Reprobates and bloggers - The Digital Edge Podcast

I'm still not convinced by the validity of the Podcast in the local market. Yet Saul and Jarred continue to try and prove me wrong. They've been doing a relatively good job of it lately and even went as far as to invite me on to the latest episode of the Digital Edge.You can download it or listen to it live by heading over to the Digital Edge website.From the site:

We speak to Nic Haralambous of SA Rocks, Seth Rotherham of 2Oceansvibe, Exmi from Expensive Mistakes Cheap Thrills, Shaun Oakes of Shaun Oakes.com, Jason Bagley from the Incredible Connection blog and finally Se7en from Se7en.org. We round up that line up with a summary of the blogosphere by Justin Hartman, head of blog aggregator Afrigator.

Nothing particularly groundbreaking came out of the bloggers interviews: We are all egotistical, we all like to win stuff, we all brag, blah blah blah. It's riveting blogger "Days of our living lives online" sorta stuff.Definitely worth listening to. Do it.And thanks to Saul and Jarred for having me on the show. Always a good boost to the ego hey?!

We Blog the World - A South African Bloggers Tour

I am really chuffed to be a part of a fantastic (and very smart) initiative by the International Marketing Council (IMC).The basic idea, as I like to understand it, is that 11 international bloggers who are all prominent in their respective fields will all be heading for SA for a ten day whirlwind tour of our magnificent country. You can see more about the project over at We Blog the World. So the ten day tour will invariably allow the readers of the 11 international blogs to be exposed to the wonders of SA. Therefore invoking a desire to find out more, experience SA, travel to the country or simply read more SA stuff. Great move by the IMC I think. It's social marketing. Brilliant.I have been invited to take part in the tour.Don't fool yourself thinking that I will be on a joy-ride for ten days. Big Mistake.Bizcommunity have proudly offered my a column for the ten days where I will be writing about the trip and publishing video and photo content through the ten days. I will also be double posting the trip on my two blogs, nicharalambous.com and SA Rocks. If that isn't enough I will also be posting to the Zoopy blog sporadically, the We blog the world (WBW) flickr group and the Zoopy profile/landing page for the event. I am going to be one blogged out blogger by the end of this week.But it will most definitely be worth it. The IMC have put together an incredible trip for all of the attending bloggers.Here are a few snippets of the trip, where we'll be and what we'll be doing:A heli flight over the peninsulaAn Electric Car DemoThen we head to Alexander Bay to delve in to SA's oyster culture.and then we head off to JHB for various events, viewings and museum tripsI am incredibly excited to be taking part as many of the things on the itinerary are things that I have been wanting to do in SA for ages but have never had the chance.Expect some great content.Head over to Matt's blog and see who else is taking part. Leave comments or contact me if there are specific questions you would like to see the visiting bloggers answer while they are here in SA!

Does elitism stifle growth?

Recently there have been waves of anger, lashing out, disdain and open disrepute online amongst a very, very small percentage of Internet users in SA.The main focus of this disdain has revolved around the concept of elitism. One blogger today wrote that there are less than 200 active social media users in SA. Huh?Anyways, that's not my point. I want to ask the question: "Does elitism actually stifle growth and development?"My immediate answer is no and I think it's one that I am going to stick to forever. Why? Simple. It's because the "elitism" that "everyone" is talking about is simply providing a driving force for so many to push themselves harder, faster, futher and aid in their growth and development.I don't know about anyone else but when someone excluded me, told me I couldn't, shouldn't, wouldn't, I did, evertime. And not only did I do what they told me I couldn't or shouldn't but I made sure that I creamed them at it. I made a point of standing up and having people notice me.Now if something as silly as a perceived elitism is going to get under your skin, knock you down and make you go home and give up then maybe you should just become an employee at someone else's company. There's nothing wrong with that. Not everyone can be evangelists, leaders, gurus, geniuses, experts and the like... or can they?

Let's all blog about blogging about blogging

Bored. That is what us bloggers must be. Why? Because we seem to be so preoccupied recently (a phenomenon that has coincided with some interesting arrivals of late) with who is who and doing what and how often in our wondrously massive local blogging community.Those who are mentioned "seem to not care" but care enough to blog about themselves being blogged about. I have been mentioned a fair amount and I am now partaking in my own condemnation (oh the irony). I am blogging about blogs by bloggers on blogging and bloggers and who's the bestest of the best and whose daddy is bigger than whose mommy and who has the nicest fanciest shmanciest housiest home or rather, blog, and who is more influential than who and how often they influence those that influence others.Can I just chime in here and say that I actually think it's a load of rubbish. In spite of my participation in Mandy's "Top Ten bloggers" post over at MoneyWeb I honestly think it's irrelevant. Mandy asked on twitter yesterday: "Who has more influece?" and listed three bloggers for others to compare. Link. Bait. It's link baiting. Not journalism. It's irrelevant in my opinion (and only in my opinion). What does matter is that its time we refocus our energy on relevant content for the every day reader. Not the bloggers who blog about blogging.Has content become so drab and non existent that we have turned to each other, looked one another in the blog and decided that we are the only content relevant enough to blog about? Are you kidding me?I reiterate that I grasp the fact that I am doing the same thing right now that I am condemning, do not point it out in the comments, I get it, I know that I am doing it but occasionally it is unavoidable.What I am getting at is that people like to stir the pot, we like to back rub, we like to have our backs rubbed, we all do and we all know it, we just can't help ourselves. It's the old adage that people like to see themselves on TV, look at America's Funniest Home Videos. That show has never gone away and it's because there are regular people focusing on people like themselves. That doesn't make it good content though. It just makes it long-lasting.Maybe it's time I shift my focus to writing for readers, not bloggers. Writing for people and writing about things that people like to read. In my opinion readers don't like to read about bloggers blogging about blogs and other bloggers egos and ranks and pages and pageranks and technorati and lists and links... see I'm bored already.

