I normally blog about South African start up’s, which I think are fantastic, but tonight I feel I need to address a “start up”, which is not very cool.
BeatMagazine is a start up, which is showcasing various key roll players in industry, much like Rex the Lion did, but unfortunately, Rex the Lion was a gimmick, whereas this is pushing the lines a bit too far. It’s completely flooded the muti charts, and has upset a large number of people.
Two instances come to mind:
1. Tyler Reed, a great guy, who is incredibly ethical was accused of being something he isn’t. The line was pushed extremely far here and has not only really upset Tyler, but the accusation upset me as well. Tyler has blogged the incident, so take a read. Sorry Tyler!
2. Another post was about Jason Elk admitting that Zoopy was not an original idea of his. This really worried me! Vodacom has invested an incredible amount of time and money into Zoopy, what are International people going to think when they read that one of South Africa’s largest startups is not original? Another sentence in this post said, “Since recently being bought out by Vodacom and using the new capital on pointless expenses such as Nic Haralambous”, that’s a deep shot at Nic if you ask me!
Between these two posts, of many more, they’ve attempted to damage the reputation of 3 individuals, which is really upsetting. Now, I do understand hype and I do know that this what NOT their mission, but Rafiq once told me to think before releasing a blog post and this was sound advice and advice, which I now follow closely.
Vincent Maher made some predictions for 2008, looking specifically at point no 4, I would say that he might get another one spot on if this doesn’t come to an end, quickly!
This post was written not to shout at BeatMagazine, but rather just warn them before someone bigger gets involved.
Agree with you about #1, but not about #2 which in my opinion was pure fun, and I can’t see anyone taking an article seriously when the first sentence contains the word “teary” :-) Zoopy is not original – not on the global stage – but that doesn’t detract from a great social resource and proudly South African social media destination.
i think it’s all fun and games until somebody gets hurt…..then it’s hilarious!
no really. i think the satirical intention behind the concept is great – there should be no blogger too big or small to be ‘victim’ to beatmag – it’s like candid camera, only on a blog. with writing. and geeks.
seriously, what’s the big deal? ok, some *close-to-home* shit was written about certain people’s ideas not being original, or someone liking little kids, and there’s some thought that it might be defamatory – but…..friendly friends….it’s not.
a valid defence to defamation is ‘satire/joke’. How do you think Zapiro does what he does? with a valid defence….
i didn’t find some of their jabs that funny – but then i just have a more warped sense of humour, i suppose.
Hi Chris – because we’re such nice fella’s and because we’re concerned about the same things you are – and finally because it appears a) we overstepped the mark with Tyler and b) it appears with Zoopy (although the focus is on Elk not zoopy and certainly is playing on what again is in the mouths of the public) we’ve retracted both blogs.
Now I’m actually not so bothered with a threat like “beatmag is going to take a beating” because at the end of the day, other than Tyler’s blog which was below the belt, you have to look at yourself as a start up creator and wonder “is this an original idea” if not we’re coming for you and there’s a spot in there for me and moral fibre if necessary.
Word of warning, once we delete our posts, it is up to other commentators to either put the issue to rest or to jump on the band wagon and get into a spat which is clearly not theirs to get into.
I respect your views chris, and have thus made some changes to the site. You will of course be next on beatmag but thats the way it goes.
One final word Chris, escalating this blog to the level of real journalism – which its not. Hell I’ve spoken to Nic and apologized, we actually shared quite an important conversation about the way the opinion on the site was constructed.
I guess if you’re to speak about ethics, then perhaps we should focus on the right to sway the news as most bloggers do – remember beatmag is also a social experiment and has thus far assured us that the real news, the real tragedies of this world pale in comparison to one’s online false persona.
We have apologized over and over again, and have no reason to stand back and retract any of our apologies. Please let our actions to remove all “suspect” blogs stand as another apology to those affected – and let it be known that we shall not discontinue the blog as it has been pointed out to us by real thought – leaders that although we overstepped the mark at times it is a healthy dose of realism and a good bit of exercise for me, those humble pies are heavy.
I can also speak for Saul, and say that his comments about Nic were quite obviously ludicrous and that should someone like Vincent Maher or a corporate like Vodacom debate their decision to “buy” Nic then the fault is not ours – we have got it on good authority that he was chosen because of his expertise and thus we being the jealous types had to mock him for that.
