The hype about that micro blogging service

Uncategorized 1 Minute

Maryam said if I ever mention ______ again in her presence she’d kill me, so I won’t. But what have I learned from watching 1,000 people talking with me?

That that isn’t the point.

I’m fascinated that so many people hate the service that won’t be named. They contribute more to the hype than anything else. After all, the human brain is pretty good at routing around bulls**t, but not around criticism.

Criticism catches our attention, makes us pay attention.

I think that if marketers were smart they wouldn’t be doing “pay per post” but, rather, they’d do “pay to hate” services.

Hey, that gives me an idea, I’ll write a ______ post linking to the first three people who write on their blogs that my videos suck. Just post your URLs here in the comments. 🙂

Published by Robert Scoble

I help entrepreneurs build their technology business' story, help with getting ready for investors, with other launch plans, and many other strategic things that can help your new startup. Call to talk: +1-425-205-1921 (text first).

Published

101 thoughts on “The hype about that micro blogging service”

  1. Just started this blog yesterday as a birthday present to myself and was looking for readers…love the show but will gladly do a “pay to hate” post for traffic! 🙂

    Like

  3. Just started this blog yesterday as a birthday present to myself and was looking for readers…love the show but will gladly do a “pay to hate” post for traffic! 🙂

    Like

  8. Pingback: Aaron’s UI Design Blog » Scoble’s Videos Suck

  11. Damn you Aaron, you named the service that shall not be named in Maryam’s presence! You’ve threatened the Gods. May she be merciful to your soul. 🙂

    Like

  24. I am not a fan of the not to be mentioned service, I have a busy life and more “noise” doesn’t help my productivity.
    Nice to see you back Robert, did I see somewhere you are attending VON, if so will see you there

    Like

  25. I am not a fan of the not to be mentioned service, I have a busy life and more “noise” doesn’t help my productivity.
    Nice to see you back Robert, did I see somewhere you are attending VON, if so will see you there

    Like

  27. Strangely enough my wife has had the same reaction and decided if Twitter wakes her up again while sleeping in she will flush my phone! (Note to self need to ensure I wake up before Twitter)

    Like

  29. Strangely enough my wife has had the same reaction and decided if Twitter wakes her up again while sleeping in she will flush my phone! (Note to self need to ensure I wake up before Twitter)

    Like

  30. Love/hate is a well known seller 🙂

    As Kathy Sierra would say (well, sort of), you’re not in trouble when people talk crap about you. You’re in trouble when people simply do NOT talk about you at all.

    Like

  31. Love/hate is a well known seller 🙂

    As Kathy Sierra would say (well, sort of), you’re not in trouble when people talk crap about you. You’re in trouble when people simply do NOT talk about you at all.

    Like

  32. new code name: warble or should I say warblr. I think it’s a pointless service. Is it really that important what you’re doing through the day? I can see it being useful for sites who have live coverage. Or maybe a link blog with comments but chances are you don’t have a story to link to on hand.

    I dunno…maybe it’s cool for older people to know every little move you make? Governments should be proud that people are effectively choosing to join survailance networks…who needs privacy anyway hahah 😉

    Sounds like it could be popular among teens but I’m a bit surprised at the popularity in the older generation.

    Like

  33. new code name: warble or should I say warblr. I think it’s a pointless service. Is it really that important what you’re doing through the day? I can see it being useful for sites who have live coverage. Or maybe a link blog with comments but chances are you don’t have a story to link to on hand.

    I dunno…maybe it’s cool for older people to know every little move you make? Governments should be proud that people are effectively choosing to join survailance networks…who needs privacy anyway hahah 😉

    Sounds like it could be popular among teens but I’m a bit surprised at the popularity in the older generation.

    Like

  34. For Maryam… Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, and finally, TWITTER!

    Like

  35. For Maryam… Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, and finally, TWITTER!

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  36. You know… if She Who Must Be Obeyed finds your link blog with any of those T words I’d hate to see the plate of eggplant she sneaks you… 🙂

    BTW, thanks for adding me to your cast o’ thousands the other day. Appreciated.

    AND… I’ll be in Long Beach March 30 – April 4. Any chance of a get together? Long shot… I know.

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  37. You know… if She Who Must Be Obeyed finds your link blog with any of those T words I’d hate to see the plate of eggplant she sneaks you… 🙂

    BTW, thanks for adding me to your cast o’ thousands the other day. Appreciated.

    AND… I’ll be in Long Beach March 30 – April 4. Any chance of a get together? Long shot… I know.

    Like

  38. Heheheh, sorry, was hoping someone would bad mouth me for forgetting to put my blog URL and generate some hate traffic of my own. 🙂

    astartupaday.wordpress.com

    It’s a creative challenge to myself to come up with a new idea for a startup each day, inspired by the fantastic work that Steve Poland is doing over on http://www.techquilashots.com and the stuff going on at Cambrian House.

