Saturday morning, starting at 9am, Ashton Kutcher, in partnership with Digg.com and Revision3’s Kevin Rose will be doing a production, streamed over the live streaming service, Qik, all day for 24 hours right here in Utah. The idea is to get major blogging personalities such as VentureBeat’s Tech Blogger Matt Marshall, along with other personalities such as Video Game Blogger, CJ Peters, as well as Geek Entertainment TV’s Irina Slutsky, and Non-Society’s Geekette, Meghan Asha, to do crazy tasks while at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City Utah. Interestingly, they have picked bloggers from San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and other locations, but ironically no big bloggers from Utah were selected. Ashton and Kevin, you know we can compete as well as the rest!

With Matt Marshall in the crowd, he will probably be the most familiar with early-adopter technologies and the audience of this blog since that is what they cover, so it will be interesting to see how he and his partner, Shira Lazar, will do in the contest. Ashton Kutcher, via his Twitter account, is asking for suggestions on what you would like the contestants to do, so hopefully Utah can represent. Regardless of what happens, I fully expect the entire contest to be one big punk on Utah Saturday so beware of what you see as these bloggers fight to do anything to win this reality competition tomorrow. You can watch the competition live, over Qik at the website http://www.24hoursatsundance.com. Prepare to be Punk’d.

Matt and Shira, we’re rooting for you.

Photo courtesy Matt Olson

One of the reasons I started this blog back in 2004 (I believe it was actually earlier, in various forms) was to enable me to chronicle the intellectual things I came across throughout life. This year has been such an amazing year for me, experiencing the birth of my son (which we Twittered and Ustreamed), the birth of 2 identical twin nieces (which I didn’t document here), to the complete opposite of the spectrum with the death of both my Grandfather, and just recently my Grandmother, whose 85th birthday would have been January 1st, 2009. I have experienced such joys, and at the same time such sorrow, and you all have been there with me every step of the way. I’ve never done the “list” thing before (never had time!), so I thought this year would be different. I thought I’d go through each month and share with you some of the highlights on Stay N’ Alive this year.

January

January was the start of my Twitter woes, with frequent outages and frustration.  ChaCha saved my brother due to lack of weather and traffic reports in the area he was traveling.  January was the month I created my largest annoyance, coining the technique (which was the first time the idea was mentioned anywhere, I believe) of tagging friends in Facebook Notes to bring attention to them.  This technique worked and helped me build relationships with several bloggers I am now friends with today.  I now hate the technique because everyone uses it on me.  Myspace announced their own developer platform, giving hints to a date OpenSocial would go live.  Pownce, which ironically I was a user of long before Twitter, began to show purpose for me.  People got confused about what the Facebook Platform was, and the leader of my faith passed away (Death #1).

February

I started February by coining my idea of Social Media bringing back the small communities and villages of olden times.  I pointed out the fact that Amazon has its own Social Network (which surprisingly still, not many people are aware of).  I took my very first trip to the Bay area, and got an awesome tour of the Googleplex from my cousin, who treated me to one of the best lunches I’ve ever eaten.  I wrote my first OpenSocial application, and realized web development had changed as we know it.  Back then, Twitter Track over SMS still worked, so I wrote one of the very first posts suggesting Twitter as a tool for disasters and emergencies.  Other than for news, I’m not so sure about that any more.  I launched OpensocialNow.com, which quickly fizzled as I ran out of time.  London had a small, but rare earthquake, and I saw it first on Twitter, on my cell phone, via track. In February I published my first book.

March

March, Facebook introduced their Feed Forms (which we were first to announce), providing a way for developers to easily publish stories to the Facebook news feed.  March marked the birth of our 4th child and youngest son, Jesse III, which we Twittered, blogged, and Ustreamed the entire way.  We began to see the makings of the first Facebook Worm, which this blog was one of the first to report (and henceforth recorded by Fortiguard security, and then PC Magazine’s blog).  Google launched the OpenSocial Foundation, and Yahoo became a member and announced their (future) support for the platform.