Hail Yusuf.
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vince
Sep 29th, 2008 at 8:34 am
One final word Chris, escalating this blog to the level of real journalism – which its not, is simply not necessary – the about page / asides “about” make it quite clear its all B.S
Comment lingered and I never finished it :)
I will be posting a real social analysis of this fiasco on moral fibre soon – do hope that you’ll read it.
@Chrism – I agree with you on this one – sooner or later someone with a big stick will come along and give these guys a huge “beating”.
The local blogashpere is really small or should i say niche and the guys work together nicely, but enter a big fish who thinks you have defamed them and then you have problems (I am not here referring to Tyler)
Remember when you once blogged that i was a spammer, we talked about it, you apologized, removed the post and we continued being friends. Just think how nasty it could have got if the companies I work for had jumped on the bandwagon and sued. It’s all fun and games when we mock each other etc, but we must never forget there are huge fish backing some in the industry and sooner or later things could turn nasty. and hell we dont want that…
@Vincent – I am not saying kill your blog, I do think however that u should make the home page more bs looking so people know from the word go that everything written on the site is total garbage and should be viewed as a joke. Maybe commission old Zapiro to draw a nice cartoon that can be used as the header etc. something that clearly shows its just for fun.
Also tag keywords, like, joke, fake, rubbish, just for laughs etc in the blog post.
Remember that a google search will not bring up the entire article, and thats where it starts to get serious. Who cares what it says on your site. but how would it look if the top listing on google says “Vincent and Saul caught in bed”, or something equally bad. thats where it starts to get really damaging.
Not every one will follow the link and see its a joke. They say first impressions last and maybe thats what they will think from then on.
anyway have fun and let it not be said the blogosphere did not warn of impending dangers ;-)
I’m with cheapthrills here – good grief, lighten up people. There are bigger issues to worry about right now (like the paid reviews up on this site as a random example :-) Do the articles on http://www.hayibo.com/ also offend?
The Perez Hiltons of the Tech World?
Where is your sense of humour. The stuff is hilarious.
Jarrad
http://www.futurespace.co.za
Look, the idea of this post was not to flame, I’m basically looking out for fellow bloggers and see this magazine landing in a great deal of trouble, which would not be cool, especially seeing that the authors DID NOT intend on hurting anyone in the process.
I know the blog scene incredibly well, I probably have dirt on each and every person, but hold these views back to save face, that’s really it. I thought about starting a blog gossip website, much like perez hilton, but for local bloggers, but after lots of consideration I decided that it would be more of a risk than a laugh.
I really have NOTHING against what your intentions were, in fact, I had a good laugh at some of the copy from your articles, I just felt bring this up would hopefully push back and make it a reality that there could be a risk.
I have no intention to make enemies or lose friends, in fact, I was hoping this would have exactly the opposite effect.
I once watched an awesome interview where some news commentators/ interviewers tried to take Jon from the Daily Show to book for the ridiculous comments he makes – and he massacred them.
The blog is listed as humour on amotumo. If you compared that to journalism then we’re in more trouble in SA than I thought. It’s not pulling any punches and I think it says something about geekdom that so many of you get so easily offended. I’m not saying that it was not out of line what Saulk called Tyler – but it’s in situations like this where you see the measure of a man; did he handle it with grace and backbone? No. And that’s the sad part, I’d argue that he did more damage to himself than a very bad joke did.
At the end of the day I think it the situation held up a mirror to the on-line community and the way people reacted in general. Good for those who know there’s a time to laugh and understood the real compliment behind it. If the truth hit a little to close to home…think about it. Don’t cry about it.
Amazing someone takes the piss and because members of the cartel have been mentioned there is a big outcry, but when a relatively unknown bloke from the sticks has his business destroyed by the cartel its cool.
I suspect the difference is that Tyler, as he says, has spent time and energy building a great reputation – while you have not IMHO (based on what I read online and my own opinions… so insert disclaimer here :-)
Ewan, who are you referring to exactly?
Sorry, should have been clearer Chris – I was replying to Guy who seems to be trying to draw parallels between himself and Tyler.
No problem @Ewan, was just wondering :)