Over the past two weeks TechCrunch has been struck by the Steve Gillmor phenomenon, also known as the sudden appearance of articles boasting outrageous claims written in an unintelligible, somewhat bombastic style.
Joel Spolsky was an early pioneer in the field of Gillmor translation, but as you can tell it’s a rather difficult field of study – right up there with deciphering hieroglyphics or cuneiform.
Amateur Hour at TechCrunch?
I completed a 5-panel MS Paint last Saturday called "The Adventures of Steve Gillmor" but I couldn’t publish the whole thing since it was a little over-the-top. However, the panel that I am using in this post illustrates my point beautifully: doesn’t Steve Gillmor’s work make the entire TechCrunch staff look like a pack of crayon-wielding amateurs?
Here are my grievances against Steve Gillmor:
- Gillmor’s outrageous claims are shrouded by so much bad writing that it takes hours for TechCrunch readers to figure out what parts of the story pissed them off most;
- Gillmor routinely attacks his own readers in an immature, puerile style;
- Gillmor’s evangelism makes Robert Scoble look like a web 2.0 cynic; and lastly
- Gillmor has not hired Joel Spolsky to translate full-time.
As TechCrunch reader (and Marketing-Ninja reader) Tom put it:
It comes across as pretty hypocritical for Michael Arrington to bash the mainstream media for shoddy work while publishing this type of thing on his blog.
That is the single best way to summarize the Steve Gillmor effect – Steve’s work simply undermines the credibility and authority that has taken years for Arrington to establish. Why does Arrington let this guy keep publishing?
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Comments 4
Controversy fuels readership and comments. He’s Arrington’s et al foil.
Smart marketing.
Same as Howard Stern or Bill O’Reilly. Half the people tune in not because they agree, but because they disagree.
Posted 10 Jun 2008 at 12:50 pm ¶Hey Walt,
That makes sense if it was Arrington’s goal to drive numbers but it seems like his decision to bring Gillmor aboard was to help establish some legitimacy to TechCrunch’s brand. If you look at the original announcement to bring Steve Gillmor aboard it talks about Gillmor’s rich experience and his prestidge as a high tech journalist; you can read it here:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/18/gillmor-gang-now-part-of-techcrunch-network/
However, given how bad Gillmor’s execution has been it looks as though Gillmor is actually doing more harm than good to TechCrunch’s desired image of being a legitimate tech news source. Arrington has numbers and that makes him powerful, but if he’s trying to make TechCrunch a legitimate news source and not a sham like the big media outlets that he slams so often then his decision to bring Gillmor aboard has been nothing but counter-productive.
Also, Gillmor’s countroversy isn’t so much the subject of his writing as it is the writing itself – not the right kind of controversy if you ask me.
Posted 10 Jun 2008 at 1:43 pm ¶Looks like Gillmore should stick to Podcasts since his writing sucks…
Arrington’s bad? Gilmor’s posts do bring out lots of comments… and some of ‘em are pretty damn funny… since his writing is so horrible.
Not sure if it’s hurting the TechCrunch brand. I’m only a casual TC reader. Given the TC business model, Arrington sells more ads and attracts more advertising dollars when he bumps readership and comments. I recall Arrington’s comments in a recent New York Times piece about the relentless pressure for his blog to produce fresh, cutting edge tech news and content. This is one way to fuel readership without the “scoop” pressure. Yep, he’s taking a page out of MSM that he slams.
Tech Crunch is already a legit tech news source, but Arrington is forced to keep feeding the beast.
Plus, you gotta admit… it’s always a hoot when smart guys try to even sound smarter. They end up sounding like complete morons. In turn this let’s TechCrunch readers have a common enemy that makes ‘em feel good. Maybe not Arrington’s original intention, but will it hurt TC? Guess we’ll see…
Posted 10 Jun 2008 at 3:12 pm ¶Gillmor is smarter than Arrington, but Arrington hasn’t caught on yet.
Posted 22 Jun 2008 at 1:36 am ¶Post a Comment