April

April I attended my first Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco.  I learned the wonders of the Bloggers Lounge, and met several great new people there.  Bungee Labs made some great announcements there, and it was looking up for them as Google announced their App Engine platform and the idea of Software as a Service was put in the public eye.  Of course, with layoffs later down the road, things aren’t looking so hot for them right now.  April was also a hallmark month, with the launch of SocialToo.com at the end of the month, in a very small announcement, I invited my small audience at the time to join and help build out intelligent blacklisting for the service.  It was this time I met Guy Kawasaki and built out the UI on his behalf to enable him and myself to follow those that were following us on Twitter.  We didn’t officially launch to the general public until last month. April, I also got to guest post on Guy Kawasaki’s blog.

May

May was an exciting, and somber month at the same time. My former business colleague and friend, Phil Burns’, daughter was diagnosed with Leukemia.  Through Twitter and this blog, and others kind efforts of sharing on their blogs, we were able to raise over $10,000 in just a month, all through means of social media.  This further witnessed to me the power of Social Media, and makes me truly believe in some of the things people like Beth Kanter are doing right now.  In March, I wrote my first 1-word post, in response to another one-word post on TechCrunch, which was in response to Twitter being down for the umpteenth time in a matter of days. That prompted Twitter to blame their outages on Robert Scoble, and Robert Scoble blaming Twitter for their own problems.  I took a trip out to Google I/O, and Robert, under last minute circumstances, invited me to join him in going to the Twitter offices and working things out.  It was there I met Ev Williams and Biz Stone in person, realized what a mess the service really was, and ended up on the front page of TechCrunch.  It was just after that that Twitter continued their classic behavior of cutting out features from the API with little to no notice to developers. It was at the same conference I was able to speak for the Slicon Valley Web Builders on Facebook Development in FBML.  April was also the month I began seriously using FriendFeed.

June

June was a somber month for me.  It started with Facebook announcing their yearly F8 conference, right in the middle of OSCON, both conferences I was hoping to attend.  The most somber part of the month however came when my Grandfather, and namesake, died in a quick turn for the worse due to Cancer and old age.  This was a hard thing for me, being one of the closest people I knew to die.  It was also death #2 of the year of people I adored.  Shortly after that, on my way to the funeral services in fact, I noticed some developers were completely shutting down their apps due to problems with the Twitter API.  I predicted they would continue to succeed regardless.  The month ended somberly, with Bill Gates, a hero of mine, leaving Microsoft.

July

In July, I got my new 2nd generation iPhone, and realized it needs Privacy controls. I attended Facebook’s F8 conference, where I predicted, and they very quietly announced plans for a mobile platform API. All this occurred as they were announcing the launch of Facebook Connect.  Right before F8 I finished my second book. In July I left Twitter, learned some valuable lessons about the service, and ended up coming back a few months later when I realized no one was joining me.  SocialToo announced Identi.ca support.  July was also the month I began blogging as a member of the team at LouisGray.com.  My first post was about none-other than blogging.

August

In August I celebrated my 31st Birthday.  OpenMicroblogger launched their competing software to the Laconi.ca Open Source microblogging platform.  Twitter launched the ability to track threaded replies in the API, and I began to suggest that the Twitter platform needed a meta tagging language to remove the need for the “@”.  Some suggested that the LDS Church was buying Facebook (yeah, I know).  We saw history made as the Olympics hit China.

September

September I took a temporary turn to full time work, going to help out i.TV bring their App to the number one spot in the iTunes App store.  Since then they have continued their growth, and continue as a client of mine as I build out SocialToo.  I launched the first public Wordpress plugin for Facebook Connect.  Wordpress.com passed 4 million blogs.  I had an excellent time at BlogWorld in Las Vegas, where I roomed with Louis Gray and met a ton of new people and bloggers (are bloggers people?).

October

In October I announced for the first time I would be voting for a (gasp!) Democrat.  i.TV reached #1 in the iTunes App store, and I got to witness it first hand, having a part in their promotion and growth.  Facebook reached their 10 billionth photo and we were one of the first to report it.  Proposition 8 in California became the center of a love/hate storm.  Someone left a suicide note in the Facebook developer forums.  SocialToo announced Follower statistics for our users.

November

I spent a lot of November speaking, starting with an O’Reilly Webinar on Facebook development for beginners.  America elected our first African American president, and I voted, but had to pay for my Chik Fil A sandwich.  I presented to a large group of CIOs in Dallas.  SocialToo went live to the public! (and Guy Kawasaki joined forces to help launch it, as co-owner) I presented Facebook Development in under 5 minutes at Ignite Salt Lake City.

