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Can you be a thought leader without a blog? Yes

"Can you be a thought leader without a blog?"

Robert kicks of an interesting discussion tonight on Friendfeed. My view is absolutely. There were thought leaders before blogging.

Also, I tried to post this as an iframe so you can follow the conversation live but Posterous wouldn't allow me to. I hit my first limitation. Hopefully Posterous will add iframing and more embeds.

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21 comments
Jun 26, 2009
Lori Aitkenhead said...
I agree that there can be thought leaders without blogging. However, if you are a thought leader for the social media marketing industry, I think you really do need a blog. Blogging is one of the most important things for those using social media for business. Good thought leaders will tell people this. If you tell people this and don't have a blog, you aren't practicing what you preach. No one ever responds well to that. If you are a social media marketing thought leader and you do not advocate having a blog for business, then you may not be a good leader.
Jun 26, 2009
stevekojima said...
does a duck have lips?
Jun 26, 2009
stevekojima said...
ps. another drawback of Posterous: the twitter auto-share option doesn't link back to your post or tweet. instead, it re-direct viewers to their home page.
Jun 26, 2009
Lori Aitkenhead said...
Ok. I just realized the origin of this topic. Steve Rubel has decided to stop blogging. That means I kind of just said in my comment that he might not be a good leader. Now, I'm not sure that was a fair statement. While I disagree on that one topic, I do know he is in general a great thought leader.

I understand moving on to the next evolution of social media. However, I'm not clear on what he feels is taking the place of blogging.

Jun 26, 2009
James Poling said...
If this is indeed about Steve's decision to switch to posterous then I think the conversation needs to be more specific.

I don't necessarily consider using posterous as your platform of choice as "not having a blog".

Blogging is still in it's infancy and to think that we have seen all of it's maturations and evolutions is silly.

Jun 26, 2009
Bill said...
Stupid question but not as hopeless as the comments.
Jun 26, 2009
Wayan said...
You don't need to call it a blog or blogging, but you do need to put out thoughtfull content, often done in a style that looks like a blog. Steve may not think he is blogging, but I see this content stream as blogging. Now if only posterous had the same functionality for reader as his "blogging" site did.
Jun 26, 2009
Sean Brady said...
The more I think about it, the more I think that what Steve is giving up in this move is the Moveable Type platform in favor of Posterous. This is still a blog, even if it is titled a life stream.

Posterous seems to me to simply offer a variety of ways to get content into a variety of systems with a bit of automation to go along with it (for pictures and videos etc). At the end of the day though, IMHO this is still just a blog.

I do think it is hard to be a thought leader without some sort of blog, because it is through that blog that you build up your reputation with other thought leaders and peers. I think it is difficult to beat the static nature of a blog (or Posterous) post when it comes to sharing and linking information. FF and Twitter are too fast, its easy to miss the conversations if you step away for a while and it is still complicated to setup searches that help you dig through the mass of information. The average person, and perhaps even the average thought leader, will miss most of the conversation if it is scattered across FF, Twitter, a blog, Facebook and who knows where else.

Jun 26, 2009
Luy said...
If you look closely at the top, there's a link to: return to blog.
Jun 26, 2009
Luy said...
If you look closely at the top, there's a link that says "back to blog".
How appropriate
Jun 27, 2009
mariana said...
I think you can, but need to be smart about how to spread your opinions, where, when and how to make your network
Jun 27, 2009
Fernando Polo said...
There ARE hundreds of thought leaders without blog. But "thought leaders about Internet" without blog, there are many less. But what you have a blog. This one.

Steve, bold move, a lot of people in Spain have heard you and are entering the posterous world.

Jun 27, 2009
rickg said...
Amusing that this is a discussion by Scoble (who made his name blogging) spurred most likely by Steve's recent lifestream change (another person who gathered a following by blogging). Those who answer this in the affirmative need to show people who are thought leaders in the web space who don't blog and have never done so. No fair gathering thousands of followers via a blog, then saying you don't need to blog to become influential.
Jun 27, 2009
Garry Tan said...
IFRAME support coming!
Jun 28, 2009
Steve Rubel said...
@Garry that's great news. Threaded comments would be nice too. 

Jun 28, 2009
thoughtstrategy said...
Writing is one of the keys to thought leadership, a blog is merely one of the many writing tools available
Jul 14, 2009
Sen said...
Blogs today are synonymous with independent thought. Working without a blog is like a carpenter who does not have a hammer.
Aug 31, 2009
Umeed Astrology said...
its blogging for sure
Sep 05, 2009
Am Sikiş said...
thanks a lot
Sep 08, 2009
Johan Roode said...
LOL - I would like to see that carpenter!
Oct 09, 2009
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Steve Rubel

Steve Rubel

Steve Rubel (bio) is SVP, Director of Insights for Edelman Digital, a division of Edelman - the world's largest independent PR firm.

He is charged with helping clients identify emerging technologies and trends that can be applied in marketing communications programs. He also explores these topics on his lifestream site, a monthly Forbes.com column and in a bi-weekly AdAge column.

Steve can be reached via email at steverubel@gmail.com.

Note: Everything posted on this site is Steve's personal opinion. It does not represent the views of Edelman or its clients.

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