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Debate Subject: TechCrunch (www.techcrunch.com) - Founded by Michael Arrington, TechCrunch is a well-known blog covering all things internet.
TechCrunch Remains the King of the Tech Blogs - In his review by this title, review Greg M. offers 4-stars for TechCrunch. He cites three primary reasons for his favorable views of TC, namely:
- Compelling Content
- Weak Competition
- Sarah Lacy
We’d encourage you to read his entire review of TechCrunch to hear his thoughts on each of these points, but regarding point 3, he writes:
With the hiring of Sarah Lacy, I think Michael Arrington has reduced the “one man risk” of TC. Sarah’s writing is good (not Pulitzer Prize winning but very solid and better than others of the TC crew). She gets a conversation going all the time and takes a view that is informative, and at a minimum, thought-provoking. I am not saying that Sarah Lacy is going to save TC as TC didn’t need saving (or maybe I am), but she is definitely widening the gap between TC and its competitive blog brethren. The recent hire of MG Siegler seems to have some promise as well.
TechCrunch - Downgrading to 3 Stars - In her review by this title, reviewer Amy Z offers 3 stars for TechCrunch. She confirms she is an avid TC reader but in her words, “I’ve been a TechCrunch (TC) junkie for some time but recently my addiction seems to have weakened.” She sites 6 main drivers of her negative sentiment about TechCrunch which you can read in the entire review with her first concern being:
Michael Arrington is a double-edged sword. His writing can be funny and engaging but he also can get into pretty sophomoric back and forths with other people on topics that nobody aside from a few Silicon Valley types might care about or find interesting. There was a recent dust-up with Loic LeMeur (heard of him? me neither but he’s here http://loiclemeur.com/) which consumed the blog’s contents for a day. That’s a waste of time for readers. I think you can do this a handful of times but abuse the outlet too many times and you lose people immediately or slowly as may be my case. Yes, it is ultimately Michael’s blog so he can do what he wants but this type of stuff should stop if maintaining the readership is a goal as it should be. The inside jokes with Robert Scoble and the Loics of the world should be put into a separate blog so the 200 people in the world who care about those guys can read that stuff.
She does go on to say of her concerns that they “can be remedied with fairly low effort”.
What do you think about Greg M’s and Amy Z’s reviews of TechCrunch and the company’s overall viability? Join the conversation and share your viewpoint by checking out TechCrunch’s company profile and writing a review of TechCrunch or offering your comments on existing reviews.
Reviewer Debates feature diverging viewpoints by ChubbyBrain reviewers on a particular startup/company or other salient topics, e.g., entrepreneurship, innovation, venture capital, angel investment, etc.
