Before you claim all of us bloggers are doing it in an echo chamber, consider that perhaps you are the one writing to an echo chamber. You may have heard it before, but believe me, you are in a very small minority. I too often forget that most people in the world aren’t as tech savvy as those I talk to everyday. I talked to a recruiter the other day who wasn’t on Facebook because: “isn’t that site just for college kids?”. So before you accuse bloggers of writing “me too” posts to drive traffic, or to just regurgitate what other have already said, consider that not everyone has read all of those other blogs that you have. I live in Boston, arguably one of the most high tech cities in the US, home to countless colleges. I have 3 family members in college. I regularly speak at my alma mater. You’d be SHOCKED to know how few use Flickr, Facebook, or even know how to use Google.

Not everyone knows how to use their cell phone to send an SMS, not everyone belongs to a social network. Most of this country don’t. Many aren’t even ready for the switch to digital cable! Keep in mind that the echo chamber is small and hasn’t yet enveloped the entire globe.

Agreed.

I was reading Reality Check over vacation, and something really struck me about it: Guy Kawasaki never talks about how he scanned the ether for what was happening that day for something to write about. He doesn’t talk about the echo chamber. He doesn’t care if anyone reads his blog or not.

In fact, there is a call to be controversial and bold in the book.

Since all the gladhandlers are reading it (probably only the Cliff Notes version), lets hope they take that to heart.

You can’t drive it forward being safe.

Thanks,
JW

Thanks for the kind words.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with in the future as a result!

Thanks,
JW

I too have figured that occasionally doing a “me too” might help direct some more traffic my way, but you are right, that if I do not have a unique contribution to a subject, it may not be my time to post at that moment.

Thanks for your energy and enthusiasm on the point, you won me over.

James

Admittedly, I comment on blogs quite a bit to demonstrate — and share — my thinking, but I’d like to believe that I am offering a new perspective or a unique point of view over just serving as a cheerleader for the author. And more often than not, I disagree and use the comments as a vehicle to express my stance.

But far too often, bloggers and commenters are using the medium to self-promote in an attempt to justify their existence in an insanely oversaturated market or elevate themselves to ‘expert’ status by parroting what the ‘A-listers’ say, which most of the time, isn’t all that new or groundbreaking anyway. So, you end up with a bunch of glandhanders spewing hot air bouncing back and forth against the walls of the echo chamber, and ultimately, spreading medicrity across the space.

I sometimes feel like people are afraid to express an original thought or idea for fear of straying from the herd or conjuring up a firestorm if, heaven forbid, their ideas are in discord with the web famous. Unfortunately, as it exists now, I think that the person with the loudest, most far-reaching voice (and daily ramming of the same tired posts with little to no new thinking or value down our throats) is leading the space. And the reason regurgitating the same ideas works is because it resonates with people BECAUSE THEY’VE HEARD IT BEFORE. So,they think, ‘yeah, I get that; that makes sense’ even if it’s the same re-packaged principles that have been around for decades.

Engage in conversation? Build relationships with people? Yeah, that’s how business has been conducted since the dawn of time when the cavemen bartered their first wooden club for a slab of meat. Now we just do it on the web. The wheel’s already been invented. Stop talking about it and just drive it forward.

So while I agree with what you say, I also think it helps to tell new bloggers to yes, read as many blogs/sites as you can and it’s ok in the beginning to emulate others, to an extent.

You may like the tone of this blogger and the style of that one just like a comic may like the delivery of one comedian and the mannerisms of another.

The key is, as you say, is to be original and NOT to just “pile on” to an existing pile… but make your own!

Good stuff. Justin.

Thanks,
Steve O

Trust me, I am 100% in favor of originality and differentiation, but much of what we do has to do with reaching as many people as possible. If I retweet something Brogan, Armano or Naslund wrote about, it is in the hope of either a) introducing that idea to someone who may not have heard of Brogan, Armano or Naslund yet, b) may not have been paying attention earlier that day or that month or that year when they shared their thoughts on that particular subject, or c) to validate their ideas by agreeing with them (and maybe adding something to the discussion that will hopefully be relevant.)

Creating a big daisy chain or rehashed ideas may seem like a waste of time, but it does actually have its value.

As for originality being teachable… I don’t know. I’d like to think that, but I haven’t seen an example of that yet. If you have to hire someone to help you create original content or take your business in an original direction, you probably don’t have the originality gene. But I could be completely wrong. ;D

I’ll have to ask Amber about that. It’s a really interesting concept.

Cool post.

I decided yesterday to write a unique post, include personal information and my own experience. I was nervous. I’d never gone that far before, always making my “me too” notes. But then something cool happened! I got positive feedback from others. I even reposted it on another site (multifamilyinsiders.com) when requested and got more positive feedback! All of this after not having anything to say for about a month.

Someone told me to cut back on the personal, and then someone said they loved it that I “finally” shared something about myself. I’m excited about my newbie blog for the first time, all because I decided to be original. From now on, I am who I am… like me or not! )