of the 1990′s in various usenet groups were HUGE – we just used to call the comment trolls ‘Flamers’.  Same people, same shit – different name.

LEAVE SCOBLE ALONE!
The fact that Robert is so successful, means people will always want to ‘have a go’ at him.  He is a big target – and one of those rare ‘tech celebrities’ – who ALWAYS always takes the time to reply to people who contact him.  Whilst some tech cebebrities (like Natali Del Conte), will do anything to avoid speaking to their listeners / readers – Scoble is totally approachable – and he draws a lot of flack as a result.

SCOBLE WAS RIGHT
Robert made some very good points in his interview.  He is right that only the most motivated people ever comment in a blog – and that these are often the people with the biggest axe to grind!  He was also right that the use of anonymous posting to blogs does give cowards a screen, behind which they can insult people / companies.

Robert also makes a good point – that topics are not covered in any depth any more.  A subject can be a MASSIVE story one day and dropped like a stone the next!  We used to chew over stuff for weeks / months a decade ago!

Finally, I am watching with interest as Robert; “removes the assholes” from his blog.  As such, you may not see me posting there any more (just kidding!)

The Scobleizer – http://scobleizer.com

Before I continue, here’s a quick introduction for those of you who don’t already know who Robert Scoble is. Also known as the Scobleizer or just plain Scoble, Robert Scoble is a one man content machine; producing stacks of articles, video, pictures and traditional blog-posts. His wiki can be found here.

So what?
Unlike many bloggers, Scoble has hundreds of thousands (perhaps more) of followers worldwide. On Twitter alone he has over 23,000 followers and his blog gets the kind of viewing numbers that many big companies would love. Unlike some people with large followings, Scoble invests stacks of time actually chatting or speaking with his followers. As a result, he has developed a unique relationship with them and their numbers have grown massively. This unique relationship, coupled with his ferocious appetite for delivering content, has created what I call ‘The Scoble Effect.’

International impact of The Scoble Effect
Robert Scoble’s work is based on two-way communication, which means there are always people messaging him, commenting on his blogs or chatting with him. When the recent Chinese earthquake disaster happened, Robert’s international reach meant he heard about AND reported on the tragedy, before the traditional media outlets could even get a ‘breaking news’ story out.

His Tweets about the disaster then became a news story in itself - reported on by none other than the world’s largest news gathering organization; The BBC – click here to read the BBC’s post about Scoble.

So, what is ‘The Scoble Effect?’
The formula goes something like this:
Followers + Trust = Direction
Because the people who FOLLOW Scoble’s work, TRUST his recommendations and suggestions, they are happy to allow him to DIRECT them to an interesting website, blog, event, piece of software or hardware. They know that there’s a good chance that what he’s suggesting is, at least worth considering a look at. For example, it was Scoble that introduced me to Twitter and helped me decide which blogging platform to use for this blog!

First hand experience of The Scoble Effect
I experienced ‘The Scoble Effect‘ for myself yesterday evening, when Robert happened to mention an article I wrote about Leo Laporte, while we were chatting. Within 20 minutes of him ‘Tweeting’ my story on Twitter – this blog (which only launched officially today) received over a thousand page views – with thousands more views over the next 24 hours! Because his work is based on technology reporting, Scoble’s followers are not a random selection of people – but a group of intelligent, tech enthusiasts who are interested in his articles, posts, ideas and suggestions.

Human generated
Scoble’s ability to direct a massive, targeted group of people around the Internet is incredibly powerful; because it’s HUMAN GENERATED! It’s not Digg or stumbleupon or delicious or a search engine – It’s just a guy with a camera-phone and an Internet connection – that’s what’s so amazing about The Scoble Effect.

Love him or hate him (and there’s a few in the latter group too) you have to admit that what he is achieving is remarkable.

* * * * UPDATE: Scoble has now been given HIS OWN SHOW on the Revision3 network
- click here to find out all about it!