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Why I say I'm a blogger

Friday, April 18, 2008 by Dave Winer.

A picture named tramp.jpgThere's been some confusion about why I tell company reps, when I'm pretty sure I'm going to write up the experience, that I'm a blogger. I say it because I would want to know, if I were in their shoes, that what I was saying was going to be reported publicly. It's the Golden Rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  Permalink to this paragraph

For example, I said it to Edgar, the Comcast rep who threatened to cut me off and refused to put it in writing. Permalink to this paragraph

I also included the fact that I told him, and his response, in the report, because I want my readers to know that he knew he was on the record. I also want to influence other bloggers. People have a right to know when they're speaking publicly and when it's private. Permalink to this paragraph

Some people have suggested that this means that I'm wrong for believing that the other person might care, or thinking that they should. Well, I haven't said that I thought they would care, in fact, I've never had a company rep say it made a difference, they always say it doesn't, and have never seen it actually make a difference in the treatment I get.  Permalink to this paragraph

Now, if you ask me should they care, I would say yes.  Permalink to this paragraph

One of the reasons I believe in blogging is that it can reform business, giving power to the users, where we were powerless before. If I didn't have a blog what could I have done to get Comcast to pay attention? Tell my friends and relatives? Sure, they know that isn't very powerful. But when any customer could also be a publisher, well that does change things. This new power to publish can help us all get a better deal.  Permalink to this paragraph

These days I never make a purchasing decision without looking on the Internet to see what other people's experience has been. I've had people tell me that when I write positively about a product, they buy it. I've also heard people say that if I've had a bad experience, they don't. Permalink to this paragraph

And I don't think it just applies to business. I think it will eventually get us better political leadership, it might even that effect this year.  Permalink to this paragraph




     

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A picture named dave.jpgDave Winer, 53, pioneered the development of weblogs, syndication (RSS), podcasting, outlining, and web content management software; former contributing editor at Wired Magazine, research fellow at Harvard Law School, entrepreneur, and investor in web media companies. A native New Yorker, he received a Master's in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin, a Bachelor's in Mathematics from Tulane University and currently lives in Berkeley, California.

"The protoblogger." - NY Times.

"The father of modern-day content distribution." - PC World.

One of BusinessWeek's 25 Most Influential People on the Web.

"Helped popularize blogging, podcasting and RSS." - Time.

"The father of blogging and RSS." - BBC.

"RSS was born in 1997 out of the confluence of Dave Winer's 'Really Simple Syndication' technology, used to push out blog updates, and Netscape's 'Rich Site Summary', which allowed users to create custom Netscape home pages with regularly updated data flows." - Tim O'Reilly.

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