December

I started out December participating on several panels.  We launched a new redesign on Stay N’ Alive.  My family and I took a vacation to Las Vegas.  After getting back, just 2 days before Christmas we received disheartening news that my Grandmother had passed away.  This would make death #3 of the year, but we’re happy she’s home for Christmas.  We ended the month with great news however, announcing Louis Gray joining the Board of Advisors for SocialToo.

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

As I write this, it’s quickly approaching midnight here in the MountainWest.  It’s been an incredible year for me and this blog - I can’t wait to see what lies in store for the next year.  In the meantime, “Stay” tuned, and keep watching here and LouisGray.com, as well as my new business, SocialToo.com for more great content regarding Technology, Social Networking, and new technologies.  I promise to keep things exciting around here, and look forward to the upcoming year.  Let’s hope I don’t explode!

The end of this year is turning out to be quite an eventful one for me. This Friday I’ll be doing a free O’Reilly Webinar, “Creating Facebook Applications — A Beginner’s Guide”. The webinar starts at 10:00am PST, and I’ll probably talk for about 30-40 minutes on how to get started in Facebook App development, after which we’ll have a question and answer session where you can ask your own questions about Facebook development. Register now, as attendance is limited! From the registration page:

“In this session you’ll learn how your apps talk to Facebook, how Facebook talks back, where to find the information you need, viral integration points to promote your app, and learn the very basics of creating a fully functional Facebook application. Come and listen in and bring your questions as [I] present this valuable topic towards getting your web apps recognized through the great tools Facebook provides.”

In the meantime, you may purchase my book on Amazon to get a head-start!

November 13, 6pm MST - Ignite Salt Lake City

Next week I’ll be condensing my presentation even more in what ought to be a fun night of fast-paced information, random facts, and hilarious stories at Ignite Salt Lake City. Each presenter is allowed to talk about almost anything - there are just a few rules. Each presenter has 5 minutes, 20 slides, and each slide automatically rotates every 15 seconds. I’ll be doing the impossible and talking about “How to build a Facebook App in 5 minutes”. The free event is sponsored by O’Reilly, and boasts participants such as Josh Coates, CEO of Mozy. O’Reilly does these around the nation, and Salt Lake City is quite lucky to have one of their own. I’m looking for a great evening of informative fun!

November 20 - Global Entrepreneurship Week Utah

Details are still forthcoming, but I’ve been invited to speak at Global Entrepreneurship Week, Utah on the 20th. I’ll share more details as that works out, but mark your calendars!

December 5, 7:30am MST - Utah Technology Council

On December 5, I’ll be on a panel with other traditional media reporters talking to PR and Marketing professionals at the Utah Technology Council. I’ll be “the blogger” of the group, and hope to share some of the ways marketers and PR professionals can get interest from bloggers, and the types of things we like and dislike. I warned them I may have very different opinions than the traditional media reporters there, and they were very open to that - it should be a very fascinating conversation! I’ll share more details about that as I get them as well.

In January I’ll be judging a yet to be disclosed development-related contest that I’m very excited about. The contest will take place in the Bay area, and I’ll be judging entries submitted - I’m really looking forward to this one. It’s fun to see the creative juices of developers and what others can come up within a limited environment.

So, if you’re in the area for any of these (or online for at least one of them), stop on by and say hi! I’d love to see you and welcome any questions or feedback you may bring.

For those of you unaware, Stay N’ Alive isn’t the only place I blog these days. I actually have 3 blogs of my own, this being the most active and my home base. In addition to that, I at least weekly guest-blog on both LouisGray.com and InsideFacebook.com. I also occasionally guest-blog on AllFacebook.com. Add to that the posts that I write at the new i.TV blog and there’s a lot to keep track of! I’ve created a nifty way for you to keep track of my writing using FriendFeed to make it easy.

