Me Too, Me Not
By: admin
So, I’m next to feed the blog, and have been for a few days now. I started to riff on a South African’s rant about bloggers’ expectations of privacy. Then I wanted to weigh in on a New York Times story about the impact of literary blogs on the book review world. But by the time either was almost ready to post, they were old. For big businesses like IBM, a few hours amount to a nanosecond; in the real-time realm of the Internet, things seem stale in minutes.
One thing successful bloggers and podcasters all agree on is that the best Web-based publishers come up with original ideas or offer unique takes on well established ones. Everyone else tends to fall into the enormous “me too” category, producing content that’s already out there in one form or another. To avoid that trap, I’ll attempt to use my weekly appearance to offer a peek inside this magazine.
I’ve conducted quite a few interviews this week, and at the end of each, I’ve been asked either directly or indirectly how we’re handling the “feedback.” We’ve gotten a lot of encouraging comments and, of course, numerous nasty ones. One need only Google us to see examples of both. We’ve privately debated staffers’ different interpretations of the snarkier commentary. We’ve also begun acting on the more constructive criticism to improve on processes and policies.
Some of those improvements have been immediate; others won’t be realized by the reading and listening public for a couple of months. For example, we’ve had to adjust our publication dates to the first of the month due to printer and podcast producers’ schedules. That means the next issue will be out around June 1. Eager to see how the next issue’s received? If the content continues to meet the needs of a targeted, tempermental audience? If the naysayers eventually carry the day? Yeah, me too.
–Anne
