Scobleizer - Latest Comments in The passionates vs. the non passionates

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

AlienJazzCat — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:36:30 -0000

I'm passionate enough to code whenever I can steal the sleep.. This means, on a nightly basis, trying to outlast the kids and the wife, and finding enough energy remaining to slave in the wee hours..

This means I rarely get the time to try out everyone else's widget or platform or read all the yapping blogs... I'm scooping memes up from a variety of APIs and assembling them in novel ways to support Topics/Posting, Searches, Tagging, SYM'ing, Feed-sharing and more across several sites. How fun is it to watch Google Reader implement features I had in place months before..?

Of course, I have no talent for promotion.. that goes with the tunnel-vision of coding.. someday, maybe, it all pays off :)

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Douglas Karr — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:05:48 -0000

Robert,

I don't lack passion, I lack resources. As a single father of two with one in college, I have to be risk averse. As much as I'd love to buy the best new gadget or fly off to the next conference, I simply can't. I need to be home for my daughter and keep my son in the required books at IUPUI.

Being passionate is a choice, but being able to fulfill that passion is a gift from God that I hope you're thankful for every day. I have a few thousand readers on my blog and I'm proud of that number - it's taken my a few years to get there - while I juggle all my other responsibilities.

It's a good post that stirred up a lot of folks, including me. Keep doing what you're doing, and once in a while say a prayer of thanks at the opportunities you've had.

Doug

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Nellboy — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:07:48 -0000

OK, I don't think it's necessarily accurate to portray anyone as either passionate or non-passionate - I know a few passionates who know every product and are at the forefront of the technological revolution... I also know a few "cave dwellers" who don't even know how to use a computer...

Then there's everybody in between... and that's a hell of a lot of people, and a hell of a lot of shades of grey here...

as for the idiots vs. the non-idiots, Owen Byrne made a point above that particularly resonated with me...

cheers

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

David A — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:06:27 -0000

There's also a network effect, in that non-passionates may put even passionates off a technology - for example, I might use Twitter, but actually it's much less use to me because not one of my family (and only one friend outside of work) use it.

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Nellboy — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:05:33 -0000

Of course, when I say 'geek' I mean that in the best sense of the word... ;)

So, ya, I was actually replying to your very interesting article re. passionates vs. non-passionates which I read in full...

However, I would categorise even further than just passionates and non-passionates, because I know some pretty hardcore passionate Linux guys who wouldn't know anything about friendfeed or twitter...

Me, I'm a passionate internet user, in that I'm passionate about the internet, and what it's done for our culture and society... So I guess even further categorisation is due... But when it comes to twitter and friendfeed, I guess you could say I'm a non-passionate... I was however extremely impressed with how friendfeed integrated everything from my facebook, to my gmail, etc.etc.... I wasn't overly impressed with what happened after that...

However, having read your article re. friendfeed's hiring policy, I'm extremely interested to see what comes next, and will be watching this space in the coming months...

thanks for educating me

cheers, and if you're ever in Ireland, i'd love to show you around...

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Nellboy — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:57:19 -0000

Hi Rob,

I have to admit, I'm not convinced by friendfeed, it really doesn't offer me what I think it should... I'm not a passionate, but I am an early adopter... i.e. I try everything about as soon as everyone else does... I read blogs, I keep up with what's happening, BUT I get bored extremely quickly... So, I guess you could say I'm a good filter for the "non-passionates"... Incidentally, I was on the case very early with myspace and facebook, and they managed to keep me... Not so with twitter and friendfeed - (The whole twitter phenomenon is really something I don't get at all, I really see it as a geek thing and nothing more)... I guess I'm interested to see what friendfeed do next... But as it stands, it pretty much ranks with Twitter...

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Simon — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:24:59 -0000

Good post, interesting topic. However, I feel that putting techie people and passionates in the same bucket category doesn't do complete justice to either one of them.

If you can identify people in your targeted niche that are passionate about an activity - they will be the best people to target initially to get onboard. The more your product feeds their passion, the more they will benefit your launch (and will also evangalise for you). But these people may take time to catch on. If the benefit of using your product evidently improves/enhances their passion - they will trod along. And will certainly stay with you longer.

As an example, if you are launching an app that can improve the interior designing process, then the better people to target initially will be people who are passionate about interior designing (regardless of how tech-friendly they are), rather than just techie folks trying out new stuff. Because the techie folks won't get you more traffic or even good testimonials.

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Susan Beebe — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:10:16 -0000

LOVE this post Robert. Totally agree with you on your decision to keep focused on "'thought pieces' instead of just writing about the latest shiny object", i.e. stay away from the Echo Chamber of the blogosphere.

