When Less is More and More is Less

If you've been reading my blog for more than a year, I want to thank you. You may have noticed that it has gone through a significant change.

For nearly three years I blogged nearly every single day here and only here - often several times in a 24-hour period. Back in 2004 I discovered blogging was my calling; something I love to do. I really enjoy putting out valuable information and getting responses back - even when it's negative. Feedback helps me learn, which is primarily why I blog.

However, over the past several months things have changed.

For starters, the format I had relied upon - lots of short, newsy/resource-filled posts buttressed by longer essays once a week or so - doesn't work anymore here. There are many sites that fill this void better than I possibly can given my full-time gig. So, I adopted a new format in the spring that consists entirely of thoughtful essays plus link-posts. The substantive posts, while longer, were more meaty and opinionated, but far more infrequent.

Second, the world now tuns faster. The blogosphere has transformed from the NFL to a quicker style of play that more closely resembles Arena League Football. Thanks to micro-blogging and social networks Web 2.0 is now more about rapid exchanges and it's very mobile too. I am not the only one who notices how the sphere is changing. Jeremiah says MicroMedia is taking hold.

This is all transforming how I express myself online. I learn new things faster and easier than I did before through real-time microblogged conversations. Today on Twitter, for example, we discovered that Google is indexing some Twitter streams and blogs in under 30 minutes. Twitter was our science lab. We couldn't have interacted as quickly here. Nevertheless, I understand that only some of you follow me on Twitter and other sites so I don't plan to give up this site anytime soon.

So, net net, what does this mean? Well, by posting less on Micro Persuasion I actually am able to give you more. I am freed of the need to write here daily. This means when I do post on this site it is more substantive and meaningful and it incorporates my learnings from the conversations I have had elsewhere.

Further, micro blogging - especially because it is mobile - makes it easy for me to converse with a good number of you in real-time. This fits perfectly into a busy schedule where many days I use my iPhone more than I do a computer. It also flows with our growing need as a society for all that is brief.

So right now what I have is short game and long one. It's working but some of you may not notice because you only choose to read this feed and ignore me on other sites. Where this goes in the long term is unclear, but right now the short and long are working together in harmony - at least that's how I see it.

What's your view on the new format and the mix? Are you feeling the same or do you crave the old style?

Comments

[Krish]

Steve, I think I like this approach better. Keep going.

[Sally]

Couldn't be a better combo! You've hit the sweet spot.

[Jeff Sass]

Steve, you are obviously prescient, and predicted this trend long ago when you named your blog "Micro" Persuasion. I am persuaded!

-- Jeff (www.twitter.com/sass)

[Frank Roche]

Steve, I've followed you for a long time here and now I get the chance to follow you on Twitter. Both are really valuable. I do like your Twitter posts....the quick "here's what I'm reading" or "something you might like to know." It's how I clicked over to this post (even though it'll index in my Google Reader soon and I would see it).

I do think the 140 characters of MicroMedia, as you call it (prescient, your naming of your blog), works well with the attention economy. I like the longer, thoughtful posts, too. It's why the NYT has news holes of 400 words, 800, words, and those long, 16,000 word stories. It suits all persuasions. Some items beg for brevity, some for depth.

I guess that's a long way around to...good work is good work, and we'll be reading you in multiple formats all the times.

[Wayne Porter]

Steve,

Let's hook up on Xbox eventually- I remember that detail more than anything. Micro is better, more efficient and more human.

I see blogs as canons for collections of micromedia, and it really rings with the spirit of micropersuasion.

-wayne

http://www.twitter.com/wporter

[TRUE]

hey steve. i got to know about this site cuz i follow yr twitter feed...as a fellow pioneer of next level innernets, i wanted to say hells yeah to this post. blogging has almost ALWAYS been best in bite-sized chunks. it's taken a forced micro-blogging format like twitter to prove it.

welcome to the era of the snack site!

[Jeremiah Owyang]

Anyone who wants to add me as a follower I'm on Twitter.com/jowyang

[critt jarvis]

Thumbs up!

"Thanks to micro-blogging and social networks Web 2.0 is now more about rapid exchanges and it's very mobile too."

And, conversational widgets, structuring content your way, are coming down the pike.

I think next week's release of Grazr's Twitter Reader will better help folks follow your expanded field of play. For sure, it won't take long to find out.

[Samantha Warren]

Though your blog is a great resource I find your Tweets invaluable.
It is not just the great commentary and links you contribute but the format in which I receive the information. Small chunks are easy to pick through and digest, while a blog can be too much of a commitment for my busy lifestyle. Thanks for your Tweets they have helped fuel my Twitter addiction!

http://www.twitter.com/SamanthaToy

[Kevin Hillstrom]

What matters is what is right for your community. If your strategy works for the way you interact with your community, so be it.

There is a side of me that is exasperated with the movement to embrace tools, tell the world that they have to use these tools, then tell the world they are fossils because they are using the tools they were told they had to use or else become fossils.

Your post isn't specifically saying that, however. You're saying you're evolving your use of tools, to be fair.

