Blogging Smackdown
SXSW Panel Notes:
Anil Dash, Six Apart
- Focus on diversity, different tools for different communities (Typepad/Movable Type/LiveJournal)
- On audiences: Movable Type’s oriented towards technology/templates; Typepad is the more “populist” option; LiveJournal much more introspective/introverted, about finding “kindred spirits” and forming small, close networks
Jason Goldman, Blogger
- Goal is to make blogging as fast and free as possible (transparency)
- “Appeal to millions of folks in as straightforward a way as possible”
- Though it’s been used for larger projects, their design goal is to let people share with their families and close friends
- One lesson: “People are really good at putting text in a white box…After you fill out a few, you realize that you’re creating a history of yourself.”
Mike Slone, Ink Noise
- Initially grew out of desire to share photos/video with family
- Allows hosting of mpg, flash movies
- Focus on multimedia
- Pitch toward “those of you who aren’t writers”
- Caters to niche audiences (extreme sports community, for example)
Matt Mullenweg, WordPress
- It’s open source
- Surprised by number of “amateur, non-techie” bloggers using WordPress
- New project => Mordpress MU; a reach for a more mass user base
Thought: Several people on the panel have referenced outreach toward the growing number of “amateurs” turning to blogs. It’s not clear what exactly “amateur” is being defined against here (i.e. who are the “experts” against whom these individuals are “amateurs”?)…best guess seems to be that the definition centers on technical (and maybe design) skills, rather than content or professional expertise.