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  39. Heheheh, sorry, was hoping someone would bad mouth me for forgetting to put my blog URL and generate some hate traffic of my own. 🙂

    astartupaday.wordpress.com

    It’s a creative challenge to myself to come up with a new idea for a startup each day, inspired by the fantastic work that Steve Poland is doing over on http://www.techquilashots.com and the stuff going on at Cambrian House.

    Like

  44. Uses for ________ :

    1) Letting your social circle know where you’re going? “We’re hanging out at XXX this Friday…”

    2) Reporting even little events as they happen.
    “Bad traffic accident on the ##. Find another route.” “It’s a Boy!!” “Dad just hit a hole in one!!” “Derek Jeter just walked in to our restaurant…”

    3) Making it truly possible to liveblog. Rather than wait until after some event happens to read someone’s liveblog – we can see it happen in real time.

    _______ is almost the same as Facebook’s “status” feature.

    We are even integrating it into our social media public relations plans for select clients. (One of them wants to test using it to send coupons to customers phones – “show us the coupon and get…”)

    Like

  45. Uses for ________ :

    1) Letting your social circle know where you’re going? “We’re hanging out at XXX this Friday…”

    2) Reporting even little events as they happen.
    “Bad traffic accident on the ##. Find another route.” “It’s a Boy!!” “Dad just hit a hole in one!!” “Derek Jeter just walked in to our restaurant…”

    3) Making it truly possible to liveblog. Rather than wait until after some event happens to read someone’s liveblog – we can see it happen in real time.

    _______ is almost the same as Facebook’s “status” feature.

    We are even integrating it into our social media public relations plans for select clients. (One of them wants to test using it to send coupons to customers phones – “show us the coupon and get…”)

    Like

  46. I’ve written repeatedly about how Twitter sucks, does that count?
    http://neomeme.wordpress.com/2007/03/12/twitter-is-like-totally-web-05lol/

    And I would definitely disagree with you. One mention about how Twitter is awesome from the likes of you or Steve Rubel is worth more than 1,000 hate posts from little guys like me. Notice that most of the Twitter-hate is not coming from A-list bloggers- you guys all love it, because you have thousands of adoring fans(would they be called Twits?) In conclusion, your opinions suck 🙂

    Like

  47. I’ve written repeatedly about how Twitter sucks, does that count?
    http://neomeme.wordpress.com/2007/03/12/twitter-is-like-totally-web-05lol/

    And I would definitely disagree with you. One mention about how Twitter is awesome from the likes of you or Steve Rubel is worth more than 1,000 hate posts from little guys like me. Notice that most of the Twitter-hate is not coming from A-list bloggers- you guys all love it, because you have thousands of adoring fans(would they be called Twits?) In conclusion, your opinions suck 🙂

    Like

  48. I tried the not to be mentioned service and decided to stop because it was detracting from my core ability to do other things effectively. Maybe I’ll go back in the future when more people are on it??

    I must disagree with your “pay to hate” service. That’s similar to Mark Cuban’s “there’s no such thing as bad PR.” If people are hearing about a product or service for the first time, they will associate the negativity of criticism with the product and they will likely form a negative impression of the product. That goes double if it is from a source that they trust. Opposite works too. So if all the heavy hitters were bashing twitter all weekend, I have a feeling there wouldn’t be as much band-wagoning. In the end, it will take a lot to overcome that negativity if the impression is encoded. So I would not sign up with the “pay for hate” service.

    Like

  49. I tried the not to be mentioned service and decided to stop because it was detracting from my core ability to do other things effectively. Maybe I’ll go back in the future when more people are on it??

    I must disagree with your “pay to hate” service. That’s similar to Mark Cuban’s “there’s no such thing as bad PR.” If people are hearing about a product or service for the first time, they will associate the negativity of criticism with the product and they will likely form a negative impression of the product. That goes double if it is from a source that they trust. Opposite works too. So if all the heavy hitters were bashing twitter all weekend, I have a feeling there wouldn’t be as much band-wagoning. In the end, it will take a lot to overcome that negativity if the impression is encoded. So I would not sign up with the “pay for hate” service.

    Like

  52. The solution? Enter 77.

    Just another ‘cult of personality’ central service, more fun for the connected party people or group events, over much real world use.

    Like

  53. The solution? Enter 77.

    Just another ‘cult of personality’ central service, more fun for the connected party people or group events, over much real world use.

    Like

  54. @23.. I don’t know about you, but I prefer a little more depth from reading blogs than 160 characters at a time.

    Like

  55. @23.. I don’t know about you, but I prefer a little more depth from reading blogs than 160 characters at a time.

    Like

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  61. I’m being contrary:

    1)Maryam rules! Hope the couch is comfy.
    2)Your videos don’t suck!
    3)The T-word doesn’t suck either, but I loved it for its immediacy at the event rather more than its sanity. I don’t know that I could keep it up and have a day job. 🙂
    4) there’s enough hate in the world without having to pay for it.
    5) I see a future that combines the T-word with the ZeFrank approach. 5 second video real-time from people.

