Scoble’s Recent Hogwash About The Common Web

I’ve heard of Robert Scoble. He’s meant to be some sort of a big deal. He may have been at TechCruch or something. I don’t know. I can’t be bothered to look it up. It’s not worth the time. I know he’s got a camera, perhaps. How does someone get famous for having a camera? Was he a photographer? Should I have paid more attention to TechCruch? Should I have waded through the vapid uninteresting nonsense, so I could “get it” when someone mentioned TC?! I’m getting off target here. Like I said, I really don’t know whether he worked at TechCruch or not.

Back to my main point…

…It’s unfortunate that “Scobleizer’s” recent Blog post ‘It’s too late for Dave Winer and John Battelle to save the common web’ found its way into my Twitter feed — I’m normally descent at cancelling out grinfuckers that don’t know what they’re talking about.

At one point during the post Scoble has a go at Dave Winer and RSS:

Sorry, will RSS help me get new access to Google’s search engine? No.

Will RSS help me get access to Facebook’s Open Graph, which let Spotify share five billion songs in the first few months of its existence? No.

Will RSS help me get access to your Facebook news feed? No.

Will RSS help me get a better Klout score? No.

Will RSS help me get a speaking slot at O’Reilly’s conferences? No.

Will RSS help me talk with my wife, and her friends, who are all addicted to Facebook? No.

Will RSS let me get my photos onto Instagram? No.

Will RSS help me get my food consumption behaviors onto Foodspotting? No.

“Will RSS help me get a better Klout score?”. He gives a shit about his Klout score?

“Will RSS help me talk with my wife, and her friends, who are all addicted to Facebook?”. He needs Facebook to help him talk to his wife? WTF

Scoble then goes on to ask the question “What’s the right way to protest TODAY?”, to which his first suggestion is “Don’t delete your Facebook account. Deleting your account just makes you look like a weirdo in today’s world.”. No. No it doesn’t. I know plenty of people who have done it. It’s not weird they don’t what to interact on a platform that’s basically photo-sharing and limits your social interactions based on the decisions of a kid in Silicon Valley…

…Scoble should grow a spine! Let me get this right. He doesn’t choose what he wants based on this own thinking; instead, he cares more about not looking like a “weirdo”. Way to go! Just the person I want to be taking “protest” advice from.

Hackernews

  • BW

    Awesome Post. Watch out for Seshn.com

  • http://twitter.com/wpgrant Bill Grant

    First — it’s probably worth it to find out who Scoble is… It might give you more context on him. He might not have the same credentials as a Dave Winer in terms of building tools for the internet, but I think his opinion on what the “every-man” and “every-woman” will do in the web world is far more accurate than Dave Winer’s.

    In terms of Scoble’s post, what he is saying is normal people (non-techy friends and family who are doctors, lawyers, accountants and teachers who don’t know what reddit or 4chan is) don’t care about RSS and whether their data is being locked into Facebook or Google+. What they care about is being where their friends are. People in tech will revolt against a non-open web promoted by Facebook by closing their account, but my sister the teacher won’t.

    What Scoble is saying was the time for building a strong campaign for an open web was 4 years ago, when we all knew fewer normal people not on Facebook. The time when we would get several friend requests a month of people we know very well. That time has past.

    Now I don’t think Facebook is “too big to fail”, but I think it will take some myspace-like miscues plus a much better option (Google+, Diaspora, who knows?) to build enough momentum where the open web topic can be conversation again, and when a company like Facebook might care to listen. But right now a campaign alone for an open web will probably fall on deaf ears.

  • Anonymous

    Oscar, I’m betting you’re the kind of guy who throws beer bottles at people’s mailboxes, you’re clearly not in the same league as Scoble. Maybe when you have something of import to say you might be lucky to get half the following that Scoble has.

  • Philip

    You are right on the money. I have had enough time to read up on Scoble and he is a glorified ass. Unfortunately, uneducated people think he is a teller of truth. Reality is, he is a moron and is completely out of touch with the common user, which can clearly be determined if you read a dozen of his posts. He also has a terrible tendency of making all his posts about himself. He, and MG Siegler are perhaps the two biggest blowhards in tech-writing history. I disregard anything they say because nothing is objective, nothing is realistic, and they are both entirely full of themselves.

    Klout? Man is that depressing that a grown man cares about a Klout score. That is like arguing with someone that you are cooler because you have more friends on Facebook. Embarrassing.

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