Jack of All Blogs » Blog Networks

Shiny Trends/Shiny Digital/Shiny Media hits ultimate level of ridicule

waldorf — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 22:33:39 +0000

If before we weren’t interested at all by Shiny Media things have changed over the last weeks. Let’s be honest, why would us cowboys and muppets have bothered to follow a bunch of (not so) hot geek chicks and gadget bloggers who brought nothing to the party but occasionally were quoted in teh local UK press? Indeed, I couldn’t think of any reason to read those sites either.

But life changes and Shiny Media went in administration. Less than 2 months after new blogger gigs were available and only weeks after new editors were announced. Ever since then the blogosphere has been following Chris Price and his team. Much has been written since then and the network made a return as Shiny Trends.

Leaving aside the whole debacle with no communication with former freelancers and editors, certainly no form of financial remuneration for ex-staffers, Shiny Trends in itself is an interesting engine. Mainly operated from its Twitter account which reads as a perfect comedy show.

Today alone we had the pleasure to read following tweets with A-class comedy value.

Obviously the rumour mill is turning on full speed and a little, trust worthy birdies told us that there has been an operation of around £50,000 to reboot the network in a so-called Phoenix pre-package. Here at JOAB we will not bother investigating all these rumours because they certainly are funnier when launched by other people and there is absolutely no truth about them. But our colleague and former JOAB author, Franky was in touch with Chris Price for another tweet.

When following the bit.ly shorturl http://bit.ly/f6aeg we are greeted with a story from 09 July 2009 at the Shiny Media site.

This post (click the image for full size screencap) was written less than 2 weeks before Shiny Media went in to administration. Money quote:

They would also need to commit to paying ex-Shiny Media staff and freelancers what they’re owed until the debt is fully paid off. Don’t worry you’ll get it back, honest guv (that’s what we told them).

One can only think this post has been backdated today by Chris and the boys Price and (Ashley) Norris are having lots of fun. But who would want to work/write for them? I certainly wouldn’t. Even not if they would actually pay.

Update: The pi$$ take level becomes apparent when checking Google’s cache for said ‘Finance blogger’ entry (again click for larger version of screencap).

Another Twitter account, @Shinydigital is also maintained and communicates regularly with @shinytrends. Interesting fact here is that Shiny Digital Ltd. was registered with Companies House on 16.07.2009, one day before Shiny Media went administration.

Bloggers Shouldn’t Beg for Donations

Andrew G.R. — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:45:15 +0000

Donations are for charities – not bloggers.

I could care less about your “growing bandwidth expenses” when the world is rife with disease and poverty. For the price of a cup of coffee I could help take your blog to the next level – but I choose not to. Something about educating an underprivileged kid or saving a kitty from an icy death tends to warm my heart just a touch more.

And I hope the same goes for you, dear blog reader. You should NOT donate when bloggers and podcasters beg for change – you should be insulted!

I can already hear blogger’s arguments.

“If the guys at Dunkin’ Donuts can do it, why can’t I.”

Well wake up, Francis – THEY shouldn’t be doing it either.

Restaurants shouldn’t automatically tack on gratuity – cause then people are left wondering – ‘should i leave something extra anyway.’

Tips should be reserved for people who go beyond the call of duty – not for people who do the bare minimum just to accomplish their job – the one they are PAID to do. Even if you go “above and beyond” to be the best blogger the blogosphere has ever seen: who cares. That’s your prerogative. Babies don’t choose to be born with clef pallets or cancer – they’re the ones who need help – not suburban bloggers.

You can blog for free these days. It costs pennies to get on the Internet. Just cause you’ve chosen to get a fancy template and the latest WordPress plugins, shouldn’t mean I have to “tip” you. Unless, of course, I get to tip you over.

Let’s cut to the chase. Your plan, dear begging blogger, is to monetize the thing. And you’re hoping “donations” will get you on the road to riches that much faster. If that’s the case, there’s a homeless guy on the corner of Maple and Main who’s a better businessman than you. And he plays the harmonica.