[Amit Agarwal]

Souls who are not on Twitter can follow Steve in their RSS reader.

http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/711303.rss

[Connie Reece]

Steve, I was reading your blog before Twitter took us all by storm. Now I follow you both places and appreciate both forms of communication; they serve different purposes.

I actually enjoy getting Twitter messages that include blog links, and I will usually click through to the blog rather than waiting for it to show up in Google Reader. As a result, I'm commenting more on blogs because I'm already on the site, and bookmarking more posts for the same reason.

[Mark Goren]

Steve: I've been reading this blog for a long time and I've got to tell you, this format is great. These posts are thought-provoking, period. Your Tweets are the same, and I've come to rely on your updates – and those of many other people I follow – as my Link of the Day bank.

Keep doing what you're doing. You've got a big fan up here in Montreal.

[Andrew Foote]

Really enjoying the new format, Steve. Especially the bigger picture topics on Micropersuasion. Definitely continue on the path of quality over frequency. The Tweets are a good tide over...

[Paul]

Yes... I definitely agreed that more is not necessary good. For one, I can expect good things once I get a post.. That's wat happening at smashingmagazine.. every post is digg material.

In the new media: LESS IS MORE!

[Bernard Goldbach]

Creative multimedia degree students in my Media Studies and Mass Communications classes are forced to read Micropersuasion and the assumption I make is the fewer pages required to complete the assigned reading, the happy the lot. You've hit the perfect balance, in my opinion.

[gianandrea]

Steve, I'm not a huge fan of Twitter. Maybe I did not get it. Maybe being in another continent makes difficult to me to follow the thread in real time.

[Tom]

Hi Steve,

I'm only following this blog for some months but I actually prefer the combination of commented link posts and longer (but fewer) articles. It gives me more time to get bits and pieces from somewhere else and you act as my opinion and info aggregator,
thanks for that

-thomas-

[Steve Rubel]

Great comments! I am lucky to have such a vibrant community here. If I didn't make it clear above, I do intend to post to my blog daily. Some days it's easier than others. Regardless, I will only do it if it's high quality, valuable content. That's what you deserve. So I plan to weave all of these venues together. However there's only so many hours in a day. Glad to hear you all seem to like the new format.

[Rob]

Steve,

I've been reading your blog for almost two years now and although I really enjoyed the short, news style posts, Micro Persuasion isn't the only place I can find a lot of that information anymore. The current format is definitely working. Keep it up!

[Per Avermark]

Steve,
Like Rob (above)I've been reading your blog for almost two years. In the beginning your blog was mostly a newssorce for me. With more and more to read I noticed that I had difficulties in keeping up with all your postings.
Therefor I prefer the new way. Like you stated yourself there are now so many other places for short news, that longer postings with really valuble content is prefered.
So Steve, keep up the good - current - way of working!
Greetings from Per in Stockholm, Sweden.

[Valeria Maltoni]

Steve:

Hopefully we shall meet in person one day soon. "It also flows with our growing need as a society for all that is brief." Here's the thing, we also crave connection and meaning more than before. The more interaction, the more the need to feel like we make an impact.

Has anyone else thought about this? I've noticed.

BTW -- not a Twitter user/fan. I sometimes glean bits and pieces on David Armano's and Greg Verdino's blogs (two of my favorite American Italians ;-)

[Sundarlal Chuddha]

I shall openly weep for you, my friend Steve.

[Josh Bernoff]

You have reached the promised land.

I find your thoughtful essays thought-provoking and interesting and often insightful.

Anyone can do news. There's no need with you to compete with the news/rumor blogs.

One suggestion -- if you should happen upon a "scoop" -- by which I mean a discovery that you think will provoke thought, but also if you discover that Microsoft is buying Yahoo!, for example, before anyone else -- blog us a short one.

Thanks -- reading your blog is one of the best parts of my day.

[Mike Arauz]

I've really been enjoying it; and I've taken your format as inspiration for my own blogging style. Thanks.

[Justin Thorp]

With a raise in Micromedia, aren't you making it hard to decipher the signal from the noise?

[Henry]

Geez, doesn't *anyone* miss the daily news and links? I do.

[Firelight Real Estate]

If posting less means that your posts will get better, I can't wait to see what is coming in the future.

[Brad Fuller]

I don't know, I might be getting too old, but I don't know what you can convey in 1 or 2 sentences that is interesting. Communicating thoughts and ideas takes a few more sentences and much more thought than whipping out what's happening at the time (which twitter is good for.) Yes, communication has made the world smaller/quicker but the adoption of technology still takes 20-30 years. Why? Even though we can pack more transistors per square nanometer, our social brains haven't gotten faster. So, since we can have up-to-the minute (I mean, second) updates from twitter pals, both the writer and the reader need time and space to convey and comprehend quality.

I like your blogs. Keep up the great work!

[Bob Walsh]

Steve, I think you're - again - on to something, but there's a dark side: Micromedia attention crash. How do you converse - day in and day out - with so many people who have value and still get things done and maintain your own identity?

[Darcy Kelley]

Steve, I like the balance. I like tweets throughout the day, and typical read longer copy a couple times during the week, and throughout the weekend.

