Fred Wilson on The Changing Blog Landscape

In the middle of a torrent of stories about paidContent.org's acquisition by the Guardian News, new investment in Silicon Alley Insider, and a changing cast at the TechMeme Leaderboard, Fred Wilson takes a deep breath:

[from A VC: Blogging's Dead, Long Live Blogging]

This blog is me and I am this blog. It's mine and will always be mine. I understand why many of the individuals who made blogging what it is are either moving on or turning their blogs into businesses. That's the way it is. But I am fortunate that this blog is totally integrated into my business and provides great value to me and my partners. So it's sustainable from an emotional and economic perspective and I plan to keep showing up every day.

But then, Fred is *not* a media mogul: he's an investor who uses his blog as a bully pulpit about where he sees trends heading, and a place to talk about his other loves, music, food, and so on. He is like Guy Kawasaki or Marc Andreesen, public figures that took up blogging as an aspect of their public personas. I find Fred a good read, and his character shines through, but I bet that if he was *not* the well-known and highly regarded investor from Union Square Ventures his blog would not be as popular as it is. By which I mean no offense.

My point is actually a support of his comments earlier in the post, where he agrees with Ian Lamont's comments about the composition of the TechMeme Leaderboard changing. Specifically, individual voices are being pushed from the top 100 -- Doc Searls has fallen off, Scoble is down to #70, and Calacanis has committed blogicide. Notably, Fred is holding on in the 30s.

To some extent, I am swimming in the opposite direction from Fred. I am writing frequently -- "Showing up up everyday' as he puts it, which is perhaps an unconscious paraphrasing of Woody Allen's "80% of everything is showing up," or Hemingway's "Sharpen your pencil everyday" -- but I am transitioning /Message from a personal blog into the cornerstone of a media company. I have launched a second blog under the domain here (see Launching /Ground), and am planning other media activities, like a video show.

I intend to retain my own true voice, but I am going to follow the lead of Rafat Ali and Henry Blodget, and try to grow /Message and the other blogs into something larger.

Comments

[Steven Hodson]

Stowe,

I have been a follower of your blog since I first came across it some time ago and even though I may not aleays agree with you on some of the things you write about I still find a value in your words.

Because of this respect I look forward to the direction you are taking /Message and will continue following your growth. Keep up the good work and if you are ever interested in opposite or dissenting viewpoints to this social media area yu cover I'd be open to adding my two cents should you feel they add value to your message(s)

[david cushman]

Go Stowe! Looking forward to new things and growing connectedness

[gregorylent]

though an aggregator, www.alltop.com is blowing me away with its breadth, and you have a bit of this quality too, you could cover art, music, tech, love, name it ...

two empires which are to me confusing, but good businesses, the lower reaches of the www.huffingtonpost.com page, and the www.inquisitr.com page, trying to be too much under one umbrella. maybe that denton guy has the right idea, and you too, separate papers ...