John Battelle writes:
Heres my prediction: Blogs will soon become a staple in the information diet of every serious businessperson, not because its cool to read them, but because those who dont read them will fail. In short, blogs offer an accelerated and efficient approach to acquiring and understanding the kind of information all of us need to make business decisions.
Until recently, blogs have proven to be an incredibly lousy source of information for most businesspeople. Finding and keeping up with the relevant ones is far too time-consuming. But Ive recently started using a newsreader, and after spending hours setting the damn thing up, my business life has changed forever.
A newsreader is a relatively geeky application that allows me to scan a list of blogs I specify, pull down new posts, and organize them neatly in a single window. Thanks to the combination of using a newsreader and plugging into a few good blogs (which then plug into more, and so on …), Ive created a hot list of business-oriented information that doesnt just rival my old information-gathering habits, it blows them away. Not only do I spend less time searching and more time learning, but Ive also joined a challenging and diverse community of minds and business interests. Once youre in this kind of web, you dont leave ityoud be out of the loop. And in business, being out of the loop means death.
What’s interesting is the info on the soon-to-be-launched Kinja (from Nick Denton and Meg Hourihan): “Kinja [is] a directory that promises to provide not only blog listings (so you can find ones you might like) but also a newsreader-like interface that will allow you to read them easily…
In its second rev, Kinja will incorporate a recommendation engine that will work somewhat like Amazons. When you find a blog you like, Kinja will recommend other, similar blogs. Over time, a Kinja-like approach to the blogospheres wonderful mass of opinion, interpretation, fact, and fantasy will become standard for nearly everyone.”
I’d like to think that we’ve got some of that stuff already in BlogStreet.