Since FriendFeed does not offer ability to filter by more than one service at a time, I made a hack. Now, you can go to the “Jesse Stay” room on Friend Feed at http://friendfeed.com/rooms/jesse-stay. Once you’re there you’ll see all my writing. Go ahead and like entries you like, comment on them, share them, and more if you like. Or, if you don’t ever want to visit that page again, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click on the little RSS icon next to “Other ways to read this feed”. Now, you’ll get every one of my posts in your RSS Feed Reader, free of charge. You can also click here to add to your RSS Feed Reader. This room has only blog feeds so it won’t be cluttered by my Twitter, FriendFeed, Photos, Music, and other stuff I aggregate.

If you’re interested in adding each blog I post on to your RSS Reader individually, here they are, one-by-one:

http://staynalive.com/feed - Stay N’ Alive

http://i.tv/blog/feed - i.TV Blog

http://feeds.feedburner.com/LouisgraycomLive - LouisGray.com

http://feeds.feedburner.com/InsideFacebook - InsideFacebook.com

http://facebookadvice.com/feed - Facebook Advice

http://opensocialnow.com/feed - OpensocialNow

http://allfacebook.com/feed - All Facebook

Last week Erick Shonfeld, a writer for TechCrunch, posted a rather uninspiring article after Technorati released their “State of the Blogosphere” stating that “The More [bloggers] Post, the Higher [they] Rank”. In it, he argued that because a majority of the Top 100 blogs tracked by Technorati post more than 5 times a day, and 43 percent of those post more than 10 times a day, that the quantity of those posts is the reason for those blogs entering the top 100 of Technorati. While perhaps true for some, I argue it may be the means, but definitely not the reason the top 100 are where they are.

On Technorati, Quality Trumps Quantity

Let’s face it - every site in the top 100 in Technorati is there because they have put time into their posts. Sites like TechCrunch and Mashable and ReadWriteWeb employ bloggers to professionally blog for them, giving those bloggers the time and motivation to put effort into the posts they write. They have editors which look over the posts each author writes and those editors add an additional level of quality to the posts that they write. They all started small and have grown to the level they are, enabling them to keep the spots they are at.

Because more time is spent on each post, and these sites are able to crank out many of those quality posts, yes, they get more links in a short amount of time. More people are interested in them. They get the breaking news first because startups and other PR firms know that they generate traffic and buzz. This keeps them interesting.

Quantity Plays a Very Small Part

However, I argue that quantity is not the reason most of these people are in the top 100. The problem with quantity is people get bored of you. When you’re cranking out so many posts a day that people can’t keep up they begin to tune out. Sure, they may still subscribe to your feeds, but they start to reduce your importance in their minds. You get links only because you’re cranking out so many posts in a short amount of time. In fact, I suggest this isn’t healthy for the blogosphere. The blogosphere thrives on being personal and unique, not robotic.

Therefore these blogs may have gotten to where they are because of quality, but that does not mean they are invincible. Posts like Erick’s seem to imply that they are and that the little guy has no way of getting “into the blogging elite”.

It is Possible to Get in the Top 100 and Not Post Every Day!

I was reminded of this point when Chris Brogan very humbly made mention on his blog that he had broken the top 100 blogs on Technorati. While Chris does post almost every day and sometimes more than once, he also skips days at times, and I can tell you that blogging is by far his top priority! Chris writes quality, well-thought out posts that make you think and teach you things. He’s not a news breaker, unless he thinks you can learn from it. People like this, so they link to him. He has become more than just a “blogger”, but a “thought-leader” and example.

Seth Godin is another example. Currently Seth is number 17 on the top 100 of Technorati. He’ll never let you know that, by the way. Seth posts short, thoughtful posts, once a day, which make you think. You feel inspired after reading just the short paragraph or two that he writes. Seth too is considered a thought leader because of this. He could care less about quantity. His quality is what has made his blog.

Robert Scoble is another example. There are days and even weeks he goes without blogging, but when he speaks, he speaks with passion. He tries to inspire, and show you by his actions what the upcoming technologies are. Because of this, lots of people link to him.

Then there’s Guy Kawasaki. Guy’s last post was 2 days ago. He blogs because it’s fun. He blogs because he has something to share, not because of a duty to blog. Guy got in the top 100 naturally, not because of an army of bloggers working for him.

You Can Do it Too!

I’ll be first to admit that I’m not there. True, it would be cool to be there, but frankly, it’s not important. What’s important is that you stop focusing on the robotic nature of blogging just to blog, and blog because you care. Blog because you have something to say, and blog because it makes sense.

