Gothamist: Sell Yourself on Daylo

Sten45226

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 13:27:59 -0500

I haven't been up to anything today. I can't be bothered with anything recently. Nothing seems worth thinking about. I haven't gotten anything done recently, but oh well. Not much noteworthy going on worth mentioning.

Laura Holder

Tue, 29 Mar 2005 17:54:46 -0500

As one the 6 folks behind it, I'm just pleased that you find daylo.com useful, Jake. That was the idea: to make a useful tool. As for the nepotism charge, I think the most it could be called is 'referencing within similar fields-of-interest'. Not so unlikely, really. Although yes, I also think of Jake as a friend... ...a friend I met thanks to similar webmaking/ blogging/ online photography interests. I think it's more the case of a likely relationship based on postive connections. Nepotism connotes an unfair advantage of some kind... ...But Daylo didn't room with Gothamist in college, nor are we cousins, we didn't pay them, or send them a beer cozy with our logo on it... We were just fortunate enough to make acquaintances with Gothamist by crossing paths often. I'm glad Jake and Jen as individuals have reached out to so many people in their same fields. It has been enriching. Now, from my clearly unbaised position, I believe Gothamist just wants to serve its readers by informing them of a new, useful website. Why not? Wow, do i get the last word on this? neat.

Chris Larsen

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 17:48:37 -0500

Gothamist Readers, For the record, we didn't pay Gothamist to like us and I do like Jake, Gothamist and the whole *ists gang -- not just because they buy me an occasional drink but because they do good work. More directly, Jake is an honest blogger/journalist with integrity and I know that if daylo was lame or evil he would not have pointed it out at all even if I bought him drinks. Jake, Thanks for introducing us to your readers. I had no idea that some people would respond so suspiciously. Captain Obvious, Nice research! Your nay saying worries me though. You seem smart. I hope that people will find many things about daylo that work. We are very optimistic. As for the nepotism, maybe. Jake and I live in the same city and we go to events that are related to internet, photography and whatnot. So of course we met, and have you met the guy? You can't meet him and not be his friend. Craig, We come in peace and mean you no harm. I know that Ebay is listening. Let's talk later.

Josh

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 13:46:37 -0500

This whole discussion is silly- the only reason this is even an issue is because the post was about another website. If the post was about a resturaunt opening or some new band, nobody would think twice about it. But for some reason, when posting about a website, anything less than critical disection of it is some sort of red flag for shameless promotion? That's not fair at all.

Captain Obvious

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 11:36:33 -0500

Giving this a second thought this piece rubs people the wrong way because it's simply glowing praise with not one sign of a true critical eye. So the nepotism claim is one thing. But the glowing and odd desire to be non-critical that's show here and in other posts that are guised as 'reviews' is what people can't stand. So Pret A Manger has a store? Whoop de do. Say something real. And while Craigslist has many problems and is an ugly site, there is something about it that works where Daylo is a nice concept and they should do well to an extent I doubt they will ever reach the level of Craigslist in any way. And bloggers are not journalists. But bloggers desire to change and select based on nepotism and personal focus being one second an authority, the next second a cool promoter is irritating to say the least. Say something meaningful and don't cower behind the 'We're just bloggers' shield and everyone will respect you more. Well except for the occasional publicist who is upset their press release was not regurgitated on a blog.

Bob

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 11:30:25 -0500

Well Candleblue, Since we agree that advertisement isn't the right word here maybe this Daylo piece would be considered an advertorial. Either way it was a lame plug.

ryan

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 11:19:25 -0500

Jake- I think acknowledging the relationship would be a good start. Attempting to present two sides to each story (i.e. journalism) is a separate question. I know gothamist is growing fast (been happily reading since just about the begining), but it seems to me like a lot of the new content is fluffy - the tone used to be more critical/nuanced/sophisticated.

ryan

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 11:11:30 -0500

I know gothamist is supposed to be optimistic and positive, but leaving out criticism reduces a lot of posts to PR. I think it hurts a blog's credibility/insults the readers. Posts about news & politics (no holds barred with the mayor or the MTA) are critical and engaging. The mutual masturbation plugs and softball restaurant reviews are a turn off, and make click away...

jake

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 11:07:50 -0500

perhaps i should have mentioned some other services- but i really don't know of any other good places to do listings, and Daylo really does seem like an advance over craigslist in certain ways. if anyone else has heard of something similar, let me know and i'll update the post with some other links. there was no consideration taken or given for this post- and although i am friends with some of the people at daylo, i'd never write a post where i said something i didn't believe. in the future, i'd be willing to put a disclosure on a post like this ("Disclosure: I ate brunch with Laura Holder and Chris Larsen in 2003, and both have appeared at the NYC photobloggers events, which I organized.") but seriously, folks- it really is a useful service, which i think is worthy of checking out- it doesn't seem fair that i shouldn't be able to write about it because i happen to know chris and laura.

