Sometimes all it takes to stay awake is a little stimulation.
Sometimes all it takes to stay awake is a little stimulation.
Home / Environmental / Featured / Government / Search Engine Optimization / Social Media Marketing / Tech / Twitter / We Heart World / web 2.0 / Shame on You @Mashable. You’re Better Than This.
I truly enjoy Mashable. Pete Cashmore and his team have put together my favorite 2nd favorite social media blog. With that said, I’m very disappointed in them for attempting this shameless self-promotion.
There’s nothing wrong with many types of self-promotion. With all of the noise on the Internet and even in real life, it is often those who are best at self-promotion who succeed at their endeavors. This is different.
Twitter has long been considered more of a popularity contest than an actual social networking site by many. The introduction of Twitter Lists has added a new level to this.
In the article, Cashmore tries as tactfully as possible to encourage his significant reader base and Twitter followers to add the Mashable Twitter account to a list. In essence, they’re asking for a vote in a race that nobody knows is being held. For most, if they did know it was going on, they wouldn’t care.
It’s a Twitter list. It’s next to meaningless. Shooting to be #1 and “beat” the Barack Obama Twitter account is so completely unimportant that it didn’t deserve a mention, let alone a blog post.
Mashable, you’re better than this. I could expect it from some of the less “scrupulous” social media blogs out there, but not yours.
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Posted on: Sunday, November 1st, 2009
Posted in: Environmental, Featured, Government, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing, Tech, Twitter, We Heart World, web 2.0
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Comments: 13 Responses
November 1st, 2009 at 9:38 am
I too am a bit surprised that the great Mashable would be so obvious about a practice like this. His motives have always tended to be….subtle? Well when you really think about it, his motives have always been obvious…but he gives good information… Maybe we can let him slide…after all he’s not CEO of a not for profit org:)
November 1st, 2009 at 9:49 am
It just seemed a little below them. Self-promotion - I’m all for it. Websites need to do what they can to survive. Still, I’d rather see a straight forward post rather than a “shy” version (or better, no attempt at all since it’s just Twitter Lists).
… and after all this, I’ll still be reading Mashable daily.
November 1st, 2009 at 11:20 am
I don’t get it. Seems fine to me.
November 1st, 2009 at 11:31 am
But can’t you see… they’re running for President?
Chill guys, it’s not really the US election - I think it wasn’t meant to be taken so seriously.
November 1st, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Hey folks,
Always love constructive criticism…helps us grow!
That said, we’re a bit confused by the objection here…the post is intended to be tongue-in-cheek … we’re not running for Presidential Election in 2012 and we won’t have a policy of “War on Fail Whales”. The post is accompanied by a campaign banner featuring a piece of Pecan Pie and the slogan “Yes Pecan”. We saw we were neck and neck with Obama and thought that was pretty absurd - figured it would make a fun weekend post. There’s even a smiley face in the title to be extra-clear that we’re kidding.
Perhaps it’s time for us to give up on the jokes and go back to the day job?
Anyway, subbing to Media Caffeine cos it looks like you write some cool stuff. I’m also working on some Twitter Lists of some really awesome Twitter people to follow - loving the new feature!
Have a great weekend (what’s left of it!),
–Pete
November 1st, 2009 at 7:53 pm
I agree with Kim & JD. Subtle, but you are better than this.
Yes you can (and hopefully will do better in the future).
November 1st, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Mashable’s behavior has become simply the most self-serving, self-promotional nonsense I’ve ever seen from a mainstream blog. It’s gone from a good source of topical information to an absolute page-view generation machine spewing out all kinds of marginal non-stories.
It’s a shell of it’s former self. Sad indeed.
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:08 am
Well done Media Caffeine, you got what you wanted–linkbait and even a response from Pete on the blog. Take a chill pill, even though we all know you just want attention to your blog in the first place. Oh, the irony.
November 2nd, 2009 at 1:58 am
When I first read it it seemed like a just a fun post with a bit of self promotion. But with Mr. Cashmore’s explanation above, it’s easy to forgive.
Perhaps the fact that it was a joke will be lost on many people.
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:44 pm
U rock….I didnt C anything wrong with it. It is a free country/ies….LMAO !!!
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:22 pm
You people need to lighten up and recognize a joke when you see one.
November 3rd, 2009 at 3:02 am
To be Honest I don’t see anything wrong here. Pete was clearly having a laugh at the time. I mean who measures up close to the President? Thats insane in the first place.
O well people have their opinions.
Cheers
November 5th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
[...] and many more followed. Cashmore later made an appearance in a blog’s comment-section, and said he meant it to be tongue-in-cheek. The jury’s still out on that [...]