I liken it to a snack vs. a "sit down" meal. I consume tweets and short messages going from one place to another, on transit, in a cab, etc, like snacks. Longer copy (i.e. here) I tend to access when I have more time, and can firmly place my backside -- like a nice dinner.

It's a good balance you're managing...

[Joel]

I read this blog awhile back, then stopped for some reason (I think I was looking for a different kind of analysis at the time). I'm very glad I checked in again! I love your daily rundowns...usually all of the links are very timely and interesting. I think that the format of daily run down of links + some weekly analysis is woring very well and I hope you keep it up.

[Jeremy David]

You need to keep this blog! I love it, and your posts are often brilliant.

[Brian Clark]

Steve, you know that my only complaint with you was the fact that you hadn't made this switch. I'm thrilled. :)

[Rich Casey]

Steve:
I have been following your RSS feed and blog for quite a while. As a corporate communicator responsible for emerging technology for my business, I have come to appreciate your thoughtful posts. I joined Twitter in April but did not see much use for it... I do now! The short info bursts during the day are great!

[Wayan]

I've adapted the same model, just a bit ahead of you. I started out blogging in 1996, before it was called "blogging" on http://www.bbwindow.com in daily 300 word essays about life overseas. As I've expanded my content production in the early 00's, I've diversified into short paragraphs on http://dc.metblogs.com when I have an urge to express, while bbwindow is now for compelling moments of digital passion.

[Susan Reynolds]

Steve I couldn't figure out why my blog readership numbers shot up today. Plus my visitors were poking around and reading longer. What? I got profound over night?

AHA! It was thanks to that nice link to me in your words "we discovered" that I've been included as a fellow twitterer who was "in on" the experiment.

Of course it goes without saying that you're on to something here. But never mind about these trifles. The issue is that I have to figure out how to brag to the twitterers about being Rubelized. All while looking suitably shocked (as I am) and in 140 characters or less.

[Josia]

You're in the zone as per usual - it's just that the zone is always changing and you are always one step ahead!

I love the way your posts express so profoundly the rapid changes in the rat race - or should I say Matrix - that we call life.

Hopefully you'll also be way ahead of everyone else in discovering what's beyond it.

[Gerald Buckley]

Mr. Rubel - Your mix is high and right. Whatever you do, please don't take the comments down. Some of the best posts have been followed up with just as good, if not better, follow-on conversations. What you and Fred Wilson are doing with adding the your latest Twitters in the side panel is the right hybrid. Cheers! Gerald, Tulsa

[Matt McLernon]

Hi Steve,

I'm really looking forward to the new format. I used to read your blog to find out, in bits and pieces, why tech is awesome. Mission accomplished. Now, I'm very interested to read the blog as you take a deeper dive into meanings, implications and predictions from upcoming technology. Though I'm still hoping to see top links from time to time, I can't wait to see what comes next.

[David Scott Lewis]

Steve, I like the new format. I couldn't care less what you or any other ADHD-afflicted person has to say on Twitter. Your bowel movements don't interest me and neither do your random thoughts.

However, your longer pieces in this blog are superb. I often don't agree with you because you're too caught up in the hype of all things Web 2.0 (I've called you a Web 2.0 Jihadist on more than one occasion.) But I respect your views.

And I like your mix: Some thoughtful, strategic pieces combined with "personal nerve center", hands-on type of pieces. Great combination. Serves two totally different purposes, but I'm one subscriber who's interested in both. Also, cutting down on volume is a good thing.

Last point: I like the number of links your provide. It's about the right amount. Scoble goes crazy; way too much stuff from him. Alas, he might even have more time for blogging and providing Google Reader links once PodTech closes shop (if it closes shop, but that's my bet; maybe it will get acquired for peanuts).

[Lawrence Pit]

"Twitter was our science lab."

Well, in true scientific fashion, this has to be double checked by an independent research group.... which happens to consist of me.

I added Googlejewces to the mix. See tweet: http://twitter.com/lawrencepit/statuses/179479112

After more than 24 hours that word is still not in Google:
http://www.google.com/search?q=googlejewces

So I'd say the fact that Google indexed googlejewce within 30 minutes after you entered it into twitter was pure coincidental.

Lawrence

[Claude / Les Explorers]

Well, I like the balance. Could be interesting to have a focus outside the American World.
Europe and France have some great exemples to watch!

[Kevin O'Keefe]

Thanks for explaining what you're doing. But I have to tell you that I miss your regular posts.

Sure people are moving on to the rapid fire from blogging. It's the next 'tech thing' so those who always try the newest thing will of course leave blogging behind. But blogging has so far to go.

So many organizations need to learn how to blog as an art. I am sure you being in a large PR company with companies wanting to blog coming to you all the time.

We could use more of your gems.

[Careers at Baker]

Blogging is indeed addictive, once you started bloggin' you never stop this is something that is both informative and fun at the same time..

[hurriyete ilan]

like as..

[hurriyete seri ilan]

word

[hurriyet ilan]

leave

[Jim]

That is awesome combo !! Keep going !
Lukas Jimi