No 9rules For Us
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with I won’t lie. We applied for Round 4 of 9rules, thinking it would be a good way to garner more exposure for the site. Not that we don’t love you faithful readers that have been with us since the beginning. Congratulations to those who did manage to make it in, I’m sure you’ll all make excellent additions to the ever growing network.
But I have to wonder. The sites that weren’t selected either “needed a little more time or a little more focus”. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but assuming it’s not a matter of time:
…the problem is focus? As much as I’d love to see us with a great group of people, I’m afraid alwaysBETA will never get “focused”. Sure, we could turn it into a pure technology site - and compete with everyone else out there who’s bending over backwards trying to write tech articles at the breakneck speed required to be good. Or we could drop some of the random articles on fugues, communism, or WoW - but to that, I say an emphatic, “hell no”.
Take gadgets for example. There is no way in hell we’re ever going to apprach Engadget or Gizmodo. And that’s fine. In reality, reading those blogs is like drinking from a firehose. 40 posts a day all on gadgets is enough to drive even the most dedicated reader insane. Personally, I like the variety. I like the fact that I can write about web usability on one day, and then throw up links to gorgeous storm photography.
And eeevillll eBay auctions.
Point is, we’re human. Yeah, I like technology, but I also happen to play guitar, watch BSG, read A Game of Thrones, and crush people at Quake III. Focusing this site might make it easier to categorize, but I get the feeling it wouldn’t be as fun to read. And I like to think that you feel the same way - thanks for reading.
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Variety is very good. I hate reading Engadget’s RSS feed more than twice a day and I only read the feed because I’m tired of the insipid “First Post!” crap that goes on over there on a consistent basis (although they have disabled comments now… thank god).
Overall aB is a great site with insightful writers that seem to touch on several topics I love and now loath (thanks Zach for introducing me to WoW… is there a Dallas support group for WoW addiction?).
“[…] watch BSG”
How about ‘un-focusing’ a bit on that topic?
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Good lord don’t change. I love the fact that I’m just as likely to see an article on some delusional “emperor” of the United States as the latest AJAX framework reviewed. Sexily designed tech sites are a dime a dozen but aB is just… well… aB.
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Counterjumper » 9rules Rejects
[…] No 9rules for Us - alwaysBETA.com […]
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Amazing, I passed up on a post from WP’s Lorelle saying the exact same thing earlier today… kinda like media houses having multiple printouts of the samething by different people for whatever reason. I never pay attention to any of these cliques anyway.
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(Post Author)
Thanks for all the kind comments. I’ve been gone all day today due to a fun combination of traveling back to Boston and upgrading to Dapper. As for changing, don’t worry. The only thing we’re planning on doing is making Grant post more.
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Ah well, 9 Rules isn’t the be all and end all of blogging - just stay true to yourselves. I enjoy this site, it’s akin to typical tech/geek office chat, keep it up fellas!
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continue like that, j’ai bien 9 bonnes raisons de vous lire quotidiennement de Paris, France.
Salut!
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I’m surprised you didn’t get into 9rules. You have a amazing site design, readers that comment, and regular posts. The focused aspect must be it. I wouldn’t worry about not getting in to 9rules. It would be a great traffic boost for your site, but 9rules isn’t a sign of successful blogging. I think you have a great blog and don’t want to see you change into a site that is focused. Variety is good. It adds a personal touch that sites like Engadget can’t touch. The important thing is to have fun and write about what you like.
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World 0.1
The Fear of the Blank Page – or: Why yet another blog?…
My first post on my nice little blog – and the fear of the blank page is overwhelming. A good place to start might be to attempt to define what this blog is actually about and to outline why I believe it might contribute something new to this continu…