htb

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 10:50:02 -0500

As counterpoint to libbystudentnyc's comment above: Sure, Gothamist is a blog and bloggers can write about whatever they want -- lord knows the majority of bloggers out there are obsessed with writing posts about their kitties and Buffy the Vampireslayer. But here's the thing: There happens to be a big debate in the courts going on right now about whether bloggers are really journalists -- and plugging your pal's company in the guise of a news post would be verboten according to traditional journalism ethics. So you can't have your cake and eat it too, is all. Personally, I think sites like Gothamist are a different breed from the personal diary blogs of Live Journal et al. And I think we really need a new terminology to differentiate between the two. What are other people's thoughts?

hijiki

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 10:41:32 -0500

it does sound like a good evolution from craig's idea if it actually takes off. how 'bout a comparison of similar services? that would be content for the readers' benefit.

libbystudentnyc

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 10:22:59 -0500

You people amaze me. This is a BLOG, gothamist has the right to post whatever they feel like and all you have to do if you don't agree is ignore the post and move on to the one below or above it. Who cares if it's a friend of a friends company? Did they make you go to the website against your will and you didn't like it? Are you actually reporting back to us on the content of the website? No, it is just complaints about advertising. I for one like these kind of posts. I find them useful - just like i find craigslist useful, i don't care who started the website, as long as i use it. Just my thoughts.

Setya

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 07:37:16 -0500

Regardless of whether or not this is an advert for Daylo, I like the sound of it. It's something that many folks in NYC will find useful, why not share the love? Even if the Gothamist crew knows Laura, that does not preclude it from being a good service.

candleblue

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 02:39:02 -0500

Well Bob, The definition of advertisement I offered above does not apply to all advertisements, I fully admit. But it applies in those cases where the advertisement is written up by a party other than the party the advert is for, i.e. if the Daylo people paid Jake to write that complimentary post, as some people might feel the post sounded like. As for smo and his/her definition of usefulness, well a thing can be useful not just because it is being used at a given time, but because it has the potential to be used. Which probably applies to Daylo.

smo

Tue, 22 Mar 2005 20:36:55 -0500

if it talks like an advertisement and if walks like an advertisement its probably is AN ADVERTISEMENT. If noone is using it how is it useful? Its a shameless plug no matter what you say. And Im not saying thats a good or bad thing. Just dont deny it. Craigslist is established and probably will work better for any kind of service. With so many sites popping up here and their everyone cant really be on the same thing anymore....you have a some people over here, a few people over there, a couple lollygagging over yonder..etc..

Captain Obvious

Tue, 22 Mar 2005 20:05:54 -0500

If you're talking in the royal 'we', Gothamist as an entity has no connection with Laura Holder. But look at Jake's and Jen's blog admiration circles and guess what? There's Laura! Daylo is an interesting idea. And should do well. But the claims of nepotism hold more water than the claims towards advertising. It's mutual self-promotion. Welcome to the infinity mirror-box of the blogosphere.

Bob

Tue, 22 Mar 2005 18:05:32 -0500

I don't quite understand the definition of an advertisement that is offered by candleblue. I have paid for an advertisement and it required no endorsement by another party.

candleblue

Tue, 22 Mar 2005 17:45:40 -0500

an advertisement is an endorsement made by party A for party B in exchange for some sort of reward, usually cash. logrolling is what Jake explained above. blogging about X is something that bloggers do when they think that X might interest its readers. in gothamist's case, gothamist is blogging about a new service that might prove useful to New Yorkers. gothamist is read by New Yorkers who undoubtly are always on the lookout for new services that might prove useful to them. i personally like to read gothamist because it not only blogs about news and events, but also about things that might not be as sensational but which are useful when it comes to day-to-day life in the city. some of the stuff are duds (the pret a manger post was a little stale), some are just meh (i don't have a reason to use this daylo service yet), and some are fantastic (gothamist is how i heard of the Manhattan User's Guide). ultimately, gothamist is a blog about new york, and i think a post about a new service for new yorkers is perfectly justified. however, perhaps it would be even better if the writers talked about their personal experiences using the service (whether good or bad).

jake

Tue, 22 Mar 2005 17:25:00 -0500

i don't think it's logrolling- we sometimes just like to write about useful services here at gothamist. Logrolling A practice common in the U.S. Congress and in many other legislative assemblies in which two (or more) legislators agree for each to trade his vote on one bill he cares little about in exchange for the other's vote on a bill that is personally much more important to him. Logrolling is especially common when the legislators are relatively free of control by their national party leaders and are trying to secure votes for bills that will concentrate sizable benefits on their own home districts while spreading most of the costs out over taxpayers in the rest of the country. Local projects such as Federally funded dams, bridges, highways, housing projects, VA hospitals, job-training centers, military bases and the like are often pushed through by logrolling. [See also: pork-barrel legislation, appropriation bill, authorizat

jax

Tue, 22 Mar 2005 17:19:27 -0500

It's logrolling

jake

Tue, 22 Mar 2005 16:53:26 -0500

nope- it's just a cool service run by some very cool new yorkes- really- check it out. gothamist ads are always titled "ADVERTISEMENT".

Lar

Tue, 22 Mar 2005 16:49:39 -0500

What the.. advertisement?