My list of Ten Influential Bloggers

As published in Mandy's MoneyWeb article:1. Michael Trapido - www.thoughtleader.co.za/traps - Traps is a voice worth hearing. His opinion and relentless 4th estate approach to his writing is much needed in a dumbed-down political sphere.
2. Rob Stokes - http://www.gottaquirk.com/ - Rob is an important blogger to read because he has true insight and genuine experience that makes his writing worth the read.
3. Ndumiso Ngcobo - http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/silwane - Genuine and honest opinion is hard to come by. The Silwane Files is a blog filled with simple truisms and introspective outwardly-appealing opinions.
4. Fred Roed - ideate.co.za - Entrepreneurship is the lifeblood of SA at the moment, Fred and his Ideate partners provide integral insight in to their business experiences.
5. Khaya Dlanga - http://www.youtube.com/user/khayav - Khaya is actually a Vlogger. His insight and no-holds-barred opinion about SA is invaluable.
6 & 7. Glen and Wanda of Urban Sprout - www.urbansprout.co.za - Green is the future and I respect and value anyone talking green in SA.
8. Vincent Maher - wwww.vincentmaher.com - He doesn't blog often but still remains an essential figure to follow in the online industry.
9. Jarred Cinman - http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/burningpaper - Open, honest and not scared to blog about the "no-no's" such as religion.
10. Fred Khumalo - http://blogs.thetimes.co.za/khumalo/ - Mainstream media taking up blogging is always interesting. Fred has done a brilliant job of involving himself and his opinion in the blogosphere.And I'd just like to thank all the bloggers and people who mentioned me in their lists in the same article.

Bloggers Who Like to Get Beta Testing Invites

I found this interesting Facebook group.Many of us bloggers are what we like to call "early adopters". This means we like things quickly, we like to be the first and we like to break the story in some way.This Facebook group sources beta invites and try to link up bloggers with beta websites. Blogging about the website's beta is seemingly optional but owning a blog is a prerequisite.From the group:

Are you a blogger that loves to get in to test new sites first? Many of those sites are trying to reach you too - but they get lost amidst all the press releases for stuff you don't care about.This is an exclusive group for those bloggers who want to try out some of those new Web2.0 sites that are starting everyday, and MAYBE blog about them. Whether or not you choose to blog is up to you ... but at least you'll get the invites first. To join this group, YOU MUST HAVE A BLOG.

MyDigitalLife blogs put me off

I really struggle to MyDigitalLife (MyDL) blogs. It's not the blogs themselves or the bloggers, it's the fact that on Amatomu all MyDL blogs appear with a single author, MyDigitalLife. Immediately that puts me off.I have glanced over and ignored countless posts by MyDL bloggers for this reason. In stark contrast, I enjoy reading Iblogs, Amagama and other who have individual authors listed on Amatomu.The reason? I think that it is due to the fact that in my mind it appears as if MyDL is trying to own the content of all their blogs and thus alter editorial content.I was asked to post SA Rocks posts on MyDL a while ago. I started using the service and received little to no feedback. I then noticed my current issue with them on Amatomu and have yet to post another SA Rocks post on MyDL.Simply put, bloggers on MyDL need to take back their blogs.

Your .com death and more on Flamebait

We have just published the latest episode of Flamebait, in which Vince and I discuss some of the following burning topics:* The Facebook domain squat* Social networking for dead people* What happens to bloggers when they die or, rather, what should happen* Linkbait and general misinformation* Who is Phil Lynnot and why can I never remember the name of the band?Subscribe to the Flamebait feed. Visit the MG podcast page.

IPhone IFever becomes an IFrenzy

I admire Apple on so many levels for so many different reasons. Lately It has been thanks to my MacBookPro that I admire Apple (I am converted).However right now it is the Iphone "IFrenzy" as I have coined it, that has me intrigued. Apple makes announcements but there is no need for them to. They simply need to fart and people like the aroma. The Iphone is set for release in the states very soon and this information has people in a tizz. Bloggers are blogging about it, techies are teching about it and laymen are wishing they knew what it could do.Here is a video to give you a bit of insight:Wow. But with a price tag of around $499 I think I'll give it a skip. In fact, I wont need to as it is unavailable in SA for the next, um, ever just about.Back to my fascination with Apple. I am sure they have had their ups and down as a company. Hell with Microsoft capturing a large majority of the industry Apple have done a sterling job but not without their fair share of stuff ups.What absolutely amazes me is that they cannot go wrong at the moment (last 3 or 4 years). They simply "let something leak" to the press and they are sitting pretty and riding the wave of rumours that extend throughout the blogging community world wide. Let's just be serious for a second here, they are so good at what they do that as a South African blogger with almost no access to the IPhone I am blogging about it and posting video footage about it. That is incredible.As a young businessman I am definitely trying to take a page out of the Apple book and learn from their unbelievable ability to whip up a media frenzy on a whim.