I really like your breakdown of the "passionates" and "non-passionates" - this is a continual paradox of user classification. I am definitely a "passionate" early adopter (FriendFeed / Blackberry user). I've been in technology for 20 years and never looked back. What you're classifying here is really a breakdown of "technical" and "non-technical" folks in our society. For example, I've see 90% of the population out there as "non-passionates" (think non-tech), i.e. folks who only use say LinkedIn; ok they've heard of Facebook and MySpace, but have *never* heard of twitter or FriendFeed at all! - nor do even they see the value in using them. Moreover, they are horrified at the thought of sharing their lives online in such a community...never!

So, what I've surmised is that we really are seeing three distinctions:
1. technical saavy
2. willingness to be open to sharing of one's self online
3. commitment to learn new technology and manage self / brand online.

Think about, a LinkedIn profile is almost idiot proof - super simple. That's exactly the comfort zone 90% of our population has right now. So if you want to target mass audiences, be sure to find that right fit. Or be happy to get the 10% "passionates" that are toting blackberries and iPhones.

The numbers are there, we see them everday. Now, how do you build a product or service that accurately targets your audience...that's business smarts!

Susan Beebe
@smbeebe

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Dawn — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 11:06:54 -0000

I'm not passionate about technology. But I'm building what people would call a tech-based company. Why? Because I'm passionate about something else that can only be realized via the Web.

The key is to reaching "non-passionates" is to understand that there is no such thing. Everybody is passionate about SOMEthing.

Stop making the technology the most important focus and the mainstream will come. Technology for technology's sake attracks the early adopters, but it won't get you people like me who want to engage but not because of the technology.

Let the technology be a tool to connecting us to what we ARE passionate about and the majority with come. I'm betting everything on it.

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Brian Heys — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:50:35 -0000

"Make it work great on mobile phones. So many blogs load slow on even my new 3G iPhone. Mashable, I’m looking at you."

Robert, I wonder if you're aware that scobleizer.com doesn't work on Windows Mobile 6 devices? Interestingly, mashable.com does, albeit slowly - and badly.

It might be worth getting someone to look at your code - the iPhone is not the only mobile device being used to access the Internet. :-)

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Ari Herzog — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:35:32 -0000

It's not always about technology, Robert. Sometimes economy and lack of resources is a reason for the influx of "non-passionates." And a lot of the time, people would be passionate if they knew what the heck the internet is.

And let’s not forget the fact that of the six to seven billion people in the world only about a billion even have a computer in the first place. So, that means that five to six billion people really don’t care about Windows or OSX or all that.

Your analogy is poor, pun not intended, because a lack of infrastructure and/or government empowerment is the usual reason for the approximate 5 billion Planet Earth citizens for not having computers or not being jacked in.

Surely, Robert, you are not comparing a Silicon Valley family with a rural Parisian family to a western China family? And guess which of the three has more people?

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Russ — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:03:04 -0000

Hmm...I'm fairly passionate about technology and enjoy trying all the new services. But, to be totally honest, most of the recent crop are beyond me. It was Twitter that finally tipped it for me. I just can't see why anyone wastes their time with it.

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Carlos Hernandez — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:18:53 -0000

I took the time to read the entire post out of respect to the topic and you.

However, it became apparent that tinges of judgement influenced your writing that essentially praises the passionates and categorizes the non-passionates as "less than".

I am by definition a late adopter, a Baby Boomer whoses previous career path and industy (the electrical distribution equipment industry) might as well have been located on another planet. We ineffectively used the web as a means to influence customers and have them influence us.

Does that categorize me as a non-passionate? Not likely. At minimum I was ignorant ( I did not even you someone as famous as you existed). Fortunately, the internet gods smiled upon me and showed me the path to local conferences where I had my ah-ah moment!

I have met many like me which in turn influenced my decision to be a self-labled social media evangelist to the non-passionates. They have the passion, one just needs to understand and communicate to them in a language and tone familiar to them.

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Eric Susch — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 05:16:27 -0000

What a great post. This is something I think about all the time.

I produce a video podcast about knitting with my wife at http://LetsKnit2gether.com We make our show for knitters and forget about trying to get everyone else to watch our show. My usual pitch is, "If you're a knitter you'll love our show. If not, you probably won't." Coming from the broadcast world where all shows are for everybody, this took some time for me to get used to.

I see you're speaking at the New Media Expo in a few weeks. (We are too - Saturday morning.) I'm sure you'll be talking more about passionates vs. non passionates in your presentation. We're looking forward to it :-)

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Jeremy — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:47:07 -0000

First off, this is why you should keep blogging, bro. This is one of your best in a long time.