It doesn’t matter if you blog 5 times a day, once a day, or even once a week. If you write quality posts, lead in your thoughts and actions, and show that in your writing, others will link to you. Despite what Erick Shonfeld says, don’t listen to him - quality trumps quantity any day, especially with Technorati.

(Image courtesy http://manonl.edublogs.org/2008/04/22/blogging-away/)

I’ll be at BlogWorld Expo over the coming weekend starting tomorrow morning covering the event and hopefully sharing some of the highlights I think are innovative and interesting for you. Stay tuned here and I’ll share what I can. Some things I’m looking for: Microblogging, Lifestreaming, and the evolution of blogging and new trends towards blogging as a conduit instead of destination. I’ve also got another great post I’ve been brainstorming for LouisGray.com so keep a watch there as well.

I still don’t quite know what my schedule will be, but feel free to look me up while you’re there. You can always call me at (801) 853-8339.

Oh, and keep an eye out on http://i.TV - we’re set to go live in the app store any moment now after being set back just a bit by the iTunes 8 launch. It is our prediction that we’ll be number 1 in the App store in very short time with what we have to offer. I’ll also update you here when that happens.

Joseph Scott, developer at Automattic, posted that Wordpress.com has recently broken 4 million total blogs. He further mentions that it took just 4 months to go from 3 million to 4 million. Assuming the rate isn’t exponential, it will just be end of December when they hit 5 million blogs. What would be even more fascinating is to know how many self-hosted blogs on Wordpress are currently running. (This blog is a Wordpress MU install)

Wordpress seems to be no Facebook, but perhaps as projects like BuddyPress take off and people begin to virally create blogs and content with their friends it will get to that level. Where Wordpress still has left to compete is with microblogging sites like Twitter - perhaps, with the large user base that they currently have we could see this happen in the near future.

For those unaware, today is “Blog Day“, a day intended to allow bloggers to share their favorite blogs in hopes that readers can diversify the blogs they currently read and learn of other unknowns that they may not yet be subscribed to. I figure I’d join in on the cause several others have joined today, and share my favorite blogs. I’m going to take a slightly different spin on it and I’ll share with you my top 5 “shared” items from Google Reader (in the last 30 days) based on Google Trends (you can find these statistics for yourself via the “Trends” link to the left in Google Reader).

(Please note - you can see the top recommendations I re-share on Reader in the image to the left - I did not include those in this list.) If you’d like to follow what I share via Google Reader, please feel free to subscribe via my Google Reader shared items feed. Here are the top 5:

#1. LouisGray.com (Subscribe via RSS) — Okay, my #1 was actually TechCrunch, but they get enough attention. For those unaware, recently I became a guest-blogger over at LouisGray.com. In the last year I became aware of Louis Gray and his blog (I think it was through Robert Scoble, in fact) and realized he has extremely insightful content. He’s also extremely transparent and open about his blog and statistics, pointing out other blogs that he likes, and helping other up and coming blogs he thinks are important get attention. About a month or two ago he approached me and asked me if I would like to guest-blog regularly on his site and I jumped at the chance - it was an extreme honor that he would think of me. If you’re looking for the next Robert Scoble, Louis is your guy - not only is he smart, insightful, up on all the latest news and technology, but he has a ton in common with me as well. Like me, he’s a faithful Mormon and a very strong family man. We share many of the same views on technology and what’s coming up next. Not only that, but we’re even the same age!

#2. InsideFacebook.com (Subscribe via RSS) — I have also guest-blogged at InsideFacebook, but Justin Smith has long had one of my favorite Facebook blogs (I also recommend you check out Nick O’Neill’s AllFacebook.com (Subscribe via RSS)). His posts are well thought-out, and he covers many subjects in detail about latest Facebook news and information.

#3. CenterNetworks.com (Subscribe via RSS) — Allen Stern, of CenterNetworks.com, is hilarious! His posts are put in a very informative manner and in a way that keeps you entertained, while in many cases, educate you at the same time. Allen has a lot of experience and is a good guy to get advice from. In general, Allen’s posts are in the form of a video and short text description, and the subjects range anywhere from how to monetize your blog, to making fun of the latest news, to showing opinion on what FriendFeed or other sites could do better.