Are bloggers really cash-strapped? Do they need to unionize? Nah, for the most part, we’re just bored big mouths looking for a venue to vent.

Take your virtual tip jar and shove it.

If readers really want to help a blogger – and the blogging community – here’s how you can help for free: Tell a friend about the blog; Leave a comment on the blog; Offer up a guest post on the blog; Tattoo the blog’s name on your knuckles.

The list goes on and on. Just don’t pull out your wallet – I mean Paypal ID. Cyber begging is lame. There are better causes in the world. Go find one.

A Union For Bloggers, Exactly What I Need

waldorf — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 18:11:02 +0000

By now everyone already knows that bloggers have a pretty exciting life! Exciting and relaxing. Just like Franky, I’m sitting here naked from the waist down and haven’t shaved for weeks.
But as if all that wasn’t enough, a Union to protect my rights, both on insurance and financial level is exactly what I still need! I want a Union! My kingdom (and the overused wheels of my office chair) for Unionized bloggers!.

Let me explain.

A blogger’s life is hard, it’s the epitome of every professionalized freelance dream. Unionized protection IS needed!
Here’s why.

Blogger’s wake up hours need to be protected
One of the biggest advantages of being a blogger is the freedom to decide my own working hours. And start working whenever I want. With the growing amount of wannabes, it becomes important to protect this advantage: no blog network owner should be allowed to impose me to publish entries before 6.00PM (my local time!)

Coffee is expensive and should be paid for by the network owner
Bloggers are notorious coffee addicts and belong, together with (web) designers, to the resident group of $tarbuck$ squatters. Both $tarbuck$ and good coffee beans are expensive. Those expenses have to be covered by the blog network owners. No coffee beans below Lavazza or Segafredo quality should be accepted. Daily at least 3 outdoor Mochaccinos should be paid for.
Every blog entry hitting the Digg/Reddit/Netscape/Techmeme front page should be rewarded with a bonus kilo of exotic Arabica coffee beans!

Fruity hardware, allowing anytime wireless access has to be provided
How can you call yourself a decent blogger if you use a box equipped with Redmond software? Of course you need the shiniest gadget, allowing you to be online at any time. You never know you might just get that stroke of genius while you’re in the middle of the pampas, far away from your internet connection. Your iPhone will save you and allow you to publish your marvelous entry at anytime. Fancy touch keyboard inclusive.
If you live outside of the distribution area of new, shiny gadgets, it’s the blog network owner’s task to hire a bunch of hackers and make sure anyone, anywhere can access and use those oh so shiny gadgets. And brag about them on their blog. Paid by the network owner of course.

Maximum working time has to be minimalized
It is important for bloggers to be allowed to whip out quick and dirty entries. Entries that only need 4 minutes of work, proofreading inclusive. Actually, the maximum time devoted to an entry should be limited to 4 minutes. If a blogger wants to work longer at an entry, this should only be goodwill-based, not expected.

At least 200 social contacts has to be provided by the network owner
To make sure that bloggers have enough of distraction and IM noise, every network owner has to provide at least 200 active social contacts to newly hired contributors. Minimum 40% of those contacts voluntarily have to cyber on cam whenever the blogger feels the need to go dirty!

Travel equipment and expenses have to be paid for.
Being the overactive, glued to the office chair or couch, blogging species we are, I demand that every 3 months a new set of pillows and ‘soft wheels’ for my office chair and couch are provided. More experienced bloggers will get a new duvet and new bedding every 6 months.

It is obvious that we bloggers, freelance contractors, special working requirements have and those need to be protected by our future Union!
Furthermore, we shall continue to enjoy the right to decide ourselves not to work under a certain rate/entry. But that… that’s a freedom we already have.
Maybe we can oblige blog network owners to include links to at least 5 of our own sites as well. On every network blog of course!

Please give me that Union now! Let my own voice, personality and (in)competence be oppressed (protected) by the strong voice of an Union, putting everyone on the same level. Obviously Union leaders will be the best paid ones among us!!!

For a more serious take on the topic, go read Jeremy Wright’s view on the economics of unionized blogging.

