An interesting conversation amongst some friends and acquaintances took place yesterday on Twitter in which we were discussing the value of the popular Social Media “news” site Mashable. Maybe you read Mashable, maybe you don’t, Maybe you love it, or maybe you can’t stand their intertwining of Social Media news, PR reports, and celebrity gossip. Maybe you think Mr. Cashmore is a sexy dude, or maybe you’d label him as a total d-bag. To each his own.
Let’s face it, we all think we are or want to be “right” – even if we won’t admit it, even if we’re the most open minded person on earth, our own opinion still seems more “right” most of the time, because, well, it is our own. You can argue all day long that you love or hate Mashable – but ultimately there’s going to be some people who think it’s crap and some who think it’s the best thing since sliced bread. There is no right or wrong.
Evolution is inevitable – things change, topics shift, markets and demographics vary. Mashable may be on the decline for people who used to rely on it as a valuable source of online marketing information – but for the millions of other people who want to keep tabs on Ashton Kuther’s Twitter following, Mashable is happy to oblige. Somewhere along the way the Mashable crew saw an opportunity to reach new heights, and they have.
What else is Mashable doing? As David Spinks so aptly put during this conversation – Mashable is doing wonders at bridging the gap between our tight-knit community of bloggers and Social Media gurus and the rest of the general population. We’re quick to forget there is a whole world out there of people who could care less about blogging and Twitter, but may want to know about the latest Apple release or Google Announcement. A platform like Mashable gives “our” community and the rest of the online demographic a place to come together, for better or for worse.
I hope that’s what this blog becomes – a place for online gurus and ‘everyday Internet users’ to come together and chat about life, careers, Social Media, whatever. I don’t want to segment myself too closely to one specific niche or group. My writing, and the writing of most of you out there, can and does apply to a much wider audience than you think. It’s just about catching the attention of those who would otherwise overlook your brilliance.
Mashable may be totally useless. You may never read a single post they publish again in you’re life. But when you don’t – someone else will. We’re not going to all find value in the same things. And that’s OK – that’s what makes reading and writing so much fun – because there’s SO much out there, and such a wide spectrum of information to consume and enjoy. At the heart of it all, you should be writing about what you love, about what interests you – and if someone else, even if it’s only one out of a hundred, finds value in what you write – isn’t that enough? Isn’t that what it’s all about?