Off to go to Dublin, Disconnects between Blogosphere and Real World

Sorry for not posting anything worth reading the past few days, but it’s hard to write when you have to steal away 10 minutes on the computer. Every day is just so packed. We’re about to leave for Dublin, looking forward to it.ย 

Yesterday in Cork had tons of wonderful conversations.

35 people showed up for the geek dinner last night and it was wonderful. The Irish people are so warm and fun! Not to mention the Murphys was being poured at a good rate. Last night at dinner I sat next to Clare Dillon. She works at Microsoft in the evangelism group. Wait a second, she works for Sanjay too?

Yet another reminder of just how big Microsoft is. I have coworkers all over the world I’ve never met. In just my group.

Two reminders from yesterday is just how different the tech blog world is from the real world. Steve Gillmor and I argue about this lots. He thinks the world is changing faster than it really is. That’s cause we both hang out on Memeorandum all day long and see the bleeding edge of change.

The two reminders were that most of the audience doesn’t use RSS and last night at dinner Clare told me about the VS/Biztalk/SQL Launch Events they’ve been holding in Ireland. Most of them have been standing room only (they are holding another one today in Cork, Ireland). I’m hearing the same from coworkers around the world. Yet the bloggers don’t generally talk about VS/Biztalk/SQL.

This makes me wonder about other disconnects between the blogs and the real world. Are you seeing any?

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42 thoughts on “Off to go to Dublin, Disconnects between Blogosphere and Real World

  1. Flickr hasn’t taken off at all on the college scene. People still upload all there pictures to Facebook or My Space.

    I was evangalising Flickr yesterday actually when I was doing a presentation myself on Mendelian Genetics.

    Everyone asked me after class: “Dude… what the hell website is that; you got to link me up!”

    Then when I showed about 10 people Digg during lunch yesterday, most of them didn’t care because it was mostly technology news. I bet if you had a digg for what they cared about then they would definitly care.

    The term “blog” must be an old people thing or something because when that word left my mouth my fellow peers were questioning what that word meant. Yet when I said “You guys know… an online journal” Then it instantly clicked. Practically everyone said “Oh yea I have an online journal!”

    I enjoy sitting closer to the back of the classrom, just so I can see the entire extra wide white board without having to twist my neck. Now I’m not saying I invade privacy but I do a quick glance and see what everyone with a laptop (about 20 people) are doing while the teacher is lecturing. Everyone is alt+tabbing between some IM client or another, MySpace, and FaceBook.

    The rules of the social world are changing right before us. I admit even I have had a few dates with girls that have started with mere conversations on the internet. It’s funny too because we link each other to our blogs, excuse me online journals, and I get the same thing all the time “Why are you a biology major?!”

    Podcast might as well be a term in Japenese to these people, yet when I was hanging out with my friend (Age 20) and his brother (Age 16) he immediatly knew what podcasts were. I guess the younger crowd is getting it faster, or my older friend is a stoner of some sort I can’t really tell :P.

    The sad reality of the situation is my real world… is the online world. And this is becoming the truth for lots of people. We meet similar people like ourselves on the internet and build strong strong relationships. Kind of scary when you think about it. 10 years ago you would’ve been called crazy, but now with people trading pictures, and even video with ease…. your alias is a lot more than just a few words, you have a face and personality attached to it.

    Like

  2. Flickr hasn’t taken off at all on the college scene. People still upload all there pictures to Facebook or My Space.

    I was evangalising Flickr yesterday actually when I was doing a presentation myself on Mendelian Genetics.

    Everyone asked me after class: “Dude… what the hell website is that; you got to link me up!”

    Then when I showed about 10 people Digg during lunch yesterday, most of them didn’t care because it was mostly technology news. I bet if you had a digg for what they cared about then they would definitly care.

    The term “blog” must be an old people thing or something because when that word left my mouth my fellow peers were questioning what that word meant. Yet when I said “You guys know… an online journal” Then it instantly clicked. Practically everyone said “Oh yea I have an online journal!”

    I enjoy sitting closer to the back of the classrom, just so I can see the entire extra wide white board without having to twist my neck. Now I’m not saying I invade privacy but I do a quick glance and see what everyone with a laptop (about 20 people) are doing while the teacher is lecturing. Everyone is alt+tabbing between some IM client or another, MySpace, and FaceBook.

    The rules of the social world are changing right before us. I admit even I have had a few dates with girls that have started with mere conversations on the internet. It’s funny too because we link each other to our blogs, excuse me online journals, and I get the same thing all the time “Why are you a biology major?!”

    Podcast might as well be a term in Japenese to these people, yet when I was hanging out with my friend (Age 20) and his brother (Age 16) he immediatly knew what podcasts were. I guess the younger crowd is getting it faster, or my older friend is a stoner of some sort I can’t really tell :P.

    The sad reality of the situation is my real world… is the online world. And this is becoming the truth for lots of people. We meet similar people like ourselves on the internet and build strong strong relationships. Kind of scary when you think about it. 10 years ago you would’ve been called crazy, but now with people trading pictures, and even video with ease…. your alias is a lot more than just a few words, you have a face and personality attached to it.

