Why we need Scoble and his shiny new thing obsessions

I’m noticing more and more bits of backlash against “shiny new thing” obsessions by many bloggers of late. Scoble is a particularly notable target, both for his audience size and the outsized nature of his enthusiasm for the latest and greatest.

I admit I’m also growing a bit weary of the massive, constant churn of “ZOMG! This will change the world and the Web!!!” hype, which rotates through hot Web sites and technologies faster than frat guys through a keg line (I speak from some experience there). I swear just a month or two ago all I could read online was about how Twitter was the new Web, and blogging was dead. Now that meme is toast, and it’s all about how Facebook is the new Microsoft/Google/eBay/Jesus/etc. Even the mighty iPhone could not stand up against the power that is the F8 Platform. At least in terms of blogosphere passion (and at least until the next iPhone version comes out).

However I think blaming the champions of this hype is a bit misplaced. Take Scoble: the primary reason I stay subscribed to the guy’s blog is because I can count on him to get obsessed about the latest Shiny New Thing. I might not buy in. I might even don my Witty Cynic(tm) hat and fire off a blog post disagreeing. But the point is I know that Scoble’s enthusiasm, whether hit or miss, at least alerts me to some new and potentially interesting things happening on the Web. That enthusiasm, and his willingness to suffer the inevitable backlash from his often over-the-top hype, are what makes him interesting and fun to read.

Am I a Scoble fan. Eh, sort of. I dislike some of his combativeness laced with arrogance (see comment #3 in that link above, which starts “Chris: you are so clueless you don’t even know how.”), and his often myopic digerati view of how people use the Web. But I love his boundless enthusiasm and eagerness go to guns on his opinions in defense of whatever his latest obsession is. It’s what makes blogging different from news columns and worth reading.

We need people like Scoble who cheerlead all that is Shiny and New, even while we’re (hopefully) taking a rational step back and throwing some objectivity against the hype. It takes all kinds to keep the blogosphere (dead though it may be, thanks to Twitter/Pwnce/Facebook/etc of course) interesting.