#4. Oh, Identica! (Subscribe via RSS) — My friend, Marina Martin, put this together in a response to her leaving Twitter and embracing Identi.ca, as a resource to others trying to figure out how they can use Identi.ca as well. Previously, Marina had a similar blog for Twitter, and the name comes from the fact that she and her boyfriend met through Twitter. Oh, Identi.ca! covers almost everything you need to know with tips and tricks on what you can do with Identi.ca that will make it useful.

#5. FaceReviews.com (Subscribe via RSS) — Rodney Rumford started this as a great way to show off new Facebook applications and reviews of those applications. Recently he has also started covering Twitter and other subjects, all with superb content and research behind them. Rodney’s been doing this stuff for a long time, and his experience shows.

These are some of my own favorites. They are all based on the number of shares on Google Reader. Some day I will have to post some of my non-shared favorites that perhaps don’t post as often. Hopefully some of you that read this can now share yours - I’d love to have some new blogs on this list next year!

I received a lot of criticism for my post recently stating my reduction in use of the service Twitter towards other services like Identi.ca and FriendFeed. In a series of personal attacks through both Twitter and the comments on my blog, people called me names, said I was pompous, and almost seemed offended as to my proposal to reduce my use of Twitter in hopes to eventually move away from the service. (Ironically, the discussion on FriendFeed was much more constructive)

Well you know, sticks and stones will break my bones and such, but I did begin thinking as to why these attacks were occurring and what I may have done to bring them on. In a discussion on a post on Dig, I suggested the following in response to why I had written the post to begin with:

“vmarinelli I wrote this mostly for those that were existing readers of my blog and followers of mine on Twitter. I had people asking why I was doing it. I didn’t expect it to make headline on Techmeme, so wasn’t writing it for an external audience. Had I been prepared for that I would have been much more 3rd person, and I would have written it entirely different.”

That post was intended to be a personal post, to the readers of my blog, and possibly some of my followers who had already asked as to why I was and why I was not posting much on Twitter any more. The post reached TechMeme, and soon many more people completely unaware of who I was or what the context was were reading the post.

This post wasn’t the first of mine to be a headline on Techmeme - I definitely heard my share of criticism as to my post on developers bailing on Twitter. Ironically, there wasn’t much criticism at all on the guest post I wrote on LouisGray.com which made it as a headline on Techmeme - it seems with him being on the Leaderboard, people might be more used to who he is and what his blog is about.

It has gotten me thinking however, when you reach that status where you are being indexed by Techmeme, do you need to watch what you are writing, or even write differently, as I was suggesting on Digg, to speak to that audience? Is it even possible to keep your posts personal as you used to when your blog is reaching a much larger audience?

My brother, Luke, had a great argument when he mentioned on FriendFeed:

“I don’t get it, why can’t you talk in the first person if you’re featured on Techmeme. This was an editorial of sorts and most editorials are written in first person even if they’re written for the New York Times. Could also be considered a review of Twitter. Reviews are also often written in first person.”

I think many blogs may be getting corrupted by Techmeme, becoming too “newsy”, in the 3rd-person, and less personal when they begin to get indexed by the service. I’m wondering in the end if Techmeme really is a good thing for blogs. It certainly has an effect on any blog it begins to index. Many blogs do seem to be influenced.

However, I’m pretty sure there has to be a way to stay personal, reach that larger audience, and stay interesting at the same time. In the end you can’t abandon your existing user-base, so a strong balance is important.

My goal is to keep this blog personal, stay myself, and be informative at the same time. I don’t think you should have to change your writing style completely (note I said “completely”) when you start reaching that larger audience. Being yourself is important, and I won’t abandon that.

I’m curious though - have you seen any other blogs reach this stage, and how do you see them adapting? Do the majority of them lose their “personal touch” in order to be able to adapt? Let’s discuss via comments and FriendFeed below.

“I’m noticing a trend lately which started several months ago, and I couldn’t quite pinpoint what was causing it. It seemed as though many of my friends and others that I esteemed as good bloggers were getting tired, and were posting much less frequently, or not at all. Many of these people were part of the reason I became an entrepreneur and it was disappointing to see them stop posting. It seems as though those blogging are getting tired, or just see it as a waste of time.”

You can read more of my guest post over on LouisGray.com - thank you Louis for allowing me to post!