Digital Aborigine Discovers Cyber El Dorado (Again)

I could hardly believe my eyes! Talk about drastic measures! This is as drastic as drastic gets!

I have concluded that the following article by Steve Rubel could serve as a lesson for any blogger who has suffered through the indignity of having his or her blog deleted beyond recovery. It's entitled "¶ Why I Adopted a Scorched Earth Policy, Dismantled Two Blogs and Jumped to Tumblr in a Single Weekend" written by the same fellow who was lead lemming in the "Posterous / Lifestreaming" movement (if indeed there ever was such a movement).

Perhaps its symbolic, but that’s exactly the approach I took to my digital presence this past Memorial Day weekend. I started a fresh new site on the future of media over on Tumblr. Then I promptly turned around and slashed both my TypePad-powered blog, which I ran from 2004 to 2009, and my Posterous blog, which I started with some fanfare back in 2009. With just two clicks of a mouse I rid the web of literally thousands of blog posts, some of which I am proud of - others less so - and redirected the URLs to the new site.

Now before you write off this decision off as simply a mid-life crisis, let me explain why I did so. There’s actually a method to my maddness.

I fundamentally believe that we are entering the next great era of the web - The Validation Era. In this age of too much content and not enough time, the public will increasingly need to hear things validated across four interconnected media clovers that are converging across four different screens - phones, tablets, PCs and TVs. To be successful, businesses and individuals will need to continually ensure their engagement spans the media cloverleaf.

These four media spheres include:

* Traditional media - powerful mainstream brands like CNN, the BBC and more
* Tradigital media - emergents like TNW, Politico and others that have social DNA
* Owned media - corporate/brand content (web and apps) that emulate media
* Social media - digital embassies in the big hubs - Twitter, YouTube, Facebook

That’s why I decided to jump to Tumblr and why I didn’t stay with Posterous or move to Wordpress or SquareSpace, all of which are solid platforms.

Tumblr is a truly unique hybrid. It sits squarely in the center of the Media Cloverleaf.

The premise appears interesting enough: "too much content, not enough time" (basically a new spin on the old "information overload") - and an emerging platform - tumblr.com - which the author sees as a "media cloverleaf".

OK - I actually LIKE that "media cloverleaf" descriptor. Keep in mind that "media presence" is illusory. Andy Warhol's "15 minutes of fame" concept applies here.

But then, Mr. Steve Lifestreamer revealed the apparent catalyst behind his self-inflicted blitzkreig: Google's +1. Oi vey! The digital finger snapped, and he responded immediately! Knee-jerk! I wouldn't call that "going where the media is" one bit!

I am sure you’re scratching your head as to why I deleted my old blogs, scorching the ground I once resided on. The answer is Google.

I believe that Plus One, if adopted, is a game changer. These endorsements, plus Facebook likes and other social signals, will help tell Google what to pay attention to and what to let fade away. I want to make it easy for Google. The only way to do so was to scorch the earth. Anything more will confuse it. I want one site to earn the +1s, not three.

Oh yeah - me too - I jumped on +1 - but I also signed up with MySpace, twitter and facebook long before each became wildly popular - and I also signed up with a bunch of "losers" who are no longer in existence!

And I'm on tumblr! I won't lie to you - I jumped on it after I saw that my buddy Little Miss B, Yarah Bravo, had opened a tumblr blog. I saw a platform with many desirbale features which could serve as a backup blog should any ills befall my blog*spot home! The former Lifestreamer closes his article with these words:

Today, the media spans four clovers and Tumblr seems like the perfect play. Time will tell.

Indeed. I guess we can write "Lifestreaming" off at this point? Tumblr is the new "it"??? OK. I'll play along!

Just like the tornados that nearly wiped Joplin off the map and surprised the folks in Massachusetts, "digital disaster" could strike at any time. You should always have a PLAN B, and save your blog on a CD or DVD!

By way of, by way of, by way of...

Here's another thought provoking article which deserves to be paired with this one, via Lindsay Oberst via Amplify via Mashable (donchajustluv referrrrals?)





Tags: lifestreaming, tumblr



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