Saturday, January 07, 2006

Pulling rank

Dave said:
Ya gotta love that 100K bump in the rankings though, eh? A couple more weeks like this one and you'll have arrived
Well, yes... it's nice to get some positive feedback. Upon reflection I'm learning quite a bit about what it takes... the core value is to switch from passively listening to what everyone else says, to actually saying something, and doing it regularly.

Now going from #368,207 to #250,642 in the space of a week certainly seems like a good jump in status, though I'm still sore nobody picked up on my ranting about capabilities yet. ;-)

It's easy being a "small blogger"... you read a lot, and riff on what the A-list people say... you follow the crowd... if you randomly throw out something, and it gets picked up, you feel good about the attention, and life goes on. Things are different when you decide to actively try to find your voice, become a hyperlinked individual, and to make a difference in the world. (I want to make computers more secure, thus saving the internet, and helping society as a whole)

I'm learning that I need to focus more attention on those subjects, and less on the doom and gloom that is going to happen if I want it to or not, if I want to get results. (Not just ranking, but actual, substantive change)

It's hard breaking old habits, but this is a good time to start, as is any time. I'm going to read more, watch my feedback more, and surf less. It'll be a whole new set of lessons for me.

Thanks for YOUR time and attention.

--Mike--

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Mike, I'm not much of a security guy. I'd say you'd have to look for who the high attention-earning webloggers are in your field and then point to them when they write something you care to comment on. Additionally, you might consider commenting in their comment facilities, should they offer any. Most of them offer some type of link back to your weblog.

Scoble is one of the A-listers who sometimes offers a post on security. Linking to him and offering some type of response that is relevant and substantive might generate some reciprocal linkage. I don't know who any other A-list security guys might be.

If you want to have your ideas considered, you do have to compete for attention, unfortunately. There are various ways of doing so, some less flattering than others. Be patient, post often, link to those above you in the hierarchy, and to those below you who offer something substantive or worthwhile.

How you wish to link to those above, by offering praise or criticism, is your choice. It is, in many respects, a game, and you have to play if you want to "win."

I'm just a rowdy fan who heckles from the sidelines.

Dave Rogers