Rounding out 2008 on OMC, and looking at what's next for '09
It’s been a great year overall here on the OMC. Though there were a few lengthy periods where I was not able to post a lot due to work commitments and other projects, I really feel that I’m hitting the end of the year strong.
I’m also thinking a lot about the future of this site. Here are some scattered things that have been on my mind for a while. I’d really appreciate your thoughts on any or all of them.
Chasing quality – Probably the biggest change that I’ve made over the last six months or so – and it was more of an organic and intuitive thing than a conscious change in direction – is to stop “chasing” the biggest tech and web stories of the day, and to instead write about things that I feel add something new to the overall conversation.
The counterintuitive thing about doing that is that while my stories rarely get attached to story clusters on Techmeme these days, traffic and RSS subscribers are up modestly. And that’s with writing a little bit less in terms of overall quantity of posts.
There are days where I’m busy or don’t feel I don’t have something really new and valuable to say, so I hold off on posting something here. Because I’ve been very active on Twitter, FriendFeed, and Google Reader (via shared stories + note), I still feel that I’m very involved and engaged in this social media space that I’ve found a home of sorts in.
The payoff too has come in the form of recognition and opportunities. Earlier this year, for instance, I was honored to be included on The Industry Standard’s Top 25 B-to-Z List Blogs. The blurb attached to OMC’s entry is so embarrassingly congratulatory that my ego forces me to reprint: “Ingenious, insightful, and gosh-darned clever writing about online media of all descriptions. Covering traditional Web sites, blogs, social networking, and more, Eric Berlin pulls no punches.”
And more recently, several OMC stories have appeared on Duncan Riley’s The Inquisitr in excerpt form, with the cherry on the 2008 cake coming by way of being invited to participate on louisgray.com (my first piece, just published yesterday, can be found here).
Following passion – And part of what “chasing quality” has meant for me is that I’m freed up, in a sense, to write about exactly what turns me on the most at any particular moment. In admitting freely that I’m don’t run a full service newsroom, I’m not TechCrunch, I’m not Mashable, and I’m not chasing the hot story of the hour, I can focus on areas that I’m most passionate about and can contribute something meaningful.
When I founded OMC in January 2007, I wrote a lot about social news and social networking and blogging. These days, I find myself writing about such things as Twitter and wondering what the future of microblogging will bring, how RSS-driven content aggregation platforms will continue to evolve and change, and how the Internet and social media are fundamentally changing what things like television, video, and even conversations mean!
So what’s next? – My short answer is, “I like where things are going, and hope that those of you who stop by with some regularity (and thanks ever so much as always for that!) do as well.”
There are times when I consider publishing shorter and more frequent posts, times when I’m tempted to add more posts that are personal or not fully related to social media and the web (the occasional Because it’s Friday series is an example of such dabblings). And I try hard to keep these introspective “what does it all mean” posts to a bare minimum.
But maybe y’all like them, for all I know! (I actually love the opportunity to peer “behind the curtain” on websites and blogs that I enjoy.)
As I said at the top, I would love feedback on any and all of the above, and nonetheless look forward to a great 2009.