    Like

  62. I’m being contrary:

    1)Maryam rules! Hope the couch is comfy.
    2)Your videos don’t suck!
    3)The T-word doesn’t suck either, but I loved it for its immediacy at the event rather more than its sanity. I don’t know that I could keep it up and have a day job. 🙂
    4) there’s enough hate in the world without having to pay for it.
    5) I see a future that combines the T-word with the ZeFrank approach. 5 second video real-time from people.

    Like

  63. The service that shall not be named is pretty cool.
    Your wife is right Robert.

    I’m not married but my girl told me she’ll format my drives if I don’t remove the sms notive service 🙂

    Like

  64. The service that shall not be named is pretty cool.
    Your wife is right Robert.

    I’m not married but my girl told me she’ll format my drives if I don’t remove the sms notive service 🙂

    Like

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  67. Phew…at least Maryam’s threats indicate that you don’t don’t have an equity stake in the company. The frequency of posts about the topic was beginning to make me think that you did. 🙂

    mobile cell phone providers should be frothing over this but I’m also interested in seeing what happens when the spammer crowd finds ways to join in on multiple devices…

    Like

  68. Phew…at least Maryam’s threats indicate that you don’t don’t have an equity stake in the company. The frequency of posts about the topic was beginning to make me think that you did. 🙂

    mobile cell phone providers should be frothing over this but I’m also interested in seeing what happens when the spammer crowd finds ways to join in on multiple devices…

    Like

  71. @29. Then say it on your blog 🙂

    As those that “don’t get it” being “twats”. clever. But we get it. Group text messaging with history. With the ability of spammers to chime in. What am I missing?

    Like

  72. @29. Then say it on your blog 🙂

    As those that “don’t get it” being “twats”. clever. But we get it. Group text messaging with history. With the ability of spammers to chime in. What am I missing?

    Like

  73. >forsalebylocals: I don’t have equity in any company except for Microsoft and PodTech. I will disclose anytime that ever changes.

    I’m not being paid by any company other than PodTech and I will also disclose anytime that changes.

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  74. >forsalebylocals: I don’t have equity in any company except for Microsoft and PodTech. I will disclose anytime that ever changes.

    I’m not being paid by any company other than PodTech and I will also disclose anytime that changes.

    Like

  75. #38: things I like about Twitter? You’re not on it.
    Also, spammers? Demonstrates you don’t use it. If one shows up I simply “unfriend” that account.

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  76. #38: things I like about Twitter? You’re not on it.
    Also, spammers? Demonstrates you don’t use it. If one shows up I simply “unfriend” that account.

    Like

  77. I am with Dave Winer on this one. I don’t ‘get’ twitter. But anything that stirs up so much of passionate arguments – pro and anti- shouldn’t be discounted that easily.

    But something i disagree on my own is Robert’s hype about twitter.

    Like

  78. I am with Dave Winer on this one. I don’t ‘get’ twitter. But anything that stirs up so much of passionate arguments – pro and anti- shouldn’t be discounted that easily.

    But something i disagree on my own is Robert’s hype about twitter.

    Like

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  81. @40 just because you “unfriend” a spammer doesn’t mean spammers aren’t on it. What’s the difference between that and marking an unwanted email as junk mail? Doesn’t mean I’m not getting spam.

    I was on it. No longer on it. I didn’t find my life was being “enriched” and I found it hard to hang out with “stars”

    Like

  82. @40 just because you “unfriend” a spammer doesn’t mean spammers aren’t on it. What’s the difference between that and marking an unwanted email as junk mail? Doesn’t mean I’m not getting spam.

    I was on it. No longer on it. I didn’t find my life was being “enriched” and I found it hard to hang out with “stars”

    Like

  83. Robert, I tell marketers this all the time – they need more controversy. They need to learn how to leak information properly. Sometimes a screenshot is worth more than a blog post, because until all the information about the product is revealed, people are busy speculating, discussing and debating.

    But most marketers don’t get this. They want everything in a nice tidy press release that’s been proofed by 15 executives and revised at least 20 times. Press releases no longer serve their purpose, in my opinion. 99% of them are DOA. You can instantly tell if a magazine, newspaper or blog article was pulled from a press release – because they’re so damn bland, and usually avoid any kind of critical discourse.

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  84. Robert, I tell marketers this all the time – they need more controversy. They need to learn how to leak information properly. Sometimes a screenshot is worth more than a blog post, because until all the information about the product is revealed, people are busy speculating, discussing and debating.

    But most marketers don’t get this. They want everything in a nice tidy press release that’s been proofed by 15 executives and revised at least 20 times. Press releases no longer serve their purpose, in my opinion. 99% of them are DOA. You can instantly tell if a magazine, newspaper or blog article was pulled from a press release – because they’re so damn bland, and usually avoid any kind of critical discourse.

    Like

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