Scott Beale/Laughing Squid
Robert Scoble, long-time blogger and a prominent employee of podcast network Podtech, ticked off top tech bloggers this weekend when he accused them of ignoring him and other smaller blogs. Scoble (pictured), formerly an unofficial marketer for Microsoft, commented on the sites Engadget and Gizmodo with links to his videos of Intel labs and a new Intel processing technology. When the two blogs covered the Intel tech without mentioning his videos, Scoble quietly realized that his videos weren't that newsworthy for those sites.
Ha ha, no. No, Scoble lost his cool in an accusatory rant saying the two "big gadget sites" "don't link to blogs." (They do, several times a day.) Later (after several rebukes) admitted he'd "gone overboard": "I apologize to Gizmodo and Engadget. They link to blogs. Just not mine unless I raise a stink."
Why does it matter? Because Scoble's hissy-fit, unacceptable from a man of his experience and an embarrassing episode for Podtech, just showed what every creative person pitching a story should learn in school: If your item doesn't get picked up, don't whine. You will draw bad publicity (and yes, there is such a thing. Engadget and Gizmodo are no more likely to notice Scoble than before).
Instead, switch tactics. In this case, Scoble could have realized that Gizmodo and Engadget are already overwhelmed with tips, and that the writers don't have time to read all the comments on their blogs (where Scoble wrote that he left links to his Podtech videos). Then he could have e-mailed Gizmodo and Engadget, or seeded his videos on some of the dozens of smaller tech blogs that look up to Scoble and are dying for attention from bloggers at his level. Aspiring journalists take note: dropping your sense of entitlement means never having to say you're sorry.
Oh, and if you don't link to this, you're dead to us.
