Valleywag is Silicon Valley’s tech gossip rag. In welcoming its guests, Valleywag states: “You people in Silicon Valley are far too busy changing the world to care about sex, greed and hypocrisy. But if you ever need a break, come visit us at Valleywag.” And Valleywag is not just for those in Silicon Valley. Anyone can pay them a visit at http://valleywag.com/.
Valleywag focuses chiefly on the people of San Francisco and Silicon Valley. To those who charge that Silicon Valley is far too dull and serious for gossip, Valleywag says: “Yes, that’s been the general consensus. Chris Nolan used to write a gossipy column, Talk is Cheap, for the San Jose Mercury News in the 1990s, and Fucked Company provided dirt on all the startups that went bust after 2000. But Silicon Valley hasn’t been conducive to gossip. And a lot of people who work in technology are, at least in up markets, too dazzled by the immaculate future to pay attention to the grime of the present. The less charitable explanation: the companies are uptight; the public relations professionals controlling; and the press supine.”
So, why did Valleywag start a site? “Well, where there’s money, there’s excess, and where there’s excess, there’s gossip. And there’s now a lot of money again in Silicon Valley. Oh, and let’s not forget Google. Did you know that Marissa Mayer, the anointed queen of Google, used to go out with Larry page until quite recently? And no one ever ever writes that. So that’s why.”
What stories does Valleywag cover? “Well, Marissa Mayer, for a start, and tech media’s obtuse coverage of her background. Unpopular venture capitalists. Larry Ellison’s spending habits. The Googlejet. Car park etiquette. The cubicle neighbor’s undeserved Porshe. Particularly nauseating examples of corporate jargon. Any story, pretty much, that people talk about, but never see in print. And nothing is too trivial.”
Who would be behind such a site? “Valleywag is part of Gawker Media, which publishes other gossipy titles such as Gawker in Manhattan, Wonkette in Washington, D.C. and Defamer in Hollywood - as well as tech sites such as Gizmodo and Lifehacker. The company makes money from advertising but not, fortunately, from many of the companies that we’ll be poking.”
And who is the author of this A-List blog? His name is Nick Douglas and he is “a hungry little monster” who first visited San Francisco just three months before the blog began, “plucked prematurely from undergraduate English. Jane Austen’s loss is Silicon Valley’s gain. Or maybe the other way around. But Valleywag is also open to reader comments, either anonymous or bylined.”
Nick Douglas has been swamped lately, but he was gracious enough to grant this interview. I asked Nick Douglas what sets his blog apart from other blogs. Quite simply, he answered, “We have more photos of naked geeks than anyone else: http://valleywag.com/tech/geeks-gone-wild.”
When did Nick Douglas start his blog and why? “February. For the money.” At least Nick Douglas is blunt.
So, what does an A-List blogger do when he is not blogging about tech gossip in Silicon Valley? “Read comic books and watch Battlestar Galactica. Saturday nights are pahhhh-retty cahhhh-razy when I break out a game of online Scrabble.”
What is Nick Douglas’s favorite thing about blogging? “Wearing what I want to work. This always includes a tie. It never includes pants.” His least favorite thing about blogging? “No editor to coddle me and make a clumsy pass at me after drinking the office scotch.”
But the question I was really aching to ask this A-List blogger, the query that I knew would elicit a thorough and most likely profound answer was this: What do you feel is the key to a successful blog? Hang on to the edge of your seats, boys and girls, because Nick Douglas provided the answer.
“Lots and lots of readers.”
Okay, so I suppose I should put my own plans of developing an A-List blog on hold for the time being. But if you want your writing to appear on an A-List blog, an opportunity awaits at Valleywag. Reader comments are by invitation only, since the Valleywag editor wants to spend more time writing and less time moderating threads. But everyone has a fair shot at becoming a Valleywag commenter. You can either find a friend who has an invitation to share, dish some gossip to Valleywag, convince Valleywag you’re on your way to becoming a Valley insider, or become a fellow blogger with something important to say.
So, if you are tired of reading about Paris Hilton but can’t get enough Mark Cuban, check out Valleywag. If you could care less whether Lindsay Lohan is wearing panties this month but are just dying to know if Yahoo’s CEO will last through the next fiscal year, check out Valleywag. If you would rather read third quarter score sheets than letters on Penthouse Forum, check out Valleywag. Or both; there’s time. Especially if your Saturday nights usually involve a few rounds of online Scrabble.
Source article: Online Journal and Blogger Reviews and free blogging and Journal Blogspot and free blog backgrounds
Balck Blogger Layouts
No comments:
Post a Comment