Splashpress Bags Another Big One

The Sheriff — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 00:57:42 +0000

This plan has been under wraps for some time now, and people I know who have been in the loop tell me they almost burst with excitement because of this un-shareable knowledge they had. I didn’t even know about it until the announcement, but people were already dropping hints. And that’s about Splashpress Media‘s recent acquisition of Performancing.com. Splashpress got to bag the metrics package and community of Performancing, and I think that’s a great thing.

Previously, it has been reported that Performancing’s metrics and community assets were acquired by PayPerPost, but that deal seem to have fallen through. Apparently, Performancing’s top honchos didn’t go too well with the idea that the new owners were of questionable online ethics (if simply because of the grey area that pay-per-post blogging occupies).

One disclaimer: JOAB is owned by Splashpress Media (the same Splashpress that acquired Performancing). And I can probably speak for the network when I say our ethics are intact, and we don’t do evil (sound familiar?).

So the Blog Herald was one big thing, and when Splashpress purchased it from Problogging, Inc last December, we were still quite inexperienced when it came to blog networks and even blogging itself. We’ve experienced a lot of growth since that time, and with another big ticket purchase, I would say we sure have a lot of challenges ahead of us! Performancing is, after all, dedicated to helping bloggers succeed, with its analytics tools and community. Hopefully we can live up to that expectation.

Performancing is now being managed by JOAB’s previous owner, the reformed (really?) Celebrity Cowboy, David Krug. I hear he has big plans, especially with building up the community. David, we’re all behind you on this!

Shiny Media Bags Multi-Million Funding

The Sheriff — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 02:41:13 +0000

Okay, so Shiny Media, UK’s (and Europe’s, as claimed) largest blog network has recently received venture funding.

The UK’s Sunday Times newspaper yesterday broke the news that Shiny Media have secured US$4.5m worth of funding, thanks to Bright Station Ventures who now take a 50% stake in the company.

Now the next question is what they would be doing with that money. If I were Shiny, I’d be asking for wads of cash in a few backpacks so I can just run off to some unknown island and splurge there. Okay, kidding aside. Here’s what Shiny Media says it will do with the dough.

Compete with mainstream media.
Develop the commercial side of the business.
Get into video production.
New projects and ventures.

The plans actually look promising. I mean if you’ve got several millions at your disposal, then you won’t have to worry about paying the bills and putting food on the table–at least in the medium term. That goes the same for your employees, mostly your bloggers who are the creative talent behind it all. They won’t have to worry that the network might suddenly go bankrupt one day. But then again there’s the question of creative control. Shiny’s investor now owns 50% of the network.

Well we have worked really hard to develop Shiny and we wanted like-minded entrepreneurs who were prepared to ‘sweat’ with us, not just look over our shoulder. Shaa and Dan are both dynamos who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. They don’t just bring the backing of an exciting new fund to Shiny, they also bring experience, contacts and the kind of commercial nous Shiny needs to achieve its goals.

The investors seem to know what they’re doing, with apparent experience in new media. This notwithstanding, I can see potential problems here. Sure, there’s no single entity that owns an actual majority (more than 50%), but at the end of the day, it’s he (or she) who has money who usually has the say. Remember the rumored DIGG buyout?

[R]eports came in that News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch was offering over $100 million for Digg. In Leo Laporte’s TWiT podcast netcast ( This Week in Tech Episode 77: Kiss My Ring, 1:16:25), he mentioned that Kevin (and maybe even CEO Jay Adelson) wanted to take it.

BUT and that’s a big but, the investors weren’t willing to settle with anything less than $150 million. Now, that’s what happens when you take investors. You don’t really get to say when and how you want to get compensated with a pet project that turns out get a lot of attention. Kevin’s original $10,000 capital turned $100 million in 2 years is a huge success. He surely deserves to reap the fruits of his success, and if he wants to cash in now he has every right to do so.

But then again I may be wrong. And the business model in this case is different. DIGG is surely a Web 2.0 behemoth, but blog networks aren’t probably big enough to warrant a quarrel over a matter of 50 million bucks or so.

Good luck to Shiny!