Comments on: I’m not writing an obituary for the professional critic http://www.philmichaelson.com/user-generated-content/im-not-writing-an-obituary-for-the-professional-critic/ Thoughts on building a content management service in the (too much) information age Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:58:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Ben Grossman http://www.philmichaelson.com/user-generated-content/im-not-writing-an-obituary-for-the-professional-critic/#comment-27 Ben Grossman Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:23:13 +0000 http://www.philmichaelson.com/?p=6#comment-27 I'm glad you wrote about this. Although there has been an explosion of content and "user-generated reviews" online, professional reviews still hold much more sway over markets. Once a new author gets a positive review in the NYTimes Book Review, it can make their career and help their sales numbers explode. Likewise, a positive review of a music album in Rolling Stone can really add credibility to a new artist and help them gain a mainstream following. On the other hand, a lot of people don't like being told what to do by an "authority" in an office, but rather want to get advice from their peers, whether that's a fellow foodie through Zagat, or learn about new products from their friends on Facebook, etc. The positions of authority are certainly moving, from traditional magazines, radio shows, etc, to sites like TechCrunch or, relevant to my blog and the green business world, TreeHugger and GreenBiz. It will be interesting to see what happens down the line, but my sense is that as Conor writes, pageviews will be the new measuring stick for online media. As blogs gain a following, they become an authority. And as they become seen as an authority, they gain an even greater following. It's definitely the case of network effects. I’m glad you wrote about this. Although there has been an explosion of content and “user-generated reviews” online, professional reviews still hold much more sway over markets. Once a new author gets a positive review in the NYTimes Book Review, it can make their career and help their sales numbers explode. Likewise, a positive review of a music album in Rolling Stone can really add credibility to a new artist and help them gain a mainstream following.

On the other hand, a lot of people don’t like being told what to do by an “authority” in an office, but rather want to get advice from their peers, whether that’s a fellow foodie through Zagat, or learn about new products from their friends on Facebook, etc.

The positions of authority are certainly moving, from traditional magazines, radio shows, etc, to sites like TechCrunch or, relevant to my blog and the green business world, TreeHugger and GreenBiz.

It will be interesting to see what happens down the line, but my sense is that as Conor writes, pageviews will be the new measuring stick for online media. As blogs gain a following, they become an authority. And as they become seen as an authority, they gain an even greater following. It’s definitely the case of network effects.

]]> By: Conor Neu http://www.philmichaelson.com/user-generated-content/im-not-writing-an-obituary-for-the-professional-critic/#comment-24 Conor Neu Sun, 14 Sep 2008 17:09:20 +0000 http://www.philmichaelson.com/?p=6#comment-24 Great points about professional critics within content these days. I do not think we have lost them at all, however who they are is shifting. The reader has more power to decide who are the best because there are more amatuer content providers competing to be at the top. It's just an improvement of evolution in content where Nielsen ratings are being replaced by pageviews in a survival of the fittest on who are the best content providers decision making test. Great points about professional critics within content these days. I do not think we have lost them at all, however who they are is shifting. The reader has more power to decide who are the best because there are more amatuer content providers competing to be at the top. It’s just an improvement of evolution in content where Nielsen ratings are being replaced by pageviews in a survival of the fittest on who are the best content providers decision making test.

]]> By: cs@hbs http://www.philmichaelson.com/user-generated-content/im-not-writing-an-obituary-for-the-professional-critic/#comment-23 cs@hbs Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:27:01 +0000 http://www.philmichaelson.com/?p=6#comment-23 Totally agree with Moses, there's nothing like leaving comments in other blogs to generate traffic to yours :) Seriously, good luck Phil and I'm sure the blog will be interesting. You're hereby added to my feeds list... Totally agree with Moses, there’s nothing like leaving comments in other blogs to generate traffic to yours :)
Seriously, good luck Phil and I’m sure the blog will be interesting. You’re hereby added to my feeds list…

]]> By: Moses Kagan http://www.philmichaelson.com/user-generated-content/im-not-writing-an-obituary-for-the-professional-critic/#comment-21 Moses Kagan Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:22:47 +0000 http://www.philmichaelson.com/?p=6#comment-21 Great blog - love the design (v. clean) and am interested by the content already. I'd aim for slightly more descriptive and provocative titles in order to start to build an audience. And, I'd go to popular blogs about topics that interest you and begin to leave comments with links back here. You'll be surprised by how durable the traffic is from old comment links. Best of luck! Great blog - love the design (v. clean) and am interested by the content already. I’d aim for slightly more descriptive and provocative titles in order to start to build an audience. And, I’d go to popular blogs about topics that interest you and begin to leave comments with links back here. You’ll be surprised by how durable the traffic is from old comment links.

Best of luck!

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