    Like

  3. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As someone who consumes a lot of tech in my IT role, but who doesn’t participate directly in the Web 2.0 hoohaw of SSE, AJAX, etc., I see a furious process of natural selection going on. Over time the “winners” will trickle out into the mainstream. Though I am surprised to hear that kids don’t know about Flickr. I though that one had made the jump already.

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  4. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As someone who consumes a lot of tech in my IT role, but who doesn’t participate directly in the Web 2.0 hoohaw of SSE, AJAX, etc., I see a furious process of natural selection going on. Over time the “winners” will trickle out into the mainstream. Though I am surprised to hear that kids don’t know about Flickr. I though that one had made the jump already.

    Like

  5. Glad to hear you are enjoying Ireland.

    With regard to bloggers and the new MS products there’s probably a very simple explanation behind it. A lot of us don’t use MS products that much or simply cannot get excited by a product launch – unless of course you were referring to MS bloggers?

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  6. Glad to hear you are enjoying Ireland.

    With regard to bloggers and the new MS products there’s probably a very simple explanation behind it. A lot of us don’t use MS products that much or simply cannot get excited by a product launch – unless of course you were referring to MS bloggers?

    Like

  7. I think a lot of people are interested in tech, but don’t *care* enough to find this stuff out themselves.

    I tell people about firefox, flickr, wordpress, rss and they all get it. They understand, but just can’t be bothered to join or whatever ๐Ÿ™‚

    By the way, last week I got stuck in a snow induced traffic jam. What I wanted to do was from my car browse google maps (or microsoft) and see who was tagging the local roads with ‘accident’ ‘snow’ ‘passable’ and the time they tagged them.

    Then browse any police or army official warnings by location. Filter out any local retail adverts (apart from hot tea and coffee shops) and also see where my family members were….

    When is this going to be possible?

    monk.e.boy :: http://www.teethgrinder.co.uk/perm.php?id=125

    Like

  8. I think a lot of people are interested in tech, but don’t *care* enough to find this stuff out themselves.

    I tell people about firefox, flickr, wordpress, rss and they all get it. They understand, but just can’t be bothered to join or whatever ๐Ÿ™‚

    By the way, last week I got stuck in a snow induced traffic jam. What I wanted to do was from my car browse google maps (or microsoft) and see who was tagging the local roads with ‘accident’ ‘snow’ ‘passable’ and the time they tagged them.

    Then browse any police or army official warnings by location. Filter out any local retail adverts (apart from hot tea and coffee shops) and also see where my family members were….

    When is this going to be possible?

    monk.e.boy :: http://www.teethgrinder.co.uk/perm.php?id=125

    Like

  9. Go read some teenagers’ blogs, they are almost TOO real! They talk about their friends, people they hate, how drunk they got last weekend. They don’t link to anything, they don’t really want more than one or two people reading their journal anyway.

    Like

  10. Go read some teenagers’ blogs, they are almost TOO real! They talk about their friends, people they hate, how drunk they got last weekend. They don’t link to anything, they don’t really want more than one or two people reading their journal anyway.

    Like

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  12. Yet the bloggers donโ€™t generally talk about VS/Biztalk/SQL.

    Maybe if Microsoft got around to actually delivering the complimentary copies of VS Professional, SQL Server Standard and Biztalk Server Developer Edition promised at the events it would give people a chance to start using them, and therefore talking about them …

    Like

  13. Yet the bloggers donโ€™t generally talk about VS/Biztalk/SQL.

    Maybe if Microsoft got around to actually delivering the complimentary copies of VS Professional, SQL Server Standard and Biztalk Server Developer Edition promised at the events it would give people a chance to start using them, and therefore talking about them …

    Like

  14. These are your 2 examples of a disconnect?

    Well, that in itself is my example of a disconnect! (No sh1t most people don’t use RSS; and SQL, etc…?)Jesus, haven’t we been telling you this for 2-3 years? That you’re living in your own world!

    Like

  15. These are your 2 examples of a disconnect?

    Well, that in itself is my example of a disconnect! (No sh1t most people don’t use RSS; and SQL, etc…?)Jesus, haven’t we been telling you this for 2-3 years? That you’re living in your own world!

    Like

  16. Hey abiola I got my 4 DVD set of VS and SQL Server 2005 today at the NJ Launch….with an offer for BizTalk.

    You should have been HERE, they handed out thousands of coppies!

    Like

  17. Hey abiola I got my 4 DVD set of VS and SQL Server 2005 today at the NJ Launch….with an offer for BizTalk.

    You should have been HERE, they handed out thousands of coppies!

    Like

  18. You are asking the wrong question. It’s not “disconnects between the blogs and the real world”, it be blogger disconnects FROM the real world.

    “This is a characteristic of the giddy kind of people who define themselves through computer-mediated relationships. They get terribly excited about people just like themselves using the same software, when all that bounces back from these dead phosphorous LCD screens is something that approximates their own reflection, and isolation…” (The Register)

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  19. You are asking the wrong question. It’s not “disconnects between the blogs and the real world”, it be blogger disconnects FROM the real world.

