RickSpace

Forbes magazine features a cover-story about how blogs are evil and people who participate in the discussions on blogs are an evil lynch-mob… I won’t go into detail, rather I’ll just link to their article… which gets more people reading their information which I’m sure is in part the goal of this whole thing. In brief, I tend to agree with this Warner Crocker post.

So, the reason blogs are evil? People can say bad things about others… these things can be completely unsubstantiated. Could this not happen in the pre-blog world? Yes, it could, and did. I agree that some people misuse the tools at their disposal, but in the ever-popular pro-gun argument, it is not the tool that is evil or kills; it is the ill-guided user of the tool that does damage. I wish there were a way to make an honest call to bloggers, asking them to at least think and maybe even do a small amount of research before you swallow everything you hear hook-line-and-sinker. Does that mean I agree with Forbes? In a way I do… I don’t agree with their handling of the issue or the sensational way they chose to cover it, but I do wish more people would act credibly in the blog world. That does not, however, mean that I think they should be forced to by their providers, which is what Forbes is calling for.

So, in essence, I disagree with Forbes’ main point about needing people like Google to prosecute or at least turn over the names of people who post things that are in disagreement with corporate America. I also think Forbes messed up some of the facts when it said that Google makes a concerted effort to go out and shut down ’splogs’ because they skew page-rank. If you look at any discussions on predictive market analysis gathered from blogs, forums, etc, you will find many complain that Google ignores those ’splogs’ because of the ad-hits that they generate. I think probably there is truth in both sides of this, as in most cases.

I guess in general, I’m disappointed that Forbes actually published an article that condemns the freedoms of speech and press that are provided by the constitution, and upon which Forbes’ main business (magazine production/sales) is based. I don’t think their coverage was 100% incorrect or evil, but I think it was not really a ‘proper’ way to cover it. I am sure there will be many blogs out there calling for blood on this one, but not me. I have another question though…

How does this sort of article affect business based upon blogs, forums, etc and the content generated on them? Infoseek was noted in the article, but there are other companies such as BuzzMetrics and Umbria and I wonder if this is seen as a good or bad occurrence for them. If you take the ‘there is no bad publicity’ approach, then any time that blogs in general spend in the spotlight is good. However, do stories such as these decrease the market’s trust of blogs and perhaps their interest in viewing the trends? Or maybe these sorts of stories heighten the awareness that people ARE out there talking about your products, and maybe you need to tap into that? Interesting times and interesting thoughts make for tired mornings and distracted work.

This is in no way stating that I am in the following position, that I plan to be in the following position or that the following position is in any way shape or form related to me; this is purely a curiosity that has struck me recently.

Let’s say you have three jobs you’re considering. Let’s go so far as to say that you are employed at job #1, and that jobs #2 and #3 are being offered. What should you consider in making your decision and depending upon your current situation (single, married with children, somewhat lame superhero, etc) which job would be the ‘best’?

Job #1 => Very stable. The job offers slightly below-average pay for the industry but the job is stable, there is SOME growth opportunity in the 5+ year range, the benefits are truly the most amazing part of the job. Education benefits, good retirement investments, and an incredibly relaxed environment are all part of the package. The downsides are the average pay and the lack of exciting opportunities.

Job #2 => HUGE corporation. One of the biggest corporations in your field offers the ability to change jobs within the company and a large assortment of incredibly exciting projects upon which you could work. The job could be unstable simply because of large corporation cutbacks and the chance of failure under fire. The upsides would be likely a good benefits package, moderate to good pay, stability if you really work and network (a.k.a. kiss-butt) well, and a variety of interesting things to work on. Downsides would be the possible lack of stability, the much higher-stress work environment, and you still run the possibility of being put into a task group that you don’t enjoy.

Job #3 => Explosively growing startup. Instability is the keyword here. If that factor were taken out of the equation, this would be a no-brainer. A rather high salary, potentially amazing benefits (stock options of Google, anyone?), and lots of innovative, high-energy, very interesting work going on are the upsides. On the downside of things, your job could be gone tomorrow… or next week… or next month… or maybe they’ll sell out to another company and you’ll end up working for the big company anyway, but be treated as a second-class citizen.

So given your particular situation, which would you choose? What other factors am I not considering here? Are there other glaring upsides or downsides to any of the jobs as described? I’m guessing most single people will probably say the startup sounds great. I’m guessing most family-having people would choose one of the other two. Does it change your mind any if I say that the startup has been around for 2-3 years, has already sold its ‘product’ to several Fortune 500’s, and that they’ve been successful enough to inspire a second round of VC investment of nearly $7 million? Does it change anything if job number one is for a private university? Does it change anything if the mega-huge corporation is Microsoft? Does it change anything if you HAVE job #1, but haven’t really even had official offers for either of the other two yet? Just looking for some thoughts here… any help?