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It looks like the blogosphere is a bit hot under the collar again. The culprit, as has been the case recently, is the apparent lack of accountability that powerful bloggers feel to maintain “journalistic ethics”. Dawn Douglass sums up the sentiment nicely, using Techcrunch as the whipping boy.

Celebrity 2.0

Lies

I am starting to see a correlation between new media pioneers and a certain, much lampooned demographic of old media celebrities. Namely, child stars. The fact of the matter is that most of the new media moguls have never had the spotlight on them before. They are used to a world where they had a tight circle of friends and did most of their best work through the close relationships they had secured over the year.

Now, the world is watching and certain things have to change. If you ever considered a career as a professional blogger, here are a few things to keep in mind.

Keep it to yourself. Unless you are Bill O’Rielly, the more exposed you are, the more people will expect you to keep your personal vendettas to yourself. Attack pieces make really great entertainment but really bad journalism.

Managing growth versus credibility is key. Your readership will accept a few flaws now and then, but “jumping the shark” for the sake of stirring up traffic is the result of short term thinking. Long term growth always involves remembering what brought you your readership in the first place.

Never, ever believe that you are better than your readership. At the end of the day, they are more important than all of your advertisers combined. They are the ones who allow you to make payroll, antagonizing them for no reason is just bad business.

Calm down. The entire point of celebrity, even minor celebrity, is that you will have your critics. Letting them get under your skin is no way to live. On the flip side, assuming that everyone who disagrees with you is just a nameless internet troll is setting yourself up for a fall. Learn to differentiate between bandwagon jumping trolls and those with real interest in the subject at hand.

Understand your role. In new media you need to be a combination entertainer, entrepreneur, journalist and psychologist. Long term success comes from managing these roles effectively.

Web 2.0 Roundup

Finally, remember that you signed up for this. If you aren’t interested in the spotlight, there are plenty of others willing to take up your mantle. As is always the case, short term traffic is never worth long term business growth. Finally, remember this, the internet is watching you and it is not a particularly nice place out there.

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