    “This is a characteristic of the giddy kind of people who define themselves through computer-mediated relationships. They get terribly excited about people just like themselves using the same software, when all that bounces back from these dead phosphorous LCD screens is something that approximates their own reflection, and isolation…” (The Register)

    Like

  20. Examples of disconnect:

    In the Blogosphere, everyone knows who you and Steve Gilmore are and listens to what you two say. You both have a large audience.

    In real life, your total online audience accounts for such a small percentage of the population of any major city in the U.S. that it’s completely insignificant. Plus, no one knows who the heck you two are. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    I mean, you have what 300,000 unique vists to your page per day? Maybe more, maybe less. That’s not even the population of my hometown of Wichita, KS. You guys are big fish in tiny, miniscule little ponds online. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Like

  21. Examples of disconnect:

    In the Blogosphere, everyone knows who you and Steve Gilmore are and listens to what you two say. You both have a large audience.

    In real life, your total online audience accounts for such a small percentage of the population of any major city in the U.S. that it’s completely insignificant. Plus, no one knows who the heck you two are. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    I mean, you have what 300,000 unique vists to your page per day? Maybe more, maybe less. That’s not even the population of my hometown of Wichita, KS. You guys are big fish in tiny, miniscule little ponds online. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Like

  22. Whoops, that should be Gilmour.

    Even if each unique visitor your two have tells 10 friends what you’ve said you’re still not close to the population of the greater New Jersey area, let alone the U.S. or the world.

    Like

  23. Whoops, that should be Gilmour.

    Even if each unique visitor your two have tells 10 friends what you’ve said you’re still not close to the population of the greater New Jersey area, let alone the U.S. or the world.

    Like

  24. disconnect? i think not.

    sure the a-listers arent blogging about this, but the “everyman” definitly is. Here’s a collection of some posts from the last few days following our launch activities

    My Night Out at the Launch Party
    http://codebetter.com/blogs/geoff.appleby/archive/2005/11/30/135219.aspx

    VS2005 Launch Party
    http://analystdeveloper.com/blogs/gurkaneng/archive/2005/11/30/2239.aspx

    Let the launch begin
    http://www.deepakkapoor.net/PermaLink,guid,a8c1d182-4886-4113-84a7-f92c929bd5be.aspx

    Melbourneโ€™s Ready Launch โ€˜05
    http://will.id.au/blog/archive/2005/11/29/melbournes-ready-launch-05

    Like

  25. disconnect? i think not.

    sure the a-listers arent blogging about this, but the “everyman” definitly is. Here’s a collection of some posts from the last few days following our launch activities

    My Night Out at the Launch Party
    http://codebetter.com/blogs/geoff.appleby/archive/2005/11/30/135219.aspx

    VS2005 Launch Party
    http://analystdeveloper.com/blogs/gurkaneng/archive/2005/11/30/2239.aspx

    Let the launch begin
    http://www.deepakkapoor.net/PermaLink,guid,a8c1d182-4886-4113-84a7-f92c929bd5be.aspx

    Melbourneโ€™s Ready Launch โ€˜05
    http://will.id.au/blog/archive/2005/11/29/melbournes-ready-launch-05

    Like

  26. Oh but see, I know the name of the faux game.

    When numbers and impact are down, claim “a better quality” of audience.

    When numbers low, claim quality. When numbers high, claim it’s gone mainstream. No matter what the outcome, you can never lose.

    Like

  27. Oh but see, I know the name of the faux game.

    When numbers and impact are down, claim “a better quality” of audience.

    When numbers low, claim quality. When numbers high, claim it’s gone mainstream. No matter what the outcome, you can never lose.

    Like

  28. You should have been HERE, they handed out thousands of coppies!

    I’m not currently in the US, unfortunately, and we residents of Europe seem to be very much an afterthought in Microsoft’s reckoning. All we got were “appreciation vouchers” which we were supposed to go to some website to enter in, and here I am 2 weeks afterwards and I still haven’t seen anything – talk about an effective way to ruin an effort at mindshare cultivation …

    Like

  29. You should have been HERE, they handed out thousands of coppies!

    I’m not currently in the US, unfortunately, and we residents of Europe seem to be very much an afterthought in Microsoft’s reckoning. All we got were “appreciation vouchers” which we were supposed to go to some website to enter in, and here I am 2 weeks afterwards and I still haven’t seen anything – talk about an effective way to ruin an effort at mindshare cultivation …

    Like

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  31. 300,000 unique vistors to a blog is indicative of getting coming close to real world? Hell, I’m sure your average porn site gets more visitors in an hour Does that mean porn represents “the real world”?

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  32. 300,000 unique vistors to a blog is indicative of getting coming close to real world? Hell, I’m sure your average porn site gets more visitors in an hour Does that mean porn represents “the real world”?

    Like

  33. No, it means your average porn site has a larger audience than Scoble does.

    Maybe if he did a “men and women of Microsoft” Playboy feature each day?

    Like

  34. No, it means your average porn site has a larger audience than Scoble does.

    Maybe if he did a “men and women of Microsoft” Playboy feature each day?

    Like

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