A number of bloggers are upset about Forbes Magazine publishing a piece characterizing bloggers as lynch mobs. No thanks, I’m not taking the bait but a number of others currently are, including Dan Gillmor, a former mainstream media columnist:

Overall, what a pile of trash from Forbes Magazine, which uses its cover to go on the attack against bloggers in the new issue. You have to register to read the stories. Go ahead if you must; it’s worth reading to see how a normally solid business magazine can go astray with an alarmist and at times absurd broadside.

This does give me an excellent opportunity to explain what I’m using this blog for; the current type of content found at MakeYouGoHmm. Every blog I write for has a different purpose/content structure and some have different tones and participants (guest writers, characters, etc). If you are looking for a raw, unabashed opinion on just about anything then this is the place. If you are looking for more how-to, informative information on say the Mac, then my Mac blog would be a better place to read. I don’t post controversial stuff there. Don’t post controversial stuff on my PHP blog either. Or my Gmail blog. And I could go on and on with other blogs I contribute to elsewhere. See, I didn’t link any of those blogs. I try not to do that too often here either.

This blog isn’t a place for me to constantly pimp my other sites. When that stuff happens I get annoyed as a reader (unless that’s the sole purpose of the blog) and I try not to do that here very often. If the sole purpose of this blog was to pimp my other stuff then I’d be doing it all the time. Maybe someday I’ll create a blog that does have that purpose, but that’s not what happens here. Not regularly, anyway. I’ll make exceptions when I think we’ve done something unique, entertaining, useful and/or extraordinary on one of our many other websites.

This isn’t to say that I won’t ever write something critical on our other blogs but Hmm is the one where I’ll often be the most visceral.. Why? Well, this blog is partly entertainment too. I added a humor category recently to point out that sometimes I just like to goof off and have fun. People can’t be so serious all the time and if I’m torching some new product/service/website/idea, it sure helps to throw a joke in there to lighten up the mood. Those on the receiving end of these sometimes very negative reviews probably aren’t having fun, but if they can strip away the (intentional and overblown in some cases) hyperbole, then the underlying message should be clear and helpful.

Some don’t get it, call this abusive, and miss the point entirely. Some people get pretty miffed by the things written here but I haven’t written anything here that was untrue and if I find out I’m wrong about anything (and I have been wrong about several things), I am happy to retract. I’m not running some hate or smear campaign, not carrying a torch and certainly not taking up in any so called ‘lynch mobs’. Frankly I have much more productive uses of my time. If anything my goal here is to find the truth in whatever is being explored, help out others from not wasting their money and valuable life breaths of air on crap products/services, and hopefuly make it enjoyable to read along the way.

Things that … make you go hmm.

Here I write honestly and openly about my experiences with technology and life and spend my hard earned money on a lot of these things I’m writing about (or strongly consider spending my money, anyway). I don’t want to read some flowery review only to put down money and find out that the product actually sucks. I don’t want to be the tool who bought unknowingly into some shill review. Well written, detailed, useful reviews should tell me specifically what sucks, nor just all the whiz bang features and why I should go out now and buy. Give me the reasons why it does or doesn’t suck and along the way these reviews also provide companies/developers with information on how to make their product/service not suck. That’s a win for the publication, win for prospective customer and a win for the company.

Lots of bloggers provide helpful, free advice if companies are willing to listen. Too often they don’t listen these days to their customers. They create policies and procedures which insulate them from their customers. This insulation frustrates and irritates consumers.

I’m grateful to have a spot on the web to be able to speak my mind — positive, negative or neutral. Thank you to those who are new subscribers and/or continue to read. I’ll keep it real.

Damn, maybe I did take the bait after all.

Did this post make you go hmm?

Maybe Related Posts (plugin generated)

• Pimping the blogosphere — good or evil?
• ReviewMe offers $25,000 to bloggers in exchange for honest reviews
• To all budding writers: write, write, write
• Fictional character written blogs are not “fake blogs”
• Still looking for more women authored blogs
• Upcoming Hmm reviews include …