Next, what you are basically saying is that the essence of marketing (particularly in the social media/influencer age where one blogger can be greater than an MSFT-I'm a former FTE myself) is to find the "raving fans" and help empower them.

(I blog on this a lot, see: http://www.jer979.com/searc...

I am in 100% agreement.

Lastly, can I nominate one of those blogs you referred to in the PR bandwagon post that won't make it to Digg or TechMeme? ;-)

Great job, this is what Scobleizer is all about.

And, if you think about it, your 'passionates' or 'raving fans' are the ones who have been your loyal blog readers for a while...

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

sebastian stephenson — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:37:56 -0000

two things:

1.
"Write more well-thought-out posts. My traffic has been going up in the past few weeks because I started writing longer posts, again, and getting off of the PR treadmill of trying to just cover every PR story out there. Louis Gray is seeing the same trends, because he’s been doing longer “thought pieces” instead of just writing about the latest shiny object."

intersting sence everyone says the web is all about short form content

2.
schools are the answer

I feel I may not explain it very well but

if you teach them what is possible and muilptle tools for specifle things and get them to talk about new products and it maybe in the interest of buessness it will help microsoft or apple or whoever to find what users really want

I suppose trying to say that we need to turn non-passonate into active users at least

nice post scoble

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Maria Reyes-McDavis — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:17:42 -0000

Insightful post. I need to step our of my bubble more, and I think most do. Love the tips. Thank you.

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Régis Kuckaertz — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:53:00 -0000

Interesting post Robert. I think it is pretty similar to what Seth Godin writes in one of his books, The Purple Cow. Early adopters (and sneezers) are nowadays the only audience you should target (or CAN target) but also the medium through which you can potentially reach the late adopters.

iLike is no exception in my opinion, maybe 1% of people who love music use it, just like 1% of people who love to share use FriendFeed -- no matter how big the target group is, it's still 1%.

It's really easy to observe this when you live in a small country such as Luxembourg and compare your experience with people on the same board living in, say, the US. It's seems like thousands are passionate about the web out there, in Luxembourg we are a few dozens. 1%.

But the same difficulty remains: how do we reach the other 99%?

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Phil Glockner — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:52:58 -0000

I believe I am doing all of these things, except perhaps the quality posts.. that's hard for me to determine with my biased eye. Well.. and the video camera. Man, it is really high time for the iPhone 3G to support video recording.

Great post. Appreciate it, Robert.

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Allison — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:54:55 -0000

Ed,

You make an excellent point. (or I guess Dare does). What it seems you and he are saying similar to what car companies do. They put out "concept cars" to get the reaction of the car enthusiast. Once they analyze the feeedback and reaction, and they decide to go into production (or not) they have to take into account the average driver that may want the car for reasons outside of it being cool or fast, or unique.

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Rob Caldwell — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:50:50 -0000

Great post. Thoughtful and insightful. Maybe a part II could be examples that have worked from your responses?

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Ed Bott — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:47:45 -0000

Robert, your characterization of Dare Obasanjo's post is completely incorrect. He never said "new companies [should] ignore early adopters..." Instead, he pointed out, correctly, that "the needs of early adopters and those of the majority of your potential user base differ significantly."

By mischaracterizing his central argument, you undercut your argument significantly. Go back and ead Dare's post again and tell me where he said anyone should "ignore early adopters." Obviously they're important, but you need to calibrate their feedback properly and not assume it will extrapolate to the rest of the world.

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Ric — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:19:42 -0000

You couldnt be more right about the passionates. I stopped asking how could I dev a better social network that reached everybody... but one that served what the passionates wanted in areas where no networks exist! This post gives that approach some validation and reminds me about who I am really trying to reach! Many thanks

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

James Marino — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 06:34:52 -0000

:: Also, someone I know who is 32 just found out he needs a bone marrow transfusion or he’ll die in a few months and that got me off my behind. ::

Robert,

I am not well versed in bone marrow transfusion, but I think that the largest problem is finding a match. How about using your medium and large audience to help find a match? I will be the first volunteer to test. Just let me know what I need to do.

Re: The passionates vs. the non passionates

Kyle Mathews — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:04:05 -0000

Great post Robert. I didn't used to visit your blog much but am not due to these "longer thought pieces." Same with Louis' blog.

With 20-50 blogs guaranteed to write about any new electronic toy / software what new insights can any mortal (you are still mortal right?) blogger expect to add.

Striking out to (relatively) less traveled territory is much more interesting.