Why New Media Networks are Important
In the tradition of the Teen Podcasters Network, everytime we become slightly successful we experience a backlash. This time it comes from Chris Thomson in his blog post, “Why I Don’t Like Blog Networks.” This is my response; However, it doesn’t necessarily reflect the views of Teen Media Productions. I will respond using the same sections Chris did.
Have you seen some of the content on TBN or TPN? On TPN, we have podcasts ranging from liberal politics to overclocking. Is that “Im tired so this post wont be two long… I had a cheezburger for lunch today…it was good… THANKS FOR READING!!!!!!” type content? Or if you look to the developing TBN, we have articles from bloggers detailing some of the best iPhone Web Apps to posts about CSS changes in the authors blog.
At TMP, we have developed our goal from the original goal of the TPN. We want to show adults that teens can produce quality content at the same level as them. We don’t mean were all going to be Leo Laporte’s and Rush Limbaugh’s, but we can create content that isn’t “blabber.”
In addition, when people see that amazing content is being produced by teens it boosts the overall teen image.
Instead of avoiding something, it should be fixed. That’s part of what TMP is about, as mentioned above.
This really isn’t targeted toward TMP, however I would like to point out there are no minimum posting limits to either network. All we are looking for is a site actively producing content. I would actually agree with you that requiring people to post a minimum amount of times is harmful, and I would even take it as far to say it hurts creativity.
I would like to clarify TMP’s stance on content. We leave all creative control in the hands of the author, but we do tell you that we do not allow “offensive content.” This is meant in the sense of making of a race or religion. If you use harsh language or are explicit, that’s your choice. You post.wouldn’t even be considered “offensive” under our definition. However, TMP will not stand behind the distribution of the afore mentioned hateful content.
But, what happens if you do choose to distribute such content? TMP will simply notify you that your post has been removed from our site, but you will not be removed from the network.
It is your choice entirely over to join a network with such a policy set in place, but in the same sense, the network has a right to control what is distributes. TMP and myself are large believers in free speech, so I do not in anyway want to infringe on it. At the same time, there’s a certain level of responsibility to maintain.
Teen Media Productions has been online for a full year now, and Teen Media Productions since July of 2005. We are in no way new to the scene. We are, however, reforming ourselves to better suit the podcasting and blogging environment. Did you know Teen Podcasters Network is even mentioned in a book? Tricks of the Podcasting Masters by Walch/Lafferty.
We are a high-quality network that is here to stay.
The “duplicate content penalty” myth is one of the biggest obstacles I face in getting web professionals to embrace reprint content. The myth is that search engines will penalise a site if much of its content is also on other websites.
Clarification: there is a real duplicate content penalty for content that is duplicated with minor or no variation across the pages of a single site. There is also a “mirror” penalty for a site that is more or less substantially duplicating another single site. What I’m talking about here is the reprint of pages of content individually, rather than in a mass, on multiple sites.
From Bytestart.co.uk
That’s simply not true. There are many sites that do syndicate your content simply upon stumbling upon your feed anyways. Point being, if it was going to hurt you it would have hurt you by now.
The second major goal of TMP taken from TPN is to have the community help each other. This has been going on long since the original days (I was there) of TPN. It may not always be apart to all others, but as a community we communicate though forums, chat, and email, among others. Right now we may be a little absent on the forum posts, but I can guarantee if someone did ask for help they would receive it.
Chris, I respect your opinion, but there are several things you are overlooking.
You make some good counter points to Chris’s post, which I also read. I didn’t think many networks for teens really set an amount of posts, because it would be stupid if they did. The idea you brought up of showing the world that we can produce good content, also, is very important. There any plenty of teen blogs out there that can be pretty outstanding. This is a good debate :-)
Hey Matt,
First off, I’d like to say I wasn’t pointing my post toward TMP in anyway. In fact, you guys have the nicest teen network I’ve seen! It was aimed more towards all the little networks, that really don’t seem to care, and are all ‘just starting up’.
Regarding the “Teen Networks” section:
I’m in no way saying teens produce that type of cheezburger content. I guess I should’ve stressed more that this is how some people think of teens, without looking at the content.
Thanks for clearing up what you meant by ‘no offensive content’. That makes a lot more sense. :)
“Everyone has a Network”
Teen Media Productions was the first company I’ve seen that has a teen podcaster network, and teen blogger network. This point was in no way pointing to you guys, but more to quite a few ‘networks’ that haven’t even launched yet.
“Woohoo, now Google’s mad at me”
I see what you mean about sites ripping content from feeds, but I’ve found in most cases that only grab an excerpt.
“Not All Networks Help You”
Again, this goes back to “does the network care?” Some people seem to create networks for no apparent reason, and don’t put much thought or time into it. This point, once again, wasn’t aimed towards TMP. You guys obviously care: You produce content, you promote, etc.
This point was mainly for those networks that are just starting, and who obviously aren’t serious at all.
I’d also like to add, that my post started off as “Why I Don’t Like Teen Blog & Podcast Networks”, and got changed just to “Why I Don’t Like Blog Networks”, because frankly, I don’t have a problem with joining a podcast network like Teen Podcasters.
Some very good points there Matt, And you are right the is a huge rage of quality content on teen networks!!
I was a part of the original TPN and i loved it! But because of all the drama and “bad press” it just stopped so i decided to move on! I moved to Uth Media! But Teen Media Networks are popping up and its a great way for someone to just come to look for ALWAYS UPDATED CONTENT! and they dont have to seach on google for dead podcasts that have